The Top 10 Homegrown Talents To Look Out For In 2015

Last year saw a phenomenal surge in artists and musicians coming to the fore, in capturing India’s apt rise and presence within the International Dance Music community. A lot of credit must be given to the talent scouts; the artist agencies and promoters here in India who have worked tirelessly in bringing all this prodigious talent into the mainstream consciousness, increasing their social media presence as well as allowing them to be heard of by international record labels and agencies. We take a closer look at the artists who have shown triggers of International acclaim in the last year, and who are destined to carry the Indian flag forward, representing not only their hometowns but the sub-continent’s many distinct cultures and musical nuances.

As a fitting conclusion to our series #Beatsof2014, where we counted down the Best of 2014, we take a premonitive look forward, where we predict the The Top 10 Homegrown Talents to look out for in 2015.

10. The Dirty Code

Siddharth Sharma (NDS) & Gaurav Sharma(Blue) have quickly become one of the most talented dance music producers in India, with releases on top international labels and a lot more in process. Their tracks have been supported by Armin Van Buuren, Above & Beyond, Paul Van Dyk and Markus Schulz. Having always had a passion for music, the duo’s tracks ‘Alpha‘ and ‘Contra‘ have created a strong brunt on the playlists, with the former entering the Beatport Top 100 Trance and the latter having more than 15,000 downloads all over India! They also were one of the few Indian acts to have performed at the iconic Marenostrum Music Festival, Valencia garnering huge support from International crowds as well. Here’s to a fantastic 2015 for the Delhi lads!

Hopefully in the years to come, there will be many more to add to the list, but until then, Aerreo will remain the first ever Indian DJ/Producer to have an original single featured on Nicky Romero’s ‘Protocol Radio’. Besides that fantastic achievement, Nikhil Mehta also is one of the very few Indian DJ’s to have played at the renowned Ministry of Sound Club, London. Currently based in London, where he moved to to pursue his dreams, shows the young and upcoming producer’s perseverance in fulfilling his passion. Having won the prestigious DJ competition at Asia’s biggest dance music happening – Sunburn Festival, not once, but twice! 2014 saw him collaborate with Trance vocalist champion Jonny Rose for ‘Meteorite‘ while 2015 already sees him land a record deal with Cr2 Records. Here’s wishing Aerreo a fantastic 2015 ahead!

Indian duo Beatstatic have had one of those career journeys that really deserve a movie deal for it!  Suraj Nambiar & Rachit Jobalia, who go by the aliases Jarus & Kroschild, used to work for an Airlines service, before they both decided to change their flight paths and enter into the music industry. And what a wise decision that was! The duo were in the news in 2014 for all the right reasons as they began climbing Beatport charts. They became the first Indian act to reach the Top 100 Electro Chart on Beatport, with “Leaving The Lights” reaching #9, and “I Want That Beat” reaching #28. In addition, they’ve also been featured on the “Top 10 Must Hear Electro Tracks” twice! We’d say it’d be difficult to top this, but knowing Beatstatic and their penchant for driving music and cutting-edge studio perfection, there is nothing this duo is not capable of achieving.

Jaipur based producer Gagan Gandhi aka Skyknock has garnered an impressive fan following in the last twelve months, owing to his eclectic and original style of Progressive and Chill-out music. Making music that is melodic and rich with emotive synths and waveforms, Skyknock was awarded India’s no.1 Chillout Producer Award 2012-2013 by MyFavDJ.in for his promising music. Having collaborated with artists around the world he’s been consistently supported with artist such as Myon n Shane 54, Markus Schulz, Blake Jarrel, Jaytech, Zack Roth, Ad Brown and many more, while working on labels such as Nueva Digital , Progressive House Worldwide , Arrival and Encanta. 2015 looks like its going to be a promising year for Skyknock as he looks to churn out some more emotive music in the coming months.

Nakul Ambilkar has been one of those producers who have quietly garnered acclaim and respect from every corner of the industry owing to his visionary driving Progressive House and Techno music style. Through his artist alias of SEQU3L, Nakul has been on point from the word go, when his first progressive tune “We Evolve” became a breakthrough single and was instantly signed by Markus Schulz for Buenos Aires’13 Compilation CD on Armada music! With support through radio airplays from industry giants such as Above & Beyond, Markus Schulz, Gareth Emery, Max Graham, Jaytech, Moguai, Paul Thomas, Jerome Isma-Ae, Grube & Hovsepian, etc., his music has regularly featured on Beatport, landing in highly-influential charts like “Top 10 Must Hear Progressive House Tracks”. His ability to seamlessly blend Tech, Progressive & Trance elements together in a DJ set as well as on music productions, SEQU3L managed to develop a unique signature style with a deep, harmonious sound, surreal atmosphere, chunky grooves, heavy basslines, tight production quality, a melody that is dancefloor-friendly yet emotionally touching he captured attention of the top underground as well as main stream artists. With collaborations & remixes for noted artists like Funkagenda, Max Freegrant, Paul Thomas and more in the pipeline, it can be simply concluded that 2015 seems to be Nakul and India’s finest!

When it comes to Big Room and Festival anthems, Indian audiences never fall far behind. And leading their charge into the international waters is Delhi based Sahil Sharma aka Zaeden. It’s been a massive year for the young producer as he became the first Indian to feature on the Hardwell On Air radio show and his remix for Coldplay’s ‘Magic‘ became the Demo of the Week on the show. Furthermore, he became the first Indian artist to be signed on by Spinnin’ Records and Music All Stars, putting him in the league of the most extraordinary producers on the planet. And topping it all, he also performed at the iconic Marenostrum Music festival at Valencia, Spain taking India forward and cementing its position in the international music scene.

Its been an almost unbelievable year for young Shaan! With accolade after accolade and breaking milestone after milestone, the prodigious producer took the world by storm by his and the country’s maiden Tomorrowland performance. His passion for Dance Music transpires into his sets as he has undeniably become the face of EDM in India, given his strong credentials and performance ventures having consistently been part of the Sunburn lineup as early as 2011. Having opened for artists such as Dash Berlin, Tiesto, Swedish House Mafia and Axwell /\ Ingrosso, Shaan also has the accolade of becoming the first Indians to close the infamous BOX at Ministry of Sound London twice. Shaan also played at Marenostrum Festival in Valencia to a crowd of over 6,000 people, before he took the ultimate prize of becoming the first Indian DJ to ever play at arguably the world’s biggest Dance Music festival Tomorrowland! His music enthralled the Tomorrowland Radio crew so much so that he was invited to premier his brand new single on Tomorrowland Radio to 40 million listeners! Its clear that 2014 was undoubtedly his year and 2015 can only become bigger and better for the young producer! Here’s wishing him all the best for the year ahead!

Delhi based Sarthack Sardana‘s journey is the one dreams are made of! The humble producer-turned-DJ shifted from being a Chartered Accountancy finalist to a talented music producer. Sartek is now the first Indian to have signed an ‘original single’ on Tiesto’s imprint Magik Muzik, a part of Blackhole Recordings. Supported by Myon & Shane54, First State, Marcus Schossow, Sunny Lax, Above & Beyond,Karanda, Mark Eteson and Bart Claessen to name a few, it was voted the track of the week on legendary British producer Andy Duguid‘s Radioshow After Dark Sessions. His performance re-portiere speaks miles as he has opened for legends such as Rank1, First State, Max Vangelli, Steve Aoki, Sick Individuals, Fedde Le Grand, Paul Van Dyk, Quintino, Ummet Ozcan,Showtek and Andrew Rayel. His tracks ‘Apocalypse‘ and ‘Dopamine‘ were featured heavily on radio shows around the world with massive support from Beatport, David Guetta, Sander Van Doorn, Steve Aoki, Deniz Koyu, Chuckie, Bassjackers, Lucky Date, Gregori Klossman, First State, Sebastien Bennet and many more through their radioshows. His energetic presence on the decks and his resilient hardworking attitude has impressed many from within the industry as the young lad is tipped for awaited greatness. Here’s wishing Sartek an emphatic 2015 ahead!

In an era of social-media driven PR and omni-present festival appearances, Goa based producer Rishab Joshi has shown that there’s no substitute for good music. The hardworking producer has made a strong mark on the national scene before stepping into the lush international waters this years, and taking India to never before ventured terrains. In a mere span of 12 months, Joshi has made an impressive string of releases with ‘Paramount‘, ‘Quicksilver‘, ‘Morjim‘, ‘Stealth‘ among many more on reputed labels such as Blackhole Recordings, Colorize (Enhanced), Perceptive Recordings. He’s also gone ahead and remixed The Doors and John Newman, that has landed him frequent radio support from artists such as Markus Schulz on Global DJ Broadcast, Matt Darey on Nocturnal Radio, Aly & Fila on Future Sound Of Egypt, Jaytech, Tydi, Kyau & Albert, Max Graham, Myon and Shane 54 amongst others. With a sound style that predominantly ranges from Deep house to Progressive trance, Joshi‘s productions are ethereal and euphoric with a sonic signature that is sure to take you on a euphoric ride into Dance utopia.Having lived in North America and the UK for the past five years, Joshi has been at the forefront of the burgeoning clubbing scene, and has gained a vital understanding of crowds across the world.  He was the first Indian to be featured on Above & Beyond’s Group Therapy Radio show and to win the Web Vote in the subsequent week, on the very same show! Apart from this, his work has been featured on the legendary iTunes chart topping compilation, In Search Of Sunrise: Las Vegas, conceived by none other than Tiesto, and mixed by Richard Durand!  His deep house productions are no less in critical acclaim as his track ‘Raging Blue’ has found many a note of praise for the young and talented producer. 2014 closed with Joshi landing himself a signed deal with none other than Armada music – cementing his presence in the Global Dance Music fraternity! 2015 can only look up for the young and restless producer. Here’s wishing him the very best for the year ahead!