Look who's got DJ Hardwell's ear

Sartek opened for Hardwell's Worlds Biggest Guestlist party in Mumbai last year

With several firsts under his belt, 27-year-old Delhi boy Sartek has managed yet another coup, he is the first Indian to release on Russia's biggest label, Showland Records, a sub-label of Armin Van Buuren's Armada Records, earlier this year.

Sartek opened for Hardwell's Worlds Biggest Guestlist party in Mumbai last year

Sarthak Sardana aka Sartek, is also the only Indian to grace the Beatport Top 100 (Electro House) multiple times with his tracks Back To The Future, his latest Dopamine and Don't Need Love. In fact, French Rockstar DJ David Guetta premiered Back To The Future on his radio show to over three million people this year, before being played by Hardwell at several festivals and shows internationally.

Since then, top global acts Afrojack, Sick Individuals and Chuckie have been playing his tracks on their own radio shows. Sartek also became the first Indian artist to be signed onto Cloud9 Music, a Netherlands-based music publishing company, which is home to the likes of Armin van Buuren, Hardwell, W&W, Dannic and Dyro, and also record labels like Armada and Revealed Records.

His latest track Only You, with Russian talent Vigel, was premiered by Hardwell on his radio show Hardwell On Air recently. At present, online forums and social media is buzzing with the news of a possible collaboration with the star DJ.

Extracts from an interview:

Are you collaborating with Hardwell?
It's great to see that fans have such strong conviction in me. Hardwell has always been my idol. We share the same publisher, Cloud9 Music, and I am also signed with his record label, Revealed Recordings. I played with him last year for the World Biggest Guest List gig at DY Patil Stadium to a crowd of 80,000 people. So, stay tuned.

Sartek at a live gig

You are the first Asian to be signed to Hardwell's label. You're living the dream of homegrown EDM aspirants. How did it happen?
I learnt the art of production from an institute in Delhi way back in 2009. It took me a few years to learn production before I released my first track on Tiesto's imprint Magik Muzik in 2013. Since then, the musical journey has been going forward. The year 2014 was the biggest in my career; David Guetta played my track Dopamine thrice on his radio show and gave me a breakthrough in the international dance music scene. I am a producer first and a DJ after, so DJing was completely self-taught. I only wanted to start playing gigs once my music was out there and fans came to listen to my original productions.

You were studying to become a chartered accountant before taking up EDM. What changed your mind?
I come from a family of professionals. The majority are chartered accountants, so I was following the herd without realising that chartered accountancy was not something I wanted to do whole my life. It was in 2009, when the realisation kicked in that I was much better at constructing melodies and basslines than crunching numbers and making balance sheets. My father opposed this idea at first, but when he saw me play to a crowd of 5,000 at Talkatora Stadium in Delhi, his perception of a DJ completely changed and he started calling me a 'rockstar' at home.

Who are you working with currently?
I am working with a lot of labels but right now, it's mostly with Armada Music and Revealed Recordings. I started my career with Tiesto's imprint Magik Muzik where I did a trance track, then I shifted to the French label GURU Recordings where I mostly produced Hard Electro stuff before joining Armada.

Which local festivals did you enjoy playing at?
I made my debut at Sunburn in 2013 and since then, I perform at the festival every year. I also enjoy performing at the Enchanted Valley Carnival (EVC) and
Oktoberfest Goa.

What is the plan for September?
I just released Only You last week. The track My Addiction will be officially out on September 12 on Showland (part of Armada Music).