We are super stoked to give you, our readers, our first ever domestic interview and to be honest who better than one of the leading Producers/Dj’s from the country, the bass music maverick, Sound Avtar, who’s known to friends and those close to him as Piyush Bhatnagar.
Piyush is a driven guy who’s been making a great mark for himself in recent times with handwork, creativity and innovation. Be it releasing sizeable amounts of music this year in the form of a few EP’s, Remix’s and Single’s; or driving bass music to Bollywood; to playing some of the most spectacular live show’s, he’s doing it all and that too with unbelievable ease.
Read ahead as we give you an interview with the man himself who’s reaching out and mapping the globe with his music.
Q) Tell us you’re story. How did you get into production and DJing? What influenced you to take it up?
Sound Avtar – Music has always been my first love and a passion. As a child, I grew up listening to varied forms of music and observing background scores in movies & dramas. Learning and mastering the production skills was the best thing to do. I joined SAE later and did a Diploma in Audio Engineering & Recording arts, which further accentuated my production skills. It’s been a gradual journey since I started and music & Dj’ing have always been a part of me.
Q) Given that dubstep has developed a big following in India, even now its not probably as widespread as house, electro or commercial music. What prompted you to go on to making Dubstep and Drum & Bass?
Sound Avtar – First, it’s the feel of this genre and secondly it gives me more room to experiment with my sounds. I loved this genre since very beginning, back in the days I used to listen to UK Garage & Drum & Breaks has been a huge influence on me. And the time when I first started producing tracks, not many guys here in India were making bass heavy tracks, that was also an essential point in choosing this genre to do something different and be experimental with my tracks. However the biggest influence would be the feel that it brings onto me. Its something I can relate myself to.
Q) That said how do you think Dubstep has evolved in the country? Internationally, its gone from underground to mainstream, do you feel that’s bound to happen soon in India as well?
Sound Avtar – Its already started to get mainstream in India, all the new Tv commercials have Dubstep or D&B influences in them. Bollywood is accepting it as well. Gangs of Wasseypur and other movies have at least one dubstep score in it. Attendance in our bass heavy gig is good and people do show up for a bass heavy gig, so its good !
Q) Are there any artist you look up to? Tell us your favorite producers who you would want to possibly work with in the future?
Sound Avtar – There are lots of them.
-Culprate
-Pegboard Nerds
-Krewella
-Adventure Club
Q) We heard you brought the house down at NH7 Weekender Pune’s Dubstation this year with a stellar show of SoundAvtar music. Is it safe to say it was one of you’re biggest shows? What was the vibe like at the gig?
Sound Avtar – I really loved performing there. Yes the performance was mind blowing; I got lots of positive reviews for it. I have no idea about if it was the biggest but its was definitely the loudest! Haha
Thanks to everyone for coming out and enjoying my music there!
Download the set here: – https://soundcloud.com/soundavtar/sound-avtar-bacardi-nh7
Sound Avtar live at the Dubstation at the NH7 Festival, Pune 2012
Q) A lot of producers in India despise Bollywood music, yet you’ve gone on to do “Chikni Chameli (dub refix)” and the highly acclaimed, “KKL” which is the official remix of “Keh ke Loonga” from the movie, Gangs of Wasseypur 2. In a way you’ve embraced Bollywood. What prompted you do so? What attracts you to bollywood music?
Sound Avtar – Why not? The whole scene in India is changing and when bollywood is opening up to it, its good to be a part of that momentum. And besides, its gets me paid, so yes! Bring it on!! 😀
Q) We also heard that you have an EP coming up for release! Tell us something about it?
Sound Avtar – The new Ep “Cursed/ The last life” Ep is out on Rub A Duck and is doing pretty well. “Cursed” and “The Last Life” represent Sound Avtar’s style perfectly.
It has been perfectly reviewed by Dimitri Kechagias:
“Cursed” is a top notch 7 plus minutes strange journey of hard hitting but slow moving basslines while on the breakdown great strings, violins and orchestral classical music theme elevate the whole track to another dimension. Cinematic and highly atmospheric perfect for home listening and in club environments as well.
On the other hand “The Last Life” starts with cool breaks/ drum n bass intro section with epic piano theme and electronic blippy melodies as well. Don’t be fooled cause this is not a lullaby. Without any warning the crashing, booming, banging, rough and shaking basslines come to the surface. The piano theme re-appears in certain moments along with the light drum n bass parts to calm your senses.
Both the tracks are charting in Beatport’s TOP 100 CHART right now and as well as the EP is in TOP 30 of Dubstep TOP 100 Releases.
Beatport Link: http://www.beatport.com/release/cursed-and-the-last-life/997310
Q) 2012 saw you release a lot of material. Was that planned? That said what does the future hold for you?
Sound Avtar – It wasn’t planned, as per saying it but yes, I wanted to release significant music in 2012 and somehow things turned out in the same direction.
Future has a lot of big remixes, some original tracks. I’m constantly working on my sound; you’ll find a lot of trap influence in my tracks. Some bollywood projects are also lined up. You’ll see as the year unfolds itself.
Q) You have multiple releases with Blackhole Recordings label Rub A Duck, How do you see labels doing in India in the future? What do you think is the feasibility of EDM labels in India?
Sound Avtar – It still needs to come a long way from where it currently is. But the whole EDM scene is stirring and I’m sure that things will change for sure in the next couple of years. India has a good EDM market, its building up, the bubble’s going to burst soon.
Q) Being an Indian portal on the electronic music scene what steps do you feel we should follow to grow and along with ourselves help the Indian electronic music scene grow?
Sound Avtar – 1. Urge your fans to buy our music.
2. Support local artists
Q) In you’re view, Tell us 3 indian electronic music producers/acts who you think are ready to go international and put india on the world map?
1. Arjun Vagale : Refocus
2. Reggae Rajahs
3. East Stepper
Thank You for the interview. We’ll see you at the next Sound Avtar gig!
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