DJ Zaeden: Dad inspired me to sing

Sahil Sharma, aka DJ Zaeden

At the Vh1 Supersonic festival that concluded earlier this year, Sahil Sharma, aka DJ Zaeden, serenaded the crowd in the midst of his set, marking his live singing debut. With a gamut of international gigs to his credit, one would assume he'd uphold world-renowned bigwigs as inspiration behind his decision to test his vocal chords, but the youngster has only one man to credit. "It has to be my dad. He's a Kishore Kumar cover artiste. He has released an album too. When he heard me hum the track, he loved it, and told me to record it," Zaeden tells mid-day of his debut single, Like Me Better.

At 22, the Indian music producer-DJ already has several feathers in his cap, including a gig at the coveted Tomorrowland Festival. On the cards is a possible collaboration with Canadian singer-songwriter Raghav Mathur. "He got in touch with me online because we have the same song writer. He invited me for dinner at his place. There will certainly be a collaboration because we are both interested in each other's sounds. We may create a remake of his [2004 chart topper] Angel Eyes.

"A discussion that's certain to bring a twinkle in his eye is the upcoming remake of Rupee's Tempting To Touch. "It was among the biggest tracks of the era when I grew up, and I'm glad he loved the remake I created."

As far as his music is concerned, Zaeden believes that the key to keep audiences engaged is to "keep things simple". "I try to incorporate different sounds in my sets, while playing with songs I love, like Havana and Shape Of You. People might tire of these tracks because they've been played on the radio so often, but I revisit them because I love them."

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