21-year-old DJ Zaeden speaks like a pro when he spills the ingredients of a good remix - never complicate things, and just keep it easy
Sahil Sharma, aka DJ Zaeden, is surprised by fans who are getting tattoos of his name and logo. "I saw some people and thought 'who does that?'. Even I would never do it with my name," laughs the 21-year-old, "Last year, I said in an interview that even my mum won't do that. And then my mother surprised me on my birthday with a tattoo of my logo."
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Well, like his mother, young listeners all around the country seem to love the Delhi boy a lot. And why not? At 18, Zaeden became the youngest DJ to have featured on Hardwell on Air, DJ Hardwell's radio show, for his remix of the Coldplay hit, Magic. "We just sent it to Hardwell's managers with the hope he may hear it. And he did! It was truly magic," he says.
Since then, he has officially remixed Maroon 5's Animals, been one of the rare Indian acts to have played at Tomorrowland, and has been signed on by Spinning Records, one of the leading EDM record labels. He is also a constant fixture on India's music festivals. Right now, he is busy working with Bollywood's current hot voice, Ankit Tiwari, on a "pop song". "So we went off to Lonavala, and just jammed. I was sceptical about doing a Bollywood song, but he is so talented. It has a little bit of fusion, but also a little rap. It's a club song, not completely dance though. It has emotion."
The youngling from Gurgaon's The Heritage School started mixing and DJing at the age of 14, after hearing DJs such as Armin Van Bueren. And once he saw them perform, he knew this was his calling. "You need to be consistent and keep trying but the main thing is also to be different. One needs to make their own sound," But, how does one remix a song, keeping its flavour intact, and yet add their own edge to it? Zaeden has an easy answer. "I always try and do something different. But, I also keep in mind about not being too complex. Sometimes you just need to be simple. For example, with the Maroon 5 song, I just rotated some of the elements in the song. The a cappella part that Adam Levine sings, I took that and played around," he explains.
Presently, he's busy with the music video of his chart-topping 'City Of The Lonely Hearts,' which has got three million views since it released on January 6. It's a fun, light track that's sure to get any dance floor popping. He is also working on releasing a remix of the song, the 90s kids grew up listening to, called Tempted to Touch, by Rupee. "I am so excited about it. It's was big when it came out (2004) and it's really going to be even bigger now," he beams.
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