Nikhil Chinapa: Make your festival future-proof

Nikhil Chinapa with DJ Rohit Barker. Pic/Instagram

With October marking the arrival of the departing months of the year, the general mood across the country can be reduced to: all play and no work. In the weeks to come, citizens will soon hang up their boots and scurry to secure a spot at a coveted music festival, where they can unwind to the tunes of their favourite artistes. In a chat with mid-day, as he chronicles the factors that go behind putting together a great line-up of artistes, VH1 Supersonic festival curator and partner Nikhil Chinapa says he trains his focus on three primary aspects.

"To begin with, you need to understand who your core audience is, and deliver according to their expectations. You need to rope in the artistes that they are keen on listening to," Chinapa says. The second factor that plays a defining role, he suggests, is the ability to make the festival "future proof" by being abreast with newer trends.

"Music is constantly evolving. New genres are being created by producers who are always exploring new sounds. You have to know which innovation is taking place, and when to let [something] go. For instance, Electronic Dance Music (EDM) has been on the decline since the past three years. But it's only last year that we felt the impact of it. People are accepting music with slower tempo, whether that's House or Techno. So, you need to figure out where music is going, and book talent that will help your festival [sustain].

If you book talent that's only relevant today, your festival will [not attract fans] when something else becomes popular tomorrow." Apart from having a finger on the pulse of music aficionados' tastes, he says it's also crucial to cater to varied sensibilities. "The third factor, I'd say, is to try and increase the kind of profile [of artistes] that come to your festival. They shouldn't be multi-genre only, but multi-disciplinary too. You need to focus on offering several types of music, because individuals don't hear one kind of it. People may deeply enjoy certain types of sounds, but, by and large, they enjoy good music, regardless of the genre. I also see a festival as a great launch-pad to bring in other forms of sounds."

Having previously been the brains behind the Sunburn festival since 2007, Chinapa asserts that the ever-evolving music tastes of listeners implies that despite being in the business for years, he can't predict what a festival will look like 10 years later. Talking about the trends prevalent today, he says, "Generally, the tempo has dropped, so Techno [is being created with] slower beats, and [genres like] hip hop, trap are being consumed."

Even producers like Marshmello, Major Laser, Zedd and Chainsmokers are creating music at slower tempos than that which EDM traditionally ran at. And, just when we think that's where music is going to go, somebody's going to release a track in the year with a high BPM [beats per minutes, used to imply pace], and change everything. Five years ago if I had to put together a line-up, it would primarily be EDM artistes, but, now, I will create an experience that's less one-dimensional." Chinapa, however, says a festival should not be about the music only. "A festival is a wonderful way to hang out with your best friends. That's how you should see it."

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