DJs peering into long, dark night

They will be among the last to get their jobs back

With nightlife being the last priority in a pandemic, DJs expect a long, difficult haul before they can resume work.

Clement Dsouza, who runs a school for music production and DJing, says he even considered opening a cloud kitchen to survive.

Martin Dsouza, one of Bengaluru’s most well-known DJs, says many of his colleagues are still waiting for payments for pre-pandemic gigs.

Veteran of the scene, Ivan Nilkon broke down during one of his sessions after he read a message about how a DJ was getting by on a packet of biscuits a day.

“That’s when I was connected to Aravind Shetty who offered to help through his AVR Foundation,” he
says. The foundation, based in Shantinagar, procured ration kits for DJs in need. About 50 DJs have received help this way.

Current gigs

Many DJs are doing live shows on Instagram, Facebook and Zoom, on their own and also for venues with which they have contracts.

For Martin, the pre-lockdown period was one of the busiest.

“We thought the pandemic would come and go. My focus was initially on rescheduling events,” he says.

Ivan dived into his old records.”There was music I hadn’t played in ages. I dug all that up and started playing a series called Bed Time Stories, playing live on Instagram from 11 pm to 6 am,” says the DJ who has almost 12,000 followers on the platform.

Clement rarely plays online gigs. He is more concentrated on the functioning of the school. “Many DJs only know how to play music, it’s situations like this when you need other skills to survive,” he says. Their physical space in Indiranagar has been open for DJs who want to go live but have no equipment of their own.

“We have moved completely online. I wouldn’t say we’re doing good but we’re doing enough,” he says.

Martin is sceptical about things getting better anytime soon.

“Even if nightlife opens up, many of the places where we used to play have shut down. Job prospects are going to be thin,” he says. Ivan advises DJs to use the time to build their portfolios.

“When things open up, clubs will be looking to hire people who have kept themselves busy,” he says.

Zoom parties

Some DJs are playing for parties conducted on Zoom. “I play the music and they dance from their respective homes. There was even a stand-up comedy set once,” DJ Martin says.

Copyright woes

DJs are plagued by copyright worries too. “Since we do events on sites with automatic copyright filters, uninterrupted streams have been difficult,” says Martin. They get disconnected when a popular song is played. “I have to keep speaking to interrupt the music to avoid getting flagged,” he says. An added shock was the Indian Performing Rights Society notice seeking a royalty of up to Rs 1 lakh per show. “Taking percentage of the earnings would be more appropriate,” says Ivan.