MUMBAI: He is renowned for creating ‘Mash-Ups’ in the tinsel town. Yes! You guessed it right. It is the 26 year old DJ Chetas Shah commonly known as the King of Mash-Ups. In this section of Rendezvous the DJ talks about his journey towards achieving his musical dream. During the day the DJ disguises into a businessman helping out his father and in the evening he is in the studio creating remixes.
Excerpts:
Chetas on mash-up:
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Mash-up is a compilation of songs of single album which are pacey and easy on the ears. It is more or less like listening to an album in a span of few seconds.
His work:
The inspiration for mash-ups came from an international DJ Earworm. I translated the same into Bollywood and approached T-Series, presenting them the Salman Khan mash-up which was liked by them. I did the same with Cocktail, Dabangg mash-up, Ramaiya Vastavaiya, Romantic Mash-up and Phata Poster Nikla Hero. I not only create mash-ups for films but also themes like the one I did for Salman. The DJ has worked for many label companies and apart from T-Series, he is associated to Sony Music, Tips and Yash Raj music.
Trick with mash-up:
Getting the correct hook is the key. For instance, for Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani the hook was Dilliwaali Girlfriend Sharabi Hogaye. The best part here was the lyrics. The mash-up goes for a toss if you do not get the right hook.
Remixes v/s Mash-ups:
Making remixes is easy but mash-ups aren’t a cake walk. Not many DJ’s do mash-ups. Currently, I am working on Atif Aslam’s mash-up for more than a couple of months. However I am not satisfied. Cocktail mash-up took me days. I do not release the mash-ups unless I am satisfied.
Balancing profession and passion:
We run a family business of road construction and in the morning I am at the office discussing business. I love Djing. I own a club in Colaba called Alibii. Monday to Friday I work with my father. Once in a while, I leave office early and go to studio.
Journey:
I learnt the art of DJing at the age of 17, from an institution called Glamour India. People never encourage DJing much as they fear that one could pick up bad habits easily. When I started off my parents supported me. It was my dad who discovered me mixing music on my computer and said that I should take up a professional course. But the problem came when I immersed myself into it. This was when my family started opposing it. I also took a break of a couple of years for learning music production. I still remember the struggles I faced. There were times that I waited for hours at the T-series office. At last I found a person who helped me and for making things happen. I presented my concept to him and things worked out.Videos made DJ Suketu and DJ Aqeel famous. For e.g. Bin Tere Sanam was DJ Suketu’s video. Very soon I plan to have a video on my name.
Live performances:
I never play my own music or any mash-ups in clubs as it is confusing for the people on stage. Mash-up only looks good with videos as a human body does not understand how to react to changing tracks within few seconds. I don’t perform for live gigs as I am married (he laughs) and have to spend more time with my lovely wife. I avoid giving live performances unless asked for one by my friends. I never play at a club I get lot of offers. Even if I do then I go for it but along with my wife who has no idea about music I play (laughs) as she does not understand this kind of music. But I really appreciate it when she comes for the gigs.
