DJ Pearl: Nikhil Chinapa and I are each other's most honest critics

Q Youve been married for 10 years Whats it like to be a couple in the DJ circuitA Pearl Its not very different from being a couple in any profession You understand each other well but are also pulled in different directions but thats healthy Were each others sounding boards and support and also each others best most honest critics We love sharing music and plans with each other Most importantly we understand this industrys challenges and support each other during tough times Its quite another feeling to be able to share a moment at a club or a festival with your partner without having to say a word He just knowsDJ Nikhil Chinapa and PearlQ How often do you DJ together And how different is it to play alongside with the person youre married toA Nikhil We used to play a lot of gigs in the beginning and we both created our own space without stepping on each others toes Were professional with each other in the console something Pearl was particular about right from the start At the console shes first the DJ then my wife To be honest Ive always aspired to be the kind of DJ that Pearl is and I think Ive managed to up my game in the past few yearsPearl He is too modest hes a brilliant DJ We still play together sometimes but not very oftenFor many years weve had different tastes in music and also entirely different ways of presenting that music like any two DJs We still manage to share special tracks but we both will play it at different times of our sets We work well as a team whether on the creative or the organisational side of things Nikhil is naturally skilled with people and I trust him implicitly when hes next to me in the console He knows exactly what to say and when We needed that in the beginning especially when we were trying to educate people about this music and spread it to different citiesQ How much has the music scene changed since you started outA Pearl The great thing about the music scene is that its in a constant state of flux and this is even truer of dance music as it thrives on mutation and evolution Our scenes changed a lot since we started mdash from the format we play music on vinyl when we started to CDs and now USBs or laptops with controllers to peoples tastes in music and what is perceived to be in mainstream sounds to what is inherently cooler and more hip underground music Historically these two have always been cyclical Were hoping that once current new audiences get introduced to the mainstream they will want to explore quality music and then we will again have a thriving clubbing scene like we did about a decade ago The great thing for India these days is that were seeing a diversification of taste and theres now strong support for various subgenres of dance music which only augers well for its future in our countryQ How do you feel about blueFROGs moving out and this being your last set at this venueA Nikhil The Frog has been an iconic music venue for Mumbai and I dont think were the only people saying well miss it terribly Weve had some incredible gigs there and some of the finest musicians and artists from across the world have played hereQ What about the nightclub culture How has that evolvedA Nikhil Weve seen an explosion of smaller venues over the years which has allowed for more artists to perform and also for more genres to proliferate within our scene On the flip side its become more difficult for medium and large size venues to pack in crowds regularly which is a problem that affects us all mdash clubbers promoters artists and people who work in the industry infrastructure It would be great to see support as far as club timings are concerned This way more artists can perform clubs can do better business and more people will venture into this field There will also be more jobs for the hundreds of DJs interestedin joining our fold every yearOn August 20 10 pm onwardsAt BlueFROG Mathuradas Mills Compound Lower ParelCost Rs 600Call 65186518