Lukan on India’s Electronic Scene

Lukan, the moniker of Nakul Mehan, is no less than an innovator from what can be best described as the first surge of house and techno in India. Lukan’s act is unconventionally deeper than a mere display of sounds – it’s a musical translation of the differences in personalities and interests of Nakul and Lukan, who otherwise lead opposite lives. The Indian producer further extends this ideology of opposites to all his graphical aspects, by contrasting vibrant colours against duller, monochromatic layers.

Having worked closely with industry veterans in the U.K., Lukan has shared stages with the likes of dance titans Disclosure and electronic pioneers Eats Everything, Skream, Shadow Child, Ben Pearce & grime successor P Money. Not forgetting eight years of production under his belt and two successful releases on Eleonor Records already behind him. More recent releases ‘Illusion’ (When We Dip) & independently released ‘Chords & Acid’ have since turned the heads of Paco Osuna, Sidney Charles, Riva Starr, James Zabiela – not to mention gaining radio play from the likes of Ibiza Sonica Radio & Kiss FM.

Lukan was able to interview Magnetic Field’s co-founders Munbir Chawla and Sarah Chawla about their inspiration behind the festival and even had the opportunity to interview one of the performers from last year – Matias Aguayo. 

It is perhaps true to say that the culture surrounding a particular generation of a nation is a mix of its cultural surroundings at that very point, along with a mix of the traditions that have trickled down from past generations. In context, the electronic dance music space in India is mainly a mix of currently produced and marketed house and techno music and the psychedelic trance movement that was started in India and still remains at large in Goa.

It is mostly a fusion of this – new age, well-marketed house & techno and old-school plus new age psychedelic trance, with an extremely minute number of people who would be inspired by, or who have been involved in the house and techno movement which started in Germany, the US and the UK.

The Skyline of Mumbai by Day and Night

When these genres were born in their respective countries, there wasn’t any access to the internet for it to spread to India. India also had a very heavy Bollywood influence which was easy to access within India. So was psytrance – it was accessible easily in India through Goa. Therefore, even though the underground dance music scene has been growing here exponentially, the music, sound and club nights here are mainly focused on the new-age and the commercial market as opposed to the club scenes in other countries where you still find DJ’s spinning heavily-underground and old vinyl material. Mentioning Vinyl – There is not a single store in India where you could buy fresh or old electronic music records.

Having said that, it’s clear now that people are digging below the surface with ease of the internet and certain outlets like Magnetic Fields Festival who cater to the deepest part of the underground. It comes as no surprise that a lot of people refer to it as the ‘magnetic fields sound’ when it’s actually the roots of house and techno that people regularly listen to in clubs in Berlin, Detroit or London every weekend.

For the masses here – house and techno that works is almost, in my opinion, slowed down psytrance with a lot of melodic leads and arps. However, the more original and raw sound of disco/hip-hop sample-based house and techno is being showcased more and more and is still in the educatory stage as that culture was unable to seep through, to begin with, due to the lack of accessible technology. Nowadays, we are seeing more underground festivals and boutique club nights, however, they don’t occur very frequently.

India is such a fucking huge country with so many states having their own climates, culture, geography and musical roots, that it’s like a mini Europe – there’s no wonder it’s called a sub-continent. The music structure can be broadly divided into Bollywood, Classical Indian, State wise classical music, tribal music, western classical, western pop music, the bastardised EDM, psytrance music, current age electronic music and the slow creeping roots of house and techno. In the house and techno scene, I feel the techno is more pre-dominant owing to it being more closer to psychedelic trance than house.

Magnetic Fields is a community; a festival that absorbs and unites guests, crew members and artists. It is an event we are proud to showcase to the rest of the world demonstrating India’s vibrant and forward thinking creative community. All our guest artists fell in love with the music, the audience, the space, the concept & most importantly contemporary and ancient India, nestled side by side in our little oasis of magic in the heart of the Rajasthani desert.

Interview – Sarah and Munbir (Founders of Magnetic Fields Festival)

LUKAN: What was your motivation behind starting this festival and why in a palace?

Sarah & Munbir: We were so excited about what was happening in the contemporary creative/music community in India and we felt there was a massive gap in terms of smaller, community-driven experiential festivals in India. We got introduced to Abhimanyu Alsisar and his beautiful palace, ‘Alsisar Mahal’ via a wonderful perfumer called Jahnvi Dameron Nandan who is very good friends with our partner Smita Singh Rathore. She connected the dots on a chance weekend in Rajasthan and our very different worlds collided, and in a most fabulous way!

LUKAN: How many of your goals have been achieved by this year’s turnout and what’s coming next?
Sarah & Munbir: We have so many dreams for Magnetic Fields! Usually, it’s the finer elements that we get carried away with and fantasise about and this year quite a few of these were realised. This, I guess, is because we are in a position where the nuts and bolts of the festival are pretty solid now. We’ve been working with the same partners and collaborators for a while, which opened up the scope for us to start exploring new content streams, new spaces, activities, and ideas. This edition felt like a solid step in a direction that we’ve been dreaming about since the very first year, and what’s coming next? Some really fabulous and beautiful things that we’ve been dreaming up for a while!

Interview – Matias Aguayo, who performed at the Red Bull Music Academy North Stage at Magnetic Fields 2016

LUKAN: What did you experience in India that you never expected to.

Matias Aguayo: Somehow everything. I went without expectations and open to all surprises.

LUKAN: Name one record that tore the RBMA stage at Magnetic Fields.

Matias Aguayo: Mitsubishi Song by Menchess, from Durban, South Africa

LUKAN: What’s your opinion on the difference between the vibe in India and that of Europe?

Matias Aguayo: It’s impossible to generalise Europe for me vibe-wise, as playing in Glasgow is something completely different than playing in Bucharest, but what I can say is that apparently people love dancing and it seems to be part of everyday culture. There’s rhythm in all Indian music and Latin beats were therefore well received at the local dance floors. I’d say people know how to move!

LUKAN: Vinyl or Digital?

Matias Aguayo: I really don’t care at all. In the end, your preferences here mostly depend on your context and income. I was once following a discussion online about vinyl and digital and after analysing it a bit, I noticed that practically everyone defending vinyl was from Europe (whereas your access to vinyl releases is easier and more affordable) and everyone defending digital was from South America, where buying records is much more difficult, and where sharing music on digital ways has created a whole new perspective for musicians and music lovers.

LUKAN: For your next release, what are you writing? What’s the story behind it?

Matias Aguayo: I am about to release an EP I did alongside DJ Spoko from South Africa on our label Cómeme. Furthermore, I am working on a band project called The Desdemonas, that I will start releasing with later in the year. The band is very performance-oriented and we have already started to do small tours to develop our show.

The next Magnetic Fields is scheduled for 15-17th December and tickets can be purchased here. This year’s line-up includes Four Tet, Special Request, Machinedrum, BED UFO, Actress and many more

Article submitted by Lukan
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