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After playing at the IPL in South Africa, DJ Clement D'souza returns to bag the residency at China House second time around. He tells Bhairavi Jhaveri what it's like to spin music for his favourite cricketers
At last year's IPL, Clement was invited to DJ for both, the crowd in the stadium as the suspense of the league built up, and for the furor that spilled into the debauched after-parties.
But, access was limited thanks to the madness that grips the nation during a cricketing moment. Celebs and cricketers were under constant scrutiny, kept away from the public.
But at South Africa this year, away from the junta, the whole feel among the crème de la crème was much more relaxed, Clement tells us.
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Clement loves to share his music. He strings together his favourite tracks of the fortnight into a 1.5-hour-long set and mails it out to friends and fans. | He was staying with the Chennai and Punjab teams, and could barely contain his excitement when he got a chance to wine and dine with his cricketing idols Bret Lee and Irfan Pathan.
But nothing could beat the high he experienced from being chosen from so many to make sure the likes of SRK, Dr Vijay Mallya, Preity Zinta and Yuvraaj Singh stayed pumped, didn't get off the dance floor.
It was through DNA Networks, an agency that handles the entertainment for Dr Mallya's company, that he played at the launch of Kingfisher Airlines, Dr Mallya's 50th birthday bash in Goa, and the IPL opening and closing ceremonies.
Mallya loves his retro tunes; SA chicks dig Desi Girl
The local South African's knowledge of Bollywood may have something to do with our films being shot at picturesque Cape Town and around, muses the 31 year-old.
"A lot of SA girls have also been part of our films as dancers, I suppose. When I was spinning Desi Girl and Maa Ka Laadla, they were lip-syncing the lyrics!"
Top-notch Bollywood celebs and head honchos were easy to please, he says. "Dr Mallya too, would never tell me what to play, how to play.
He'd drop by the console and dabble in DJing skills sometimes. He likes doing that, and he loves his retro tunes."
Back in Mumbai, he still maintains international standards
Riding on his success in Bangalore, Clement returned to Mumbai in 2004 with a purpose to shift from Hip Hop and R 'n' B to something new.
"Back then, the crowd in Bangalore was obsessed with Hip Hop; they all used to dress like rap stars. The second something becomes too popular, I yearn to do something different," he says.
Clement has played at Blackout in Andheri, and with Akbar Sami at Avalon before he bagged his first residency at China House in 2007.
He loves spinning progressive house and progressive trance, a genre he has been exploring since 2000, and is glad China House has got him on board to do just that.
"Even though the club is packed with A-listers, Bollywood is off the playlist.
The stars actually tell me they get bored listening to their own film music. When they party they want to unwind with new sounds, new energy," he says.
His usual set starts off with old school R 'n' B and Hip Hop and moves into minimal and chill house, to prep up the crowd for the peak hour of the night at 1 am "When they are drunk, progressive house and trance I spin.
That's what they understand and what they all love." |
