I’ve begun to recognise faces of my Indian fans: DJ Snake
It would be safe to say that French music producer DJ Snake loves performing in India. What else other than love will see him perform in the country for the second time in a year! In this candid interview, Snake, who will perform in the upcoming Sunburn Music festival in Goa this month, explains his connection with India, his love for live shows, collaborations and more. Excerpts:
Yet another performance in India. How do you see Indian audiences react to you and your music?
Of course, to be able to fit in one more India performance and going back to Goa which I know meant a lot to them [his fans], is amazing. I think it’s just now that the fans have come multiple times, I’ve got to recognise [their] faces. Some songs [released by me] were born during the time I’ve been touring here!
How well versed are Indian audiences with electronic music? Does it push you to play unreleased music before them? Indian fans are very well versed in electronic music. I don’t plan how much unreleased music I will play till the night before. It depends what stage I am in releasing new songs, but a true DJ doesn’t hold back – if you have great music in your studio, you take it, you play it. That is how it’s always been.
How important has social media been in popularising your music?
It’s very important. But I have learned this year to take breaks from it – for me to be at my best does require private time and balancing this can be tough.
What are the stereotypes which according to you, prevent an aspirant from exploring music? The only thing that will stop you exploring is your addiction to success. If you judge success on the number of streams or video plays or chart positions, you will be influenced to make music only for this purpose. This is not how you make records that last and records that create a landscape around you musically. Success is addictive and pushing yourself to not care about this opens your eyes to explore music, art, film, fashion and all kinds of influences.
How important do live shows become, from a revenue model perspective?
There is money in streaming if you keep as much control of your catalogue as you can and take care of your songs. Many people don’t do that and I’d really encourage young artists to make sure they own their songs and ensure that everyone who should pay them, does so. Live is great business but you will not be able to work on music if you are on the road all the time, or at least I can’t.
Samarth Goyal