DJ rayG

Few deejays in Mumbai can boast of the teacher's heart that DJ rayG has. With teaching experience that spans four deejay schools - assisting Jo Azaredo, the spine of DJ Lloyd's Spin DJs academy, the brains at DJ Nasha's Workstation and the fore runner for Live Wires Career Institute - and a decade in the industry, it's not surprising that practitioners of the art regularly approach him to troubleshoot. Also, they rest assured that tonight's discussion does not turn into tomorrow's gossip.

When asked about any tips for aspiring deejays, he says "You can't deejay if you can't dance. That's the number one rule. Your vision for music has to be the eternal, not just the current trends (so look for tunes that last forever) & finally, do not get pigeon holed into genres, especially in the initial years of your career." His initiation into the art of deejaying happened a decade ago, when a school friend cut out a tiny advertisement about a course in "deejaying", from a city newspaper.

Following that cue, the 16-year-old landed up at the doors of legendary deejay, Jo Azaredo, in 1998. In hindsight, he admits that the tactile world of clutching records was entirely new to him. "I grew up surrounded by tapes, but I wasn't the one putting them into the system at home," he says. "Also, playing on CDs are like playing a video game, where you are just pushing buttons. Unlike on turntables, the ritual begins from the time you screw on your needles," he adds.

Azaredo's fertile training institute made deejays like Suketu and other equally talented deejays his contemporaries, individuals he bounced off ideas from. Later he also went on to become Jo Azaredo's apprentice, at his studio. "I'm proud that I had a good start in this career, by learning from Grand Master Jo. I used to love to see the man at work & to see myself surrounded with vinyl & exciting equipment always used to keep me on my toes." Most importantly, he watched his first DMC tape with Jo. "The way those deejays manipulated sounds live with their bare hands - I was thrilled! It was another realm and I was quietly determined from then on, to possess the skills they had."

This drive, or will to succeed, culminated two years later, in 2000, with the DMC title from Pune, a strategy aimed to take on DJ Nasha, the then undisputed champ. The politicking within the set-up ensured that rayG did not eventually get a chance to show off his skill on the national platform. However, in the eyes of the deejaying community, that year, there was only one possible winner, and it wasn't the one who walked away with the title.

If the DMC championship educated rayG in the ways of the world, then his first collaboration with a rock band, SCAG, as a turntablist, expanded what he calls a sense of 'synchronicity'. "Deejaying is a structured workout, where an individual works behind a console in isolation. On the other hand, when you work with several musicians, it's challenging to collectively produce one sound." SCAG was one of the earliest and perhaps only bands in India to feature a turntablist/deejay in the ensemble, playing nu-age metal & originals, from 2000 till 2001.

His skills on the ones and twos, caught the attention of 1998 National DMC winner, DJ Lloyd (also the resident DJ at two of Mumbai's legendary super clubs, Fire n Ice & Poison). DJ rayG began teaching deejaying & the art of turntablism at Lloyd's very own Spin DJs academy, in 2000. The academy was a huge success & had two branches within the city. Here he also got the opportunity to work with, and learn from, very talented DJs like Ryan Beck, A-myth and many more. He says, "I couldn't ask for more as the faculty at Spin DJs were legends & here I was, discussing with them the tricks of the trade on a daily basis."

After the closure of Spin DJs in early 2002, an opportunity to work in the corporate sector presented itself, where rayG worked for 18 months. Here too, he consciously leaned towards teaching, ending up as a trainer. "I was acquainted with new dynamics in teaching - the result of watching professionals in training. I would love, at some point, to teach deejaying with Power Point presentations, applying my learning from that experience," he says.

Soon, he had that opportunity when deejay Nasha - despite their differences in the past - approached him with an offer to teach and establish his Workstation. rayG, as the Chief Instructor, pioneered a new curriculum, emphasising the knowledge of music and craft, balanced with mastering the equipment. He was also extensively involved in organising and conducting workshops in colleges, seminars, art and cultural festivals, like the Celebrate Thane festival and many more. "Workshops are great avenues for me where I love to talk about my art & it helps me to reach out to the common man. In India, people have a lot of misconceptions & wrong notions about deejaying. The loose structure of the interaction allows for a healthy give-and-take, an almost Greek form of debate, where sometimes I pose the question or vice-versa." The communal set-up at deejay Nasha's work station also led to the formation of "itch", India's only hip hop collective, comprising three deejays (rayG, Chandu & Savio) and an emcee (Bobcat from Kenya) and sometimes a cameo by Nasha himself.

In 2007, DJ rayG won the Times Music War of the DJs Mumbai finals, going on to represent the city in the national finals. Besides participating in competitions, what he dishes out in the classroom, he applies practically on the sets, by deejaying with the likes of Larry Holcombe from UK (one half of Def Inc), opening for Whosane! (Mumbai), Ma Faiza (Pune), Jasper the "J " (Amsterdam) and Tony (Zouk, Singapore), a residency at Six Degrees, an elite bar & cigar lounge at The Leela (Mumbai) in 2005 and now playing on weekends at White Lounge & Bar, one of the city's few remaining spaces for cutting-edge music.

Today, after training nearly 500 men/women throughout the world, a fresh batch of students are benefiting from his vast & practical learning experience and knowledge, at the Live Wires Career Institute. Not satisfied with his physical chicanery, rayG has been involved in the production of music since 2005, hoping eventually to conquer the software aspect of deejaying as well. The intent being to combine his skills on the turntables with tools like Ableton. Musically, rayG's ears reflect the spectrum of music that dominates the current diverse EDM scene - from Dub to Drum n Bass,however he loves to play progressive house music and breaks. "I love playing progressive house & breaks, as I've been following these genres since the start of my career. However, my ears & heart are open to all the sounds in this beautiful world.... and silence too" he says.