Yes, we’re talking about the DJs in town, also known as Disc Jockeys. And just like DJ Paul Van DYK, DJ Enferno, DJ Skribble, DJ David Guetta, and DJ Armin Van Burren in America and DJ TAVO, DJ NYK, DJ ICE and DJ Naren in India, Nepal’s music market also has its own faces of DJs who are living with music on their own terms and conditions and with numerous challenges ahead.
Until 2004, Kathmandu had no idea of making the celebrations loud. The most common way to mark the occasions was a family get together. The streets of Kathmandu looked bizarre during the festive hours and people hardly knew anything about the clubbing recreation. After 2004, the capital went on to experiment new ways of celebrating. With Thamel exposing new nightclubs and pubs, many liked the idea of grooving to the music. And in no time, many from the young generation liked experimenting with music. Soon, they understood what sound mixing was all about and got the idea that it’s a DJ who does the job.
By 2005, Kathmandu went on loud during various fiestas and saw its limited DJs revive and remake the old Nepali songs into different tempos and beats. This trend quickly got adapted by the people in Pokhara and Dharan, too. Today, DJ-ing is no new phenomena in town.
But, even though there are many parties hosted every month in town, does this job really make good money or are our young lads trying it just for some fun time?
Some of the sought-after DJs in Kathmandu speak to Republica about their way of listening to music and the challenges they have to face in this profession:
Biruman Prajapati, more popularly known as DJ BMAN ran a music CD store in Thamel. He never thought that one day he would become a DJ. However, he liked to try sound mixing at his store, and during the festival time, he practiced it in his shop and welcomed those who wanted to move their toes. Five years before, a crew of DJs from Bangalore came to visit Nepal and hosted a workshop on DJ-ing. BMAN attended it “out of curiosity” and soon he started playing music at Fire and Ice in Thamel. He loved the job and became the prime DJ for the Thamel Street Festival that happens every year. Rather than becoming a resident DJ at any particular club and hotel, he chose to become a freelancer.
“There are classifications of DJs. I don’t play music at random private parties like some young people do in this line. I’m more focused on festive celebrations and musical jamming,” he said.
BMAN reveals that a professional DJ in town can make upto Rs 40,000 a show ifI it’s done in 5-star deluxe hotels.
DJ BMAN, DJ Payal and DJ SurrRepublica
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Though he says it’s not difficult to manage your daily expenses as a DJ, he however says that it’s unlikely for him to take up DJ-ing as his mainstream profession.
“You never know what happens here. Because there’s uncertainty almost in every aspect,” he added.
Reportedly, the only popular lady DJ in town, DJ Payal firmly stands to her opinion that Nepal still hasn’t come to an age when a DJ can survive totally on a sound-mixing job.
She made it quite clear, “Look at the number of nightclubs in town. There are hardly a dozen. Besides, most of us are freelancers in this profession. To meet your requirements as a DJ, it’s a must that you have to become a resident DJ of a hotel so that you get your monthly salary. We depend on seasonal breaks and keep track of parties. At times, it’s good money.”
In addition, Payal is disappointed to see how young boys have misunderstood the whole idea of DJs, and they have tagged themselves as one for “cheap publicity” and “media hype.”
On the contrary, DJ Kranti said one can make enough money to make a comfortable living in Kathmandu if one really wants to.
“This is not theoretical, it’s practical-based. So if you master the practical knowledge required in this field, there’s no stopping you. You don’t even need a formal education. It’s like playing guitar. Once you can read the notations and can play chords, it’s entirely upto you if you want to be like Joe Satriani or just want to play for yourself,” Kranti enunciated.
Similarly, DJ Surr always wanted to take up the profession seriously. But he’s worried about the society which, according to him, hasn’t understood this profession.
DJ Ankit & DJ KrantiRepublica
“Everything else is fun and comfortable in this job, but to get scolded by your parents every night, after the party, it feels bad to realize how your guardians haven’t understood your priorities in life,” Surr shared in a disappointed voice.
Another DJ, Ankit Kocher had something different to say, “DJ-ing in Kathmandu has definitely evolved. The crowd understands and acknowledges what it takes to rinse out good times and good music. People have started following their favorite DJs, making it a point to appear for their entire gig and reciprocate the effort.”
He finds ample talents in the capital’s DJs and believes that they can make it big globally.
“They have an ear for picking up good sounds. This profession has brought unimaginable growth in my persona. I started DJ-ing more than a decade back, and back then, there wasn’t a dedicated institution which could part education in this trade, so I made an effort to open a music institution. There’s a lot of money in this profession, provided the desire to learn and succeed in you never dies,” he elaborated.
Like these sound mixers and twisters, some other renowned names like DJ Raju and DJ Ankit are also quite serious about what they are doing. In fact, DJ Raju even runs a school where he offers DJ courses to fresh candidates, and DJ Ankit keeps himself updated on promoting party trends in and around the Kathmandu Valley through his music company PlayMySound.
In a nutshell, no matter how alluring it may look like to be known as a DJ in town, most DJs agree that they have side jobs to back up in case of emergency. Most of them indulge themselves in producing their own music and record labels. It’s another story that many original singers have often complained that DJs have killed the originality from their evergreen numbers by remixing them. To that, these professionals say together, “If that’s really so, they shouldn’t permit us to remake or remix their songs. Besides, there are so many Nepali songs which would’ve lost their identity. We keep them alive as far as possible and we try our best not to destroy the flow of the songs.”
