An electronic music lover’s heaven, Disrupt festival returns for its 3rd edition this weekend. The two-day festival features renowned international as well as local names and is set to take place at one of Mumbai’s favorite venues – the newly reopened antiSOCIAL on the 23 rd & 24th November. With a focus on marrying cutting-edge music technology with raging electronic music, Disrupt festival is something that you cannot miss. To get you in the rhythm, here’s a compact Spotify playlist that will give you a sense of what to expect.
Buy tickets to Disrupt festival here. Listen and read about artists on the festival lineup here below.
Acid Arab
Formed in 2012 by Parisian DJs Guido Minisky and Hervé Carvalho, Acid Arab patiently honed their style by meeting with scores of artists from all over North Africa and the Middle East. Born in the transcultural cauldron that is Paris, their concept was to create a space for Arab culture in the world of contemporary electronic music. Moving on to create their own tracks, they became a fully-fledged musical entity by teaming up with Pierrot Casanova, Nicolas Borne, and later with sensational Algerian keyboard player Kenzi Bourras. Since the release of their debut album Musique de France, Acid Arab performed all around the world. Hear their track Gul l’Abi below:
AsymetriK
Cinematic in vision, ‘AsymetriK’ is a bold and experimental side-project by Arjun Vagale, a celebrated artist from the techno and electronic movement in India. Free-diving into the concepts of abstraction and the general abuse of waveforms gives rise to an alternative ideology, where Vagale reimagines the abyss of space, dark yet luminous, a place of contradiction and duality. Intense, twisting, almost haunting, these evocative moodscapes are shot through with oblique waves of light, cascading to build a deeply atmospheric yet industrial production. Hear his Boiler Room set below:
Babloo Babylon
Babloo Babylon’s legend has been growing – slowly, deliberately – in the underground music space in India over the past few years. The infamous and mysterious artist is an almost accurate representation of where the beat scene is heading towards in India. His songs have the distinct whiff of a bygone era and he has a distinctive knack for blending vintage Bollywood with beats to create something exciting and unusual. In spite of making public appearances at Boiler Room (Delhi) and Magnetic Fields (Alsisar), the identity of this elusive producer remains a mystery.
DJ EZ
DJ EZ is a UK Garage DJ from Tottenham, North London. He was one of the earliest proponents of UK garage music. In 2016, DJ EZ announced that he would be playing a 24-hour set, with all proceeds going to Cancer Research UK. DJ EZ’s unique set quickly became a trending topic on social media sites including Twitter and Facebook and thanks to his incredible stamina, and of course, thousands of supporters, over £60,000 was raised. Hear one of his Boiler Room sets below:
Jubilee
Jubilee has been staying up all night since as long as anyone can remember. She grew up in South Florida on the sounds of Miami bass, freestyle and Dirty South rap blasting from local radio stations like Power 96 and 99 Jamz. Her debut record from year 2016, “After Hours”, was a love letter to the music and culture of her native Florida.
Kumail
25-year-old Kumail Hamid’s electronic music explores the more ethereal regions of sound. Hailing from the city of Mumbai, Kumail’s soundscape is essentially an eclectic mix of ambient music and broken beats. He combines bass with heavily manipulated live recording and atmospheric sounds and rhythms that play in sections. Hear Kumail’s She Sand Sea below :
Machinedrum
Travis Stewart known as Machinedrum has produced and composed over a dozen albums under various aliases since his first independent release in 1999. Covering an astonishing variety of styles with ease, through solo Machinedrum work and with collaborative projects Sepalcure, JETS, Dream Continuum, or other mutations, Stewart has established himself as electronic music’s true renaissance man. Hear Machinedrum’s groovy Gunshotta below:
OX7GEN
Hailing from the shores of Bombay city, OX7GEN is drummer Aditya Ashok’s alter ego. Ashok’s love for Drum & Bass is no secret, but he brings a myriad of influences to OX7GEN’s sound. Being a producer-DJ and a live drummer adds layers of versatility, leveling to a one of a kind dance floor experience. With 7 years of extensive touring & several independent releases later, OX7GEN has become synonymous with drum & bass in the country. Hear Ox7gen’s Dimensions below :
Sandunes
Composer, beatsmith, pianist and keys player working between Berlin, London and her native Mumbai, Sandunes is one of India’s finest electronic musicians. A stellar 2017 saw her open for Bonobo at Manchester Cathedral, present a new commission for Warp Records & Boiler Room at London’s Barbica Centre, take-on India’s celebrated Magnetic Fields festival and tour the US in support of Pretty Lights. Hear her Resident Advisor session here below:
Sarah Farina
One of Berlin’s premier DJs, Sarah Farina was a driver behind the 2010 formation of Through My Speakers. The event production collective has grown to become a burgeoning record label, thrusting underground producers and DJs onto the decks of progressive club nights and the playlists of bass fans across Europe and beyond. And what you’ll hear from Sarah Farina’s sets is seamlessly blended bass-heavy footwork and futuristic beats, with fearless forays through R&B and UK Funky. It’s inclusive, forward-thinking and unrestrained. It’s a genre-rejecting style that she’s named rainbowbass. Hear her Boiler Room set below :
Buy tickets to Disrupt festival here.
