Hey Deejay, don’t stop the music

Published in Mega Modelz magazine – Oct-Dec 2009 Issue – © Manali

MM on a tete-a-tete with India’s most beloved Deejay Akbar Sami, as he chats about music, deejaying and his favourite clubs across the world

From being a choreographer, you have established yourself as one of the most successful deejay in the country today. How did your journey begin?

I was at the peak of my career as a choreographer when I jumped into music. I was choreographing high-end fashion shows, broadway shows, dance shows and films for the people like Bharat Dabolkar, Sabira Merchant, J.P. Dutta and modelling for loads of advertising companies alongside. It was the mid 80’s then; deejaying in India hadn’t really picked up. And those few who were deejays were looking for an alternative career option as they could not see a successful future in this profession. Those times, the scene was so tedious that if the deejay didn’t go to work, the club would be shut for that evening as they wouldn’t have any replacing deejays. It was during that time when I took this job very seriously; don’t really know why… deejaying just felt like the right thing to do. My first gig was at a club called ‘Cavern’ at Sea Rock hotel in Bandra Bandstand, where I was forced to play by a friend who then was a manager of the club; as the in-house deejay didn’t turn up. And that pushed the envelope for me. Today, it feels fantastic to be at this place…

Great start! However, deejaying as a profession is considered to be very unconventional career in our country even today. Not many regard it as a preferred lifetime profession. What is your take on it?

Ladies and gentleman, once and for all I want to tell the whole country that deejaying is not like the regular 9-5 job. It’s an art only very few understand; the ones who have the sense of rhythm and love for music, knowledge in understanding different genres of music and sound can do well. There are about 60,000 or perhaps more deejays in our country today. Sadly, most of them have no clue as to what they are doing or why they are into it. Many of these become pseudo deejays by downloading random pirated music from the internet and try to get a job. Save for, that seldom works. Say, even my driver wants to do the same and believe me, he can easily do it and I won’t be surprised at all! Because at the end of the day it is all about playing those top 20 bollywood hits one after the other with the headphone hanging around the neck and posing shabby clothes with a case logic. Well, I feel sorry about the current status of most of the deejays in India. God help those who play for themselves. To cut it short, India would take another 15 years to get on as authentic disc jockey producers.

Indeed, a point to ponder upon. Anyhow, tell us about some fascinating aspects of being a deejay?

Remix music album of the movie Karz done by DJ Akbar Sami

It’s pretty simple. If you are someone who is social, adore travelling and loves to listen, play and mix music, create different tunes that feed people with newness of global sound and produce the sound of the season, make the crowd smile, enjoy and scream to the music you play, love being that centre of attraction, master of ceremony, king of the console and like applauses from the crowds at the end of that last song… and still be fascinated and kicked about the job, you’re a true deejay. This is what fascinates me too!

Exciting! So, which is your favourite genre of music?

My favourite genre would be Soul, Funk, Retro, Tribal House, Sufi and Quwalli. I specially love Retro music, as one can always relate to them… and it is fun to sing along and feel the nostalgic magic sometimes.

Waves about your new club venture ‘Bounce’ are tiding quite well, tell us more about it.

Well, the recently launched Bounce is located in Bandra, Mumbai. We play a lot of Retro, R&B, Hip Hop, House and some Bollywood. Bounce is open round the week and it’s surely a fun place for people to chill and take it easy after a long day at work. We are planning to launch several other ventures soon.

So do you prefer any particular city that you enjoying playing at the most?

I love playing at Bangalore, Kolkata and Mumbai. To tell you the truth, every city has its own charm. Everybody wants to listen to new and different sounds. It’s the work of deejay to give them that pleasure and this only comes with experience and time.

Talking about clubbing and parties, what makes a party really rocking?

One needs to consider several aspects to make a party successful. However, regular party essentials are to have a good host, easy venue, innovative theme, great music, powerful ambient lighting, good staff service, an efficient bar tender, well maintained and clean rest rooms, and a pro disc jockey that must know the guests profile invited for the do. Also, a very efficient valet staff, a friendly and welcoming guest list attendant, comfortable seating and smoking areas, house keeping, and a good sound system are other quintessential. One must not forget to attain the police and legal permissions. Also, other indispensables like the first aid kit, fire extinguishers, right temperature air-conditioning, mints and mouth fresheners, deodorants, sufficient toilet rolls around the rest rooms must not be ignored.

Moreover, one must make sure that there are enough drivers to drop off the guests at the end of the party. And of course, the food menu should be appealing enough that must have grilled barbeques, roasted meals along with colourful salads and enough optional drinks for the non alcoholics. At last but not the least, make sure the host is sober enough till the end of the party. With these things in place, the party would surely go smoothly and spell sweet success.

Sounds great! So any last tips you would like to share with the club hopping crowd?

Firstly, I would request all party hopping crowd to stay away from drugs. Trust me, it’s not a cool thing to do. And please do not drive if you are having alcohol. Also, always carry an identity card with you. And, on your way back home please avoid that long drive. Getting home is much better. Besides, get some sleep instead. Enjoy your life, it’s beautiful!

My Pick:

Perfume: Comme Des Garcons, Mont Blanc (Individuel), Aigner, Trussardi, Clinique, Dior.

Designer: Prada, Armani, Libas, Zara, Serious (Los Angeles), Diesel, Ferre, River Island, Roberto Cavalli.

Watches: Bvlgari, Breitling, Tag, Patek Philippe.

Car: Audi Q7, Lamboargni, Phantom, Beatle, Jeep, Merc S350.

Vacation spot: Ibiza, Bali, Lonavala, Mahableshwar, Kashmir.

My kind of place:

Mumbai: China house, Bounce, Zenzi and Blue Frog.

Delhi: Dublin, TV club, Capitol and Orange room.

Kolkata: Most of them!

Hyderabad: Underground, Bed lounge, Tantra, Excess, Bottles and Chimney and Liquids.

Goa: Mambos, Titos, Butter and Paradiso.

Bangalore: Spin, Fuga, Hint and Sutra.

San Francisco: Ruby Sky, Tork and Balistik.

Madrid: Zion, Bettyboo and Pasha.

London: Turnmills, Red Ice, Korks, Zuma, Jalouse, Movida and Nobu.

Dubai: Bang, Boudior, Sochos, Mint and many more.

Hong Kong: The Armani Club.