The Bangin Beats Recaps “Escalate with Skream & Benga” with Oji Founder Mikhail Mehra
We’re never going to be able to erase the 12th of May from our heads. That particular Sunday, was easily one of the highlights of our year. For those of you, who (shamefully) need to be reminded, it was the day that Oji ripped our faces off. It was the evening of the spectacularly infamous Skream & Benga gig at Sitara Studios in Mumbai.
Now, Oji has released a recapitulation of what went down that day, and yes, as you can see, it was nothing short of unparalleled insanity. For those of you who were present, this is a perfect opportunity for you to have semi seizures, like y’all did that night, once again. For those of you who missed it, this serves as the best “in your face for missing it” message.
Mikhail Mehra, founder of Oji and the mastermind behind the Escalate event, wanted to bring the authentic feel of how bass heavy and underground sounds were experienced internationally to home soil. He says, that the idea behind trapping a huge crowd, who submitted themselves voluntarily to being plummeted by varying intensities of bass in a dark, dinghy warehouse , was essentially the primary idea. He was in conversation with Bangin Beats. Here’s what he had to say.
Mikhail: I just wanted to build something, and I thought to myself why not build it in India, where I have the home court advantage.
TBB: Did you originally envision a warehouse like venue or did that just happen along the course of the planning?
Mikhail: It was always going to be a sweaty grimey warehouse from day 1. All about the sound, all about the vibes, no frills no bullshit. Electronic music wasn’t always going down in giant festivals and massive clubs, though this is not to say that I don’t love those types of shows, which I do. But it wasn’t always so sanitized and acceptable culturally. I almost wanted an element of danger to be present. And dubstep especially was all about sound and a dark room, I wanted to try and re-create that in Mumbai.
TBB: What according to you is the future of oji? What acts can we expect to see in future?
Mikhail: No expectations, no disappointment.
TBB: How, according to you, is Oji different from all the other event companies out there in the Indian scene today?
Mikhail: I don’t think its about that, I was inspired by what I saw when I went to the MTV Bloc Party and then right after went to a Grime Riot Disco party. Every company brings something to the table and at the end of the day we all eat at the same table.