...says Shailendra Singh, at the launch of his second book that chronicles the journey of one of the country’s biggest musical stories
...says Shailendra Singh, at the launch of his second book that chronicles the journey of one of the country’s biggest musical stories
Shailendra Singh loves to make an entry. So it wasn’t surprising when a bookstore on a quiet Monday afternoon, blared thumping electronica on the AV screen as opposed to slow instrumental music in its isles amidst hushed reader talks — it was the launch of Singh’s second writing endeavour, The True Story of Sunburn. As the name suggests, the book chronicles the trials and triumphs of the mammoth electronica music brand.
“Through this book, I want to articulate the story of Sunburn, ignite minds and inspire people to create something,” says Singh, joint managing director of Percept as he stresses on the latter part of that sentence. An entrepreneur at heart apart from being a music lover, he believes that we as a nation do little to preserve or capitalise on our strengths. “Why is it that we only consume brands and not make them We are happy indulging in a foreign brand’s burger or pizza, but why hasn’t anyone thought of branding or patenting the idli or samosa The West has made a dozen films on President John F. Kennedy, but how many films do we have on the life of Indira Gandhi Either we lack the self confidence to build a brand, or we just don’t give a damn,” says Singh.
As someone who brought together the home-grown intellectual property of Sunburn, Singh believes that he hasn’t got his due as an entrepreneur outside of the EDM world. “When India hosted the cricket World Cup, people from 10 countries came here. Sunburn brings together people from 43 countries to Goa every year and it is important to tell this to the world because Sunburn has not got its due. Today everyone knows India as a big destination for EDM— something that wasn’t the case a few hours ago.”
He is, however, proud of the fan base that the event or the “lifestyle” as he calls it, has generated in the past eight years. Mocking his brash ways, Singh says, “I am here today, but I may to dead tomorrow. I don’t want anybody to tell a different story about Sunburn when I’m gone. Hence it was important to articulate everything related to the journey in a book.” The True Story of Sunburn has profiled some of the regular acts featuring on the Sunburn stage apart from Singh’s backstage rendezvous with EDM heavyweights such as Swedish House Mafia, Tiesto and Hardwell to name a few. It also has a chapter dedicated to his son who is an upcoming DJ, apart from a sombre phase in the journey that saw DJ Nikhil Chinapa, once an integral part of the brand, walk out of the team on a bitter note to curate a rival music festival on the shores of Goa.
To cater to reading sensibilities of the younger crowds, Singh made sure that the book has URLs and links to videos online. “Let’s face it — kids these days don’t read as much. So we’ve given links that the phone can read, so one can go online and watch the videos.”
Given that a few DJs are increasingly predicting the burnout of hard EDM in the years to come, does it bother the messiah of the movement in India “Sunburn is a lifestyle. It has become about more than music — it’s the love of a million hearts and people are used to it. Besides, it is like no other music — it has no lyrics, just energy. It can uplift the mood and energy of a place like no other genre can. It won’t die down,” he says.
