An evening with the Indian King of bass

Udyan Sagar has been producing electronic music for about 20 years now. What initially started as Bandish Projekt with his friend Mayur Narvekar in 1998 later branched out into his solo project and led to the genesis of the famous moniker Nucleya. Fondly known as the Bass Raja by his fans, the DJ is all set to enthrall EDM lovers in the city. This is going to be his last performance in Mumbai for a while since he plans to go on a sabbatical. “I am planning to take a six-months break from live shows. I will be playing tracks from my latest album Raja Baja, along with all of the hits from my previous albums. So I’m really looking forward to it,” he shares.

The initial years of establishing his brand Nucleya in 2008 were difficult he admits. “While it was tough to get work in the initial couple of years, things started to change for me in 2011 and my music finally gained an audience after the release of my first EP, Koocha Monster. Since then I have successfully released two full-length albums Bass Rani and Raja Baja,” he reminisces.

Both of these two albums, were released with much fanfare and had his trademark touch of experimention with various genres of music  from India being featured as a part of it. The albums also featured several collaborations including percussionist, Sivamani. Ask him about his source of inspiration and he says, “I don’t draw inspiration from any particular kind of music. I listen to a lot of different kinds of music.”  Hoever, the EDM maestro admits a preference towards Bollywood music. “I prefer Hindi Film music from the’70s and ’80s. I do have a couple of projects lined up in Bollywood at the moment but it’s too  early to speak about them,” he reveals.

Speaking about the drum and bass and dubstep in India, the artist seems to be not only hopeful but also excited. “The music scene has definitely evolved and tremendously. With the rise of producers such as Su Real, SickFlip, Ritviz and many more, it’s pretty evident that the audience has a liking towards this genre of music.”

The artist, who has played at major music festivals like Glastonbury, Edinburgh, Fringe, Lille and Electron, among others, agrees that the audience reflects his energy on stage. “I’ve had good shows and bad shows throughout my career and one thing that I’ve learned is to take back positive feedback,” he says.

Now that he is not going to be performing live for six months, what’s more on the radar apart from the music, we ask, “I’m going to spend time with my wife and son! They are my ultimate support system.  On my day off’s I wake up at 7 am everyday, get my five-year-old son ready for school, make him breakfast and drop him off,” he shares.

On March 26, 7 pm onwards
At Dublin Square, Phoenix Marketcity, Kurla
Tickets: Rs 499