Gareth Emery recently played here as part of his world tour. He spoke to Iknoor Kaur about India's ultra music phase and his collaboration with a Chennai artist
Five years ago when he landed, he fell in love with the country and every time he returned after that his heart grew fonder of it. The feeling was mutual, we too fell in love with the tunes of Gareth Emery. Two major labels, over 100 records, 1000 gigs and 11 years of undying success, Emery has a long list of achievements.
A fairly new genre in the Indian circuit, the past few years have seen electronic dance music catapult into the next big thing in music. Over the years, India itself has produced over 50 such artists. According to Emery, India is experiencing ultra music and after the US, it will be the next trendsetter that follows music in its way. He recently played in the capital at Blue Frog as a part of his world tour.
Highest ranked British DJ, Gareth says that he has been very lucky with his music. “I’ve put up shows in my home city of Manchester, when nobody said my music would work in that city, I sold them out. I’ve played in Bengaluru at a time when dancing was technically banned, but we still danced. So it is definitely luck that got me here,” he shared.
Gareth feels that India has the right kind of people to enjoy this genre. “It is fantastic to watch the audience here dance to the music I play. I’ve always focussed on melody and tried to keep my music simple, effective and classy, while also being fun.”
He added that his tracks usually have a common theme, “My fans tell me they can immediately identify a ‘Gareth Emery’ track when they hear it… so there clearly are some themes that run through all of my tracks.”
Gareth is not very fond of travelling as it doesn’t give him enough time to himself. He said, “The biggest challenge for me right now is travelling. I have to take over 150 flights. Sometimes I feel it is nice to sit in the hotel and give some freedom to myself. My ambitions are bigger than any one sound or scene and its eclectically flavoured output is testament to that fact.”
The 32-year-old electronic music artist and producer commented on India’s future in EDM, “EDM scene is phenomenal here. Events are improving with better technology, lights, systems, creative sets and there is a certain difference which I see. In coming time, the electronic music would go from better to best.” Emery also expressed his desire to collaborate with an Indian artist. He shared, “I collaborated with an artist from Chennai, Brute Force for a track called Arrival from my last album. It is definitely something I would love to do again if given a choice.”
Currently Gareth is headed to Pune and Bengaluru. He is also writing his new artist album which will be his first in three years. He said, “It should be finished in the next three months so it should probably release by February next year. It’s a unique project. All my focus is on that as of now.”