<p>Akshay Johar is one of the few bass-heavy electronic music producers of our country. It was only during his college days that he got attracted towards electronic music. Soon after he started playing professionally,he earned the popular sobriquet MojoJojo .<br /><br /></p>.<p>“I causally listened to a lot of electronic music while I was in college. But after I heard a track of Lara Croft, I discovered how powerful electronic music can be. It was sometime around my first year of college when I got a bootleg copy of popular music production software, Fruity Loops and a soundcard. I started recording my bass lines and messing around with them. Then slowly I discovered the power a producer wields, starting from writing bass lines to arranging drum sections... it’s limitless,” he shares.<br /><br />Johar, who has been playing for over eight years, thinks that “it’s a great time to be a producer as electronic music is gaining momentum in India.”<br /><br />“For a long time, bass music has been a quintessential part of the underground music movement abroad. Even in India, it has been propagated by a few for some time, but now it’s coming to the fore globally. People are taking notice of it more than ever before and appreciating it,” he says.<br /><br />He also believes that Bollywood is giving some “fantastic” tunes and some “tremendous” music directors are trying to push the envelope, yet he feels the need is to give a lift to the lyrics. <br />“Musicians like Vishal Dadlani, Amit Trivedi and, of course, AR Rahman are doing great job but I’m still waiting for the lyrics to change. It’s been several years now that we’ve seen the same songs about shots, partying, sneaking out and the like. I’m personally very exhausted of the mindlessness and the repetition. Change will <br />come,” adds Johar.<br /><br />The 26-year-old thinks because of alternative options consumption of music overall has increased and made people more experiential.<br /><br /> “There has been a tremendous surge in festivals catering to a wide range of audiences and that’s a sign of things maturing. It is expected to happen at an even faster rate now as India is considered a hotbed for electronic music,” he says. <br /><br />According to Johar, who recently launched his debut album titled Shots Fired, taking up independent music as a full time profession is difficult as “we are a country dominated by Bollywood.” However, he feels that time is changing, and we are slowly approaching towards the time which will be like the 90’s, when ‘Indie Pop’ was as big as <br />Bollywood. <br /><br />Shots Fired consists of nine tracks, in English, Hindi, and some regional dialects as well. The album has a wide spectrum of moods as the tracks range from drum and bass to moombahton to glitch hop and can be broadly classified under the 'Global Bass' <br />umbrella. <br /><br />“The album is a distillation of the last 15 years of my musical experiences, with influences ranging from contemporary pop to Rajasthani folk and hence imparting a very diverse characteristic to the sound,” says Johar. <br /><br />Meanwhile, Johar is working on an extended play (EP) which is to be released in summer next year. He’s also developing a live set for his music with a bunch of musicians where contemporary electronic music will be supported by a live setup on stage.<br /><br /></p>
<p>Akshay Johar is one of the few bass-heavy electronic music producers of our country. It was only during his college days that he got attracted towards electronic music. Soon after he started playing professionally,he earned the popular sobriquet MojoJojo .<br /><br /></p>.<p>“I causally listened to a lot of electronic music while I was in college. But after I heard a track of Lara Croft, I discovered how powerful electronic music can be. It was sometime around my first year of college when I got a bootleg copy of popular music production software, Fruity Loops and a soundcard. I started recording my bass lines and messing around with them. Then slowly I discovered the power a producer wields, starting from writing bass lines to arranging drum sections... it’s limitless,” he shares.<br /><br />Johar, who has been playing for over eight years, thinks that “it’s a great time to be a producer as electronic music is gaining momentum in India.”<br /><br />“For a long time, bass music has been a quintessential part of the underground music movement abroad. Even in India, it has been propagated by a few for some time, but now it’s coming to the fore globally. People are taking notice of it more than ever before and appreciating it,” he says.<br /><br />He also believes that Bollywood is giving some “fantastic” tunes and some “tremendous” music directors are trying to push the envelope, yet he feels the need is to give a lift to the lyrics. <br />“Musicians like Vishal Dadlani, Amit Trivedi and, of course, AR Rahman are doing great job but I’m still waiting for the lyrics to change. It’s been several years now that we’ve seen the same songs about shots, partying, sneaking out and the like. I’m personally very exhausted of the mindlessness and the repetition. Change will <br />come,” adds Johar.<br /><br />The 26-year-old thinks because of alternative options consumption of music overall has increased and made people more experiential.<br /><br /> “There has been a tremendous surge in festivals catering to a wide range of audiences and that’s a sign of things maturing. It is expected to happen at an even faster rate now as India is considered a hotbed for electronic music,” he says. <br /><br />According to Johar, who recently launched his debut album titled Shots Fired, taking up independent music as a full time profession is difficult as “we are a country dominated by Bollywood.” However, he feels that time is changing, and we are slowly approaching towards the time which will be like the 90’s, when ‘Indie Pop’ was as big as <br />Bollywood. <br /><br />Shots Fired consists of nine tracks, in English, Hindi, and some regional dialects as well. The album has a wide spectrum of moods as the tracks range from drum and bass to moombahton to glitch hop and can be broadly classified under the 'Global Bass' <br />umbrella. <br /><br />“The album is a distillation of the last 15 years of my musical experiences, with influences ranging from contemporary pop to Rajasthani folk and hence imparting a very diverse characteristic to the sound,” says Johar. <br /><br />Meanwhile, Johar is working on an extended play (EP) which is to be released in summer next year. He’s also developing a live set for his music with a bunch of musicians where contemporary electronic music will be supported by a live setup on stage.<br /><br /></p>
