India's DJ Suketu has earned worldwide recognition and fame as one of the hottest and most innovative track-spinners today! We began to pay attention to the DJ phenom with his first album, '440 Volts', in 2003, and again with his heavily played remix of 'Woh Lamhe' from the hit film, 'Zeher'. Suketu is tentatively releasing his new album in November, and Desi Hits! chatted with the DJ about his Sean Kingston 'Bollywood Girls' remix, and much more! 

CLICK TO LISTEN TO DJ SUKETU'S REMIX OF 'BOLLYWOOD GIRLS'!

CLICK TO VOTE FOR SUKETU'S REMIX!

VOTING ENDS OCTOBER 21st!

DH!: How did you get started in the business?

DJ Suketu: I got started in the business playing at a few college parties. One thing led to another and by the time I finished my graduation, I found that I wanted to take this up as a career. I always wanted to take up DJing as a career. This seemed to be one of the best directions to go in at the time. And that’s why I took it up and it turned out pretty well!

DH!: Have you always had an interest in DJing and house music?

DJ Suketu: I was always interested in music, but I wasn’t really sure if I was interested just in DJing per se. But I used to hear a lot of my senior DJs coming into my college and play music and really, then, the profession enamored me a lot. And then I got into house music. I started listening to house music and realized that I do have a thing for house music or just basically DJing as a career. And that’s how it was put into my mind that if I wanted to get into music, it would be for DJing.

DH!: Were your parents always supportive of your career choice?

DJ Suketu: My parents were always pretty okay with whatever I did as long as I never let my education go off. So I always made sure that I passed all my exams pretty decently and I didn’t leave my education halfway through. I finished my Bachelors in Commerce and my Masters in Commerce. And I went ahead and did my MBA also. So, that was something that my dad told me I should do all the way and I always kept up to it. I’m a pretty educated and overly qualified DJ!

DH!: Do you have any memorable projects that you’ve worked on in the past that stick out in your mind personally and professionally?

DJ Suketu: First, would be my first track, which I released for my first album, '440 Volts', called 'Pyar Zindagi Hai'. I really enjoyed working with that track and I really gave a lot of time to it because it was the first track I was working on. But I really didn’t know how to go about doing things and getting the right crew. I used to get very, very nervous. And the minute anyone would give me any sort of feedback on the track I used to incorporate their feedback in the track and try to make the changes accordingly, because it was the first time I was doing something that was going public. People were actually going to listen to it and give their views on it. People were deciding whether Suketu's cut out for this or not. The second project I worked on, which was very, very memorable, was a song I did for the movie, 'Zeher', which was 'Woh Lamhe'. That was me stepping into Bollywood and getting into that whole industry. And I was pretty nervous!

DH!: Do you have a specific routine for your creative process while recording in the studio?

DJ Suketu: There’s no routine as such. The thing is, when I’m making a remix I just try and do a lot of current music, which people are appreciating at the time. So if I’m working on my new album, which is due in mid-November to end of November, I knew that Timbaland and his sound is very, very big right now. I just sort of incorporate these things. But this isn’t a 'routine' I would call. I think in that moment in time, what clicks to you and comes the best to you just works out.

DH!: Do you have a favorite venue that you’ve played or a favorite show that you remember?

DJ Suketu: My favorite place to play is Dubai. I love going there again and again! The crowd over there is really fabulous. And there’s a particular nightclub there called the Candy Club, which is really good. And there was one Candy Club party, which I played at the Peppermint Lounge, which is very, very memorable to me and I really loved it. Dubai's fabulous!

DH!: Can you talk about the Sean Kingston remix you did with DesiHits! and how it came about? What was your whole creative process while remixing the track, 'Beautiful Girls' to 'Bollywood Girls' with your signature Suketu spin?

DJ Suketu: One of my managers, Anurag, told me about the Sean Kingston remix competition and having me come on. I was very excited about it because it was nothing like I had done before, since I've always been working on Bollywood things and all that. So, having somebody like Sean Kingston on my computer itself was a big deal for me. And the direction that we were planning to go in first was very house music, make it a dance remix and stuff like that. But, what we just thought of instead of a dance remix was that we can do something a little different to it, like add in something Hindi or Punjabi. And then we went in a different direction totally. Once we had the concept right, we had Pratichi singing the female voice and the Punjabi lines. And we had the melody set. After that, it was just about a two to three hour job just to get the remixing done. I think what took us a lot of time was to get the concept right to diffuse the Hindi, Punjabi bit of it with the Sean Kingston English vocals and making it very friendly to be played on the radio as well as in a nightclub.

DH!: Can you talk a bit about your future projects? Are you planning on sticking with the east meets west collaborations like with the Sean Kingston remix competition?

DJ Suketu: I think the Sean Kingston remix of 'Bollywood Girls' is like testing waters for me. If I win and things work out fine, then I would love to work with artists abroad. And I’d love doing work with fusion music. My team's pretty excited about this whole project so I hope things work out! Other than that, we want to get into original music also. We’re also doing a lot of arrangements for music directors over here in India.

DH!: Can you discuss some of the projects you’re working on right now with Bollywood directors, as you mentioned?

DJ Suketu: We just finished a very recent project right now for a film called 'Roadside Romeo', which is a first of its kind Bollywood film with animation. Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor are doing the dubbing for the movie. And we’ve done one remix for Saleem-Suleman, which is for a song called 'Choo Le Na'. The new album is also releasing and is in the process of being mixed and mastered so it should be out mid-November or end of November. Again, we spent about two-and-a-half years to get this album done and I’m hoping that the people appreciate the music and the sound! The music will also be done on an original track. Another big project we’re working on and we’re looking forward to is a film called 'Raaz 2', and we’re going to be doing the remixes for that too. There’s quite a handful happening right now!

DH!: Why should people vote for your Sean Kingston 'Bollywood Girls' remix?

DJ Suketu: I think people should vote for my song because I think ours is the only song which actually has an element of Punjabi and Hindi vocals in it. And no other remix has that. Everybody's just put probably an Indian beat to it or an Indian groove or, at minimum, an Indian instrument. But what we've done is we've actually used the Indian vocals and the Punjabi vocals to enhance the whole song and show that Hindi and English can go together. So, I think that there's something that's very different. And plus, the track is not just something that you can only listen to in your car or when you're at home. You can dance to it in a nightclub. It's a track for everybody. And I think we deserve the votes!

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