I would have performed in India for free: Don Diablo
The Dutch DJ and singer, an electronic music sensation, says that he had been ‘nagging’ his agents to get him to India. He starts a threecity tour from June 22, and wishes that he could do more shows
On the cusp of starting a three-city tour of India, electronic music sensation Don Diablo says that he “absolutely loves” performing in India — so much so that he’d be ready to perform gratis, if need be.
This is the third time that the 38-year-old Dutch DJsinger-music producer is performing in India. He says that he was literally “nagging” his team to organise a concert in India after his last show.
“There is a general consensus in the dance music world that DJs often choose to skip India and perform somewhere else, because they don’t get much money out of it. But that’s not the case with me. I love performing here,” says Diablo. “Money isn’t important to me, but the love and passion is. That’s why I told my team that even if I’m going [to India] to play for free, I’m going to do it, because performing in India is completely different. Every time I’ve come and played here, the fan base has just gotten bigger and bigger... Even online, you see Indians pushing new music, new artists. I think that’s great, and I was just waiting to come back here,” he adds.
The artist, who has hits such as Cutting Shapes (2016) and People Say (2018), will be performing in Mumbai (June 22), Bengaluru (June 23), and Hyderabad (June 24).
Diablo is gutted that he can’t perform in more cities this time. “Trust me, if I had
Every time I’ve come and played here, the fan base has just gotten bigger and bigger... Even online, you see Indians pushing new music, new artists. I think that’s great, and I was just waiting to come back here.
DON DIABLO DJ AND SINGER
my way, I’d have performed everywhere in India. These things are not in my hands. I just told my agents that I wanted at least a three-city tour,” he says. “Everything else was done by them. I can’t blame them, because as I said, you have to look for so many things: the permissions, the artist availability, weather etc. I’m sad that I cannot perform in every city, but I’d love to.”
One can see Diablo’s love is the real thing when he tells us that he cancelled his holiday to come here. “Funnily enough, the weekend I’m performing in India was the only weekend I had off for the next four months. But I wasn’t going to say no to India, just because I had no other weekend available. That was my choice, and I have no regrets,” he says.