Pepped up for his performance in the Capital, Diplo tells R Sharma that people can expect the music group in sherwani and how Skrillex is a spokesman for young talent’
Founder of record label, Mad Decent, Thomas Wesley Pentz aka Diplo, and lead member of the Major lazer, is going to bring the wildly popular concert, Mad Decent Block Party, for the first time to India. With their commercial hit lean on, the group became a household name as they grooved to desi dance moves and catchy lyrics amid the backdrop of Karjat, Maharashtra. This is precisely the reason why no DJ could skip playing the hit number at one of the biggest music festivals in the country — Sunburn. Diplo explains why he can’t track competition and his relationship with Sorry singer Justin Bieber.
As Mad Decent Block Party makes its India debut, what can we expect from the big nightIJ
America’s biggest dance event is making its India debut and you sure need to be excited. A big thumbs up to our local partner Sunburn for making this happen, finally. It’s like a concoction of mainstream electronic and hip-hop music with influences from the past and present styles of electro, moombahton, dancehall, dubstep, trap, et al. You can expect some out of the box visual artistry, theatrical stage tactics, distilled line-up and a family-friendly aesthetic. We encourage you to bring your family along. So if your grandpa loves to do the funky chicken to Jack U’s Take U There, this is the place to bring him. It’s not your average block party. Big Gigantic, Gorgon City, Giraffage, are all making their first time visits to the country.
Is there anything special that you are going to do for your Indian fansIJ
Maybe come dressed in a sherwani and turbans on stageIJ India is such a majestic land filled with beautiful people. The country is special and its beauty has absolutely humbled me. When we toured there as Major lazer, it was mind-blowing to see our fan-base and we wanted to keep coming back for more. The experience we got from India is something we’ll never forget.
You recent mix of Justin Bieber’s Where Are U Now with Skrillex turned out to be really successful. How do you react to thatIJ
With Justin, after we did Where are Ü now, I feel like we really owed him some work on his next album, because he gave us such a strong record. I’ve known him for six years through Usher, and I’ve always kept it really cool with him and his whole squad. In retrospect, we worked on some songs together that kind of got buried but we worked really hard on them and we liked what we did. So it’s cool that six years later, he did this favour for me and it turned out to be something great. Where are Ü now is the kind of thing neither of us could have done on our own. I just listened to his music, advised and made adjustments to new songs. I helped with the overall feel of the sound that we started with Jack U and raced a lot of io Hawks in the studio. It’s one of the strongest records he had on his album, but he had no production for it. We transformed it into something different. It’s crazy because it’s the first radio record he’s had since Baby. Bieber’s so talented, he needs to just be himself and be by himself and work on his craft. He has a lot of people around; he has to find the right team to help him make something that’s going to stand alone. I feel like Skrillex has this sort of Kurt Cobain attitude, where he’s like a spokesman for a lot of kids. And he’s so talented and positive. He could be a sort of star. He’s got nobody guiding him but his fan base is rabid. I love the way he hears everything, and he’s one of the best mixers I’ve ever worked with. Nobody’s louder and cleaner than him.
EDM seems to be growing by the day. Do you think the genre is going to stay or going to vanish like a bubbleIJ
It’s an evolution. The thing is that, every musical genre starts from the underground, gets trendy, becomes popular, and then it dies or it is reinvented in a different way. It keeps evolving — every year something new comes up, and now it’s at the highest it ever has been. So now I don’t know how much higher it will get. It has been more than 20-25 years that this music is existing, so it’s amazing.
At a time where we have a new talent coming in every six months, how do you wish to sustain in this competitive industryIJ
It’s always about being at the top of your game. We focus on what we are going to put out and all our energies are focussed on creating timeless music and newer sounds. Where’s the time to track competitionIJ
Any plans to collaborate with Indian artistesIJ
Oh yes I’d love to. I think India has a bunch of talented people. I am finishing up the next album that’s out this August or September and its been a crazy time touring. You might hear a few of the songs while we’re in India.
Mad Decent Block Party will take place on February 20 at Dhanchiri Camp, Gurgaon