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'A mash-up, unlike a melody, must sound like one solo track'

DJ Chetas asserts that consumer's recently renewed affection for mid-tempo romantic songs cannot be ignored. "If you carefully listen to the party mash-ups that I have been creating for MTV Beats in the last month, you'll notice how we have used such music to address this behaviour," he says of the trend that has seen listeners gravitate towards music that isn't overpowering.

His ability to design promising mash-ups, he says, has earned him success. "The best part about a mash-up is that if you enjoy the entire soundtrack of an album, you can consume all its songs within the short span of a few minutes, via a mash-up. Consumers enjoy that." Does that imply that he takes the hook lines of different tracks and weaves them together? "No, I ensure that the words are interplayed in such a manner that the various sections work together as a single song. For instance, Dilli wali girlfriend, and Sharabi ho gayi are two tracks, but I will design the two lines to sound like one when creating a mash-up. It then acquires a new meaning. The most essential aspect of a mash-up is that, unlike a melody, it must sound like one song instead of a mix of many. All the tracks need to have one key. As someone who juggles both jobs, I can say that creating a mash-up is tougher than composing music."

'Party music no longer deafening, as we know it to be'

DJ Suketu makes evident that adaptability is an essential trait for survival in an industry that is as luring as the show business. When he began to explore a profession that could barely even be called one in '97, DJs were expected to churn out appealing remixes of English pop music alone. It was only after select musicians began to flirt with desi adaptations - peppering their American set with hints of Bollywood music - that tides began to turn. "Club owners started noticing that audiences were appreciating Hindi music, and, by 2003, there was an absolute shift. Hindi music came to the forefront, and today, [a party playlist] is dominated by Bollywood," he tells mid-day when we ask him about changes in consumption trends across his two decade-long career.

Suketu hasn't been apprehensive of welcoming change. He outshone contemporaries as consumers outgrew English pop music and developed an appetite for indie pop in the early 2000s. He also began to consume Bollywood music to stay in sync with evolving choices. However, like it did in every other aspect, 2020 threw a curve-ball for artistes of his kind. 'Party music' was no longer deafening as it had come to be known, with consumers "seeking mellowed versions" of even the peppiest numbers. "In April, we kicked-off a virtual party series called Sundowner by the Bay, and soon noticed that the [property] that was receiving the most acclaim was the Sunday Sundown, where I essentially played house. Even if I played a mainstream or Bollywood number, it still had a groove that was mellow. And I understand this change in listeners' behaviour. Consumers are essentially consuming our music while looking into their screens, and the volume needs to be controlled to suit those around them."

Having exploited his skills to create rehashed versions of songs over the past 23 years, the DJ has started to explore original compositions, only now. "I will release one original track each month till July 2021, and there will be a number of collaborations."

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