Chennai electronica quartet BLaNK played Bestival this year. For the uninitiated, Bestival is a four-day music festival at Robin Hall Country park on the Isle of Wight, England. The band won the Pro Category of Submerge’s Ultimate DJ Championship and their prize was a slot at the festival. We caught up with before the gig and had a chat about how they made it to the festival, the EDM scene in Chennai and how despite being successful, independent DJs, a group can work.
Excerpts from a phone interview with band member Dinraj Pradeep, who performs under the moniker VJA1ive.
“We all went to the same college, we shared the same interests and well, it clicked,” says Pradeep. Students of the School of Audio Engineering, Dinraj and founding member DJ Manny were classmates when they got to know each other, while Skip (the band’s turntablist) recently got done with his stint there. Each of the four members, Dinraj, Ajmal, Manny and Skip, have fairly successful independent careers as DJs. Each of them focuses on a specialized genre of music, be it breakbeat, techno, progressive or house, putting together the best of each to make music as a group.
“The idea of forming BLaNK was to have a live act that specializes in EDM. You have DJs who can play pre-recorded stuff, but there’s hardly any people getting innovative with EDM,” Pradeep explains. “Three weeks before the (Submerge) championship the four of us decided to get together and do this, hoping to have some fun on stage. We went on to win that and finally play a full house at Blue Frog in Mumbai. It was a great to be adjudged the best live act in India for that year by Above and Beyond,” he explains. “We had no clue about Bestival back then. Once we won the championship, Nikhil (Chinappa) announced that news from British Council had just been confirmed and as the winners, we would be playing a slot. It was all happening too fast and it’s a surreal experience to know we’ll be playing there.”
“You know, most people would kill to be playing at such a stage, a platform. What started off as a casual thing for us has evolved into something this big,” says Pradeep. “The good thing is, most people in the UK have a very rich taste in music – of any genre. So, we’re really excited to be playing there.” When asked about the slot timing, ie 11 AM he was quick to tell us, “The time really doesn’t matter. It’s the morning slot, so most people who will be camping at the festival will be there to hear us along with a sizable audience who are really interested in music.” He also mentioned that the quartet was looking to keep the set easy, free flowing and not digress towards heavier tunes.
As we spoke further, talking about recognition in the country, Pradeep was of the opinion that India is slowly embracing their kind of music and specifically mentioned how Submerge was doing a good job of promoting them and similar acts. He also namedropped New Delhi electronica act Dualist Inquiry, who recently launched his debut EP Dualism (review here) saying, “Yeah, he’s been producing some great tracks independently. It’s a good sign. Also, Delhi has the kind of audience for our tunes.” He expressed disappointment about Chennai lagging behind in terms of accepting their sound as a band, as compared to Bangalore where they’ve played a couple of “special nights” where the audience was open to their music.
Upon returning from Bestival, the band plans to take up their act professionally. With a definite plan in place and working around things to make sure they’re consistent, Pradeep informs us. “We’re looking to add a visual element to our act and also another member to the band. A visual element is necessary to build a great overall experience. It’ll be more like version 2.0 of the band.” As we wish him luck for Bestival he reiterated that it was all happening too fast, and the feeling was surreal indeed, and their flight was due in a couple of hours.
BLaNK played a 90-minute set on The Roller Disco stage at Bestival 2011 on September 10.
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