Addicted to bass

Monotonous, long-format beats are being replaced by a new quick-changing, bass-heavy electronica that is slowly taking over Mumbai's nightlife

The club is crowded. The energy is high. The music is up-tempo. Suddenly, there is a shift in energy levels. Lata Mangeshkar's voice singing Mere Mehboob Tujhe from the 1963 film Mere Mehboob, emanates from the speakers. The crowd starts to slowly move to the rhythm and before you know it, the momentum is back.
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DJ Uri

The remix is a Dubstep version by local DJ set, Mumbai Mafia, who give old Hindi film music a unique twist. The bass-heavy Electronic Dance Music genre has been steadily taking over Indian Electronic, Pop, and even Bollywood remixes.

Clubs in the city have started hosting nights, where the bass-heavy soundscape offers the perfect backdrop for DJs to experiment with. Monthly Wobble nights at Bonobo is one such example. The brain-child of Electronica artistes Pravvy Prav, DJ Uri, Randolph Correia and Bandish Projekt -- Wobble is all about Drum 'n' Bass, Glitch Hop, Funk and Dubstep.

"It's a bass-oriented night where we set the tempo of the evening to celebrate a certain kind of energy and sound. Dub music is dark, heavy yet very groovy. It also has a very big sound," says Prav, otherwise known as Pravin Mukhi, who is also a drummer with Shaa'ir n Func, Bandish Projekt, and has occasionally played with Pentagram as well.

For the musician, nothing is better than to mix samples on a turntable and play with the bass. "Ever since we introduced these nights, an increasing number of people have been coming in. They come expecting a certain kind of sound and we are happy to play to that," says Pravin, who grew up in UK and Dubai and is one of the early adopters of Dubstep.

Whereas Wobble is all about wobbling your bass, DJ Ray G has of late been, mashing up new, familiar samples to keep the energy flowing through the crowd. His fix is the short-format groove, which he throws up at Smash Up nights at Bonobo. "I have realised people don't follow styles or genres. They follow music and vibes. As a DJ, I don't like to stick to a format," says Ray G, who mashes up everything from Indie, New Disco, Old Skool to Break Beat and Dubstep.

"The idea is to mix things up so that monotony doesn't set in, and for that I am always playing to the mood," says Ray G, who sticks to short-format sounds and in his one-hour-and-a-half set list uses Dubstep to make transitions from one genre to another.

"Dubstep is traditionally played between 135 to 150 beats per minute. The beats are in half time and the bass moves faster, which sets a very different rhythm for the evening for club-happy people," explains Reji, who says the sound gives a break to the energy.

One of his favourite things to do on the decks is to re-introduce the audience to a song or a tune they might already be familiar with. "I play this track by this old '90s band called Bentley Rhythm Ace. The samples are used in several promos and people immediately relate to the sound," says Reji, who manipulates familiarity to entertain his crowd.

On: Tonight, 9 pm onwards
At: Bonobo, off Linking Road, Bandra (W).
Call: 26055050