Bhavishyavani Future Soundz celebrates 20th anniversary

On May 11 1999 Bhavishyavani Future Soundz organised their first party ever Cofounders DJ Insat Ashim Ahluwalia now filmmaker and Masta Justy Jatin Vidyarthi played at the thenhappening Razzberry Rhinoceros in Juhu The party introduced Mumbai to drum n bass triphop jungle and ambient sounds that the trance and Bollywoodobsessed crowd had never heard Twenty years later next month the collective will celebrate two decades with another party at Famous StudiosIts such a coincidence that due to some brand commitments and some other unforeseen circumstances the date is exactly the same as our first gig And Insat and Musta Justy will be back at the consoles says cofounder Tejas Mangeshkar Mr T when we chat with him and core team member Frenchmen Mathieu Josso aka M Mat over cold Tang at their office in KharA BFS party in 1999 at Madness Khar WestFor us it was about communicating the music we liked so we also needed design It was about the whole experience Bhavishyavani was also a collaborative space where designers filmmakers architects come together to give their bit For our festival Eden in 2014 we got artists to create pieces such as posters or art behind the DJ console to go with the music says Mangeshkar The collective was originally formed by Mangeshkar Ahluwalia Vidyarthi musician Mukul Deora and graphic designer Kunal Rawat We had been doing a lot of design work for music companies for instance making CD art work for Sony and so when we started doing our own parties we asked them to help us out says Mangeshkar Josso who joined in later with Cyril Michaud DJ Loopkin and Yohann Jamsandekar aka Spacejams says that the true reason behind the inception of BFS was if its not there no one is going to do it for you and you have do it yourself We liked a certain kind of music and we liked a certain kind of party and we decided to make it happenBFS often organised legendary boat partiesThe parties were held at thenshady venues like Razzberry Rhinoceros Rock Bottom in Juhu Madness in Khar and Western Cafe in Bandra later Zenzi DJs were part of BHS core group andor DJs they met during their travels and convinced to come down to India At that time DJs came down as they would live in India do yoga buy houses in Goa and just find themselves says Mangeshkar to which Josso adds There was none of whats happening now come many times a year play drop them to their hotel room and bye We bring down DJs we like we can spend time with and have a good time with They were exposed to underground music as Mangeshkar attended raves in London and Ahluwalia and Deora got CDs from their travels across the world The CDs coming back were not of Pink Floyd or other rock music and it was a kind of music that resonated with us But it was different from trance which already had a cult following in India It was more inclusive says MangeshkarIf the artistes didnt need much of a nudge to come to India sponsors and venues still needed to be convinced Everyone we have worked with is now on top of their game We got this DJ down in 2010 called Dixon and we had to convince the venue that he was worth it He now is one of the biggest DJs in the world says JossoThe BFS crew From left Cyril Michaud DJ Loopkin Charlee Mathieu Josso aka M Mat and Tejas Mangeshkar Mr TThey also gave rise to a different kind of a party one where you couldnt request for your girlfriends favourite Bollywood song and a different kind of a crowd full of creative minds from across the city We had people from design advertising and fashion magazines Our crew members included Zoya Akhtar Reema Kagti and Kiran Rao who all invited their friends They would hand out fliers at places like Mondegar We would also stuff fliers in envelopes and send them to advertising agencies recalls Mangeshkar The draw was the artiste who would usually be an underground one and the complete experience that went with it Most festivals now bring down artistes who are as big as Britney Spears Our thing is to keep it more underground and hence keeping it fresh says Mangeshkar and Josso adds Now you have two million tracks on the Net at your disposal I had to buy vinyl to keep myself updatedThe mad stories of the fun are endless Nightlong parties at Priya Kishores Bombay Electric in Colaba where they had to keep convincing the cops to let them go on In the end we all saw the sunrise together laughs Josso There were also boat parties and popular sundowners at AurusFor now they are concentrating on the May 11 gig for which they want to step it up a notch So the audience will be in the centre surrounded by speakers and maybe you wont even see the DJ says Mangeshkar Ask them if the party will go on and they say sure without comprising on the impact it needs to have Each person who comes comes to feel something and we need to give them that The crowd has to be right the artiste needs to be right the experience needs to be right says Josso a thought that Mangeshkar sums up succinctly when he says We are looking at the next 20 years Amen to thatCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates