In 2011, New Delhi’s Nikhil Sahni — better known as DJ NYK — uploaded a documentary for fans that recapped the year gone by, in a sort of 40-minute profile of his life. But this wasn’t even the first time the electronic music producer, one of the country’s most reliable Bollywood and commercial DJs, was thinking ahead when it came to digital marketing.
Starting early
Sahni recalls how, in the early days of social media proliferation, he was spreading hype via erstwhile platform Orkut. “I was one of the few DJs who had a very good reach, from what I used to post. It really helped me grow my brand. It’s definitely one of the reasons the brand’s grown so big. Of course, talent and skill is essential, but you need marketing,” he says.
One of his earliest breaks came from remixing Bollywood film songs and it’s still very much his forte. Over the years, however, he’s preferred to stay as fluid as possible when it comes to taking up remixes across the genre spectrum. He says about his upcoming show in Chennai, “I personally have a belief in music beyond genres, so my sets are also like that. I don’t believe in sticking to one genre — I play Bollywood, Punjabi and electronic music and hip hop. It’s going to be a mix of everything.”
Back to the city
He’s not surprised that Bollywood has a loving audience in Chennai, contrary to what the rest of the country might assume. “They love Punjabi music also,” says Sahni. Playing here for the first time in nearly a year, the DJ remains a globetrotting mainstay in the Bollywood and electronic music world. When he’s not on the road, Sahni has several projects to take up mindspace and it doesn’t necessarily involve time in the studio. “I have my ElectroNYK academy, I’m curating a record label. I have another podcast called PlayLife, where I invite DJs from all over the world to do guest mixes on the show. My next guest is (Dutch DJ) Quintino. I’m releasing original Hindi and electronic singles — there’s a lot of stuff happening.”
And then there’s a sequel to the documentary that he put out in 2011, which picks up just where they left off. Titled The Story So Far, it recaps the last seven years of Sahni and his crew’s journey using archived footage. He admits a lot has changed, but that the thrill of playing shows remains excitedly dynamic. He adds, “You never know if the show you’re going to play is going to be a great one. Every artiste or DJ goes through that. Sometimes you have a stadium filled with people and other times you have only 10 people on the floor.”
DJ NYK performs at The Slate Hotels, Nungambakkam on March 14, 8 pm onwards. Opening sets by DJ Gowtham and VDJ Eash. 9500777700