Beat2’s unique emotive sounds backed by solid grooves along with his ability to set mesmerising moods and take people on an exciting musical journey, has been the highlight of a long sustaining career as DJ. As he progressed on the path he took over more roles of a Producer/ Online Radio Show host/ Record Label owner and unique event designer. His adventures are backed by talent, taste, experience and extensive travelling to top cities of the World buzzing with an exciting music culture like London, Amsterdam and Dubai to name a few. Beat2’s work as a producer receives regular support from the likes of Hernan Cattaneo, Nick Warren, Sahar Z, Guy Mantzur, Lonya and many more.
Beat2’s latest project ‘MOONPHASE’ (Record Label) was launched amongst great excitement and was well received by music industry stalwarts & fans worldwide which featured music by Israeli & Argentinian stars, Sahar Z & Interaxxis. On Artist front, in the beginning on 2020, Beat2 won 2 awards in 2 categories- Music Producer (#2) & DJ (#24) categories for Delhiites, Luxury Lifestyle Magazine from India.
History:
Beat2’s career had humble beginning’s with his exposure to non-stop electronic music in 1995 on a cassette through a well known local DJ, Amit Sharma (known as DJ A-myth), who was introduced by his elder brother. He found it very fascinating and had an instant connection to sequencing of music & building a story along the way how Amit was doing it. Later Amit gave him a CD of Pete Tong’s Essential Mix featuring Paul Oakenfold. This was the first time Beat2 was exposed to a nonstop DJ mix from an International Artist and hence marked the beginning of an exciting musical journey. His curiosity and Napster took him into the unknown while bouncing names & music from the likes Sasha, John Digweed, Paul Van Dyk, Cream, Danny Tenaglia etc which had a very serious impact on his style which has evolved over the years.
In his words ‘The sounds were resonating within me, everything I was hearing from these guys. I had no idea how the parties looked like, how they looked like and what the hell was going on. My imagination triggered by these sounds took me into spaces I had not known existed within me and I was loving it’.
Personal Challenges:
Beat2 hailing from Mumbai, India and from a family background which was into Business, it was tough for him to explain his experiences and hence wanting to make career out of it. His love for Cricket and Music did face a lot of resistance from Family which he overcame, eventually.He continued on the path of academics by finishing his Graduation and then Executive MBA from the prestigious NMIMS Institute, Mumbai. After finishing his academic obligations, the urge to explore music industry as a career only became stronger and hence he embarked a new route by getting himself professionally trained under Azaredo Acoutics by Jo Azaredo. He learnt the skills of playing on Vinyl & CDs along with the technicalities and theories involved behind the craft. Jo Azaredo introduced Beat2 to engineers from Denon, who were visiting the school and mentioned, Beat2 was one of the few talented guys who had finished learning the craft in half the allotted time for the course and was already helping him monitor other students in the batch (hence exploring the teaching side naturally, early on).
Once Beat2 was done learning the craft, he had a very humble beginning. He performed his maiden gig at private party in his then girl friends living room, where he mixed all genres and did an 8 hours set on his personally invested Denon CD Players, Citronic Mixer and Home Theatre sound system. The party was a huge success from which started his main journey and he got booked for more private parties (paid ones now).
After the successful stint at the private parties, Beat2’s aim to progress on the path continued and he took part in a local competition called ‘War Of The DJs’ which was organised by the esteemed Times Group of India. He did not win the competition inspite of a performance loved by the audience and judges alike. His performance was spotted and appreciated by DJ Akhtar who was a part of the Judges in the competition. Later DJ Manoj (Amit’s brother) introduced Beat2 to DJ Akhtar personally and Beat2 was offered his first residency at Vie, Lounge & Deck.
This kickstarted Beat2’s career officially in the industry as a DJ with high profile residencies which continued from thereon. Beat2 has been a resident at super clubs and posh lounges- Vie, Lounge & Deck, Poison, Bling, Poison-Shiro Goa, Hype, Trilogy, Aurus, Miami and Royalty. Along with this came a long list of touring various cities for club and private gigs alike much before the festival bug had bitten the country and the world eventually.
Parallel Universe Exploration:
The residency jobs always came with conditions of a certain sound and Beat2’s love for electronic music & underground sound was never a secret. Over the years inspite of delivering sounds which came as a certain responsibility with the residency, he kept building and pushing the sounds he liked. Beat2 had first heard about Sanjay Dutta (legendary DJ from Kolkata, India) from Amit along with yet another set which instantly resonated with him once again. Sanjay Dutta was visiting Vie Lounge as a Guest Artist where Beat2 was a resident and it marked the beginning of a the second most exciting journey in his career. Their relationship later strengthened when Sanjay Dutta shifted base to Mumbai.
Upon hearing Beat2’s sounds inspite of the residency he held, Sanjay Dutta invited Beat2 to open for him at the infamous Submerge gigs. The night went down in history when the synergy was exposed with Beat2’s opening set followed by Sanjay Dutta’s signature legendary classic trance sounds.
Beat2 had found an artist with the love & passion for similar sounds. The organic nature of their bond grew into their first eventful adventure, ‘EVOLVE’ in 2005 (after Beat2 quit Vie Lounge Residency). It was a Tuesday night event which was focussed on promoting cutting edge electronic sound ranging from the underground to uplifting trance and everything in between. The night received great response from crowd, artists and the venue H2O (Khar). It was a Tuesday night affair with music lovers finding place to express, release and get lost in the music. Hence Beat2’s stint with promoting cutting edge music, which started with an experiment at Vie lounge with support from the staff, colleague (DJ Dash) and close friends continued in a professional manner at EVOVLE.
So with 3 years of experience as DJ, Promoter and occasional Producer, Beat2 was already feeling the urge and curiosity to explore more. In 2007, he travelled to United Kingdom, stayed with his cousin and did a weekend course in music production at Manchester Midi School. On his return, he was invited to join the super club Poison which was owned by Superstar Bollywood DJ, Aqeel. In no time, Beat2 adapted to the sounds of the club and established a name by slowly climbing up the ladder with his work and becoming one of the main artist handling more duties. In 2008, he was asked to manage Shiro-Poison, Goa affair for the company. The job involved, programming artist, monitoring creatives along with the Resident DJ duties. Beat2’s love for music and responsible attitude made him flourish in every department he was heading.
Along with the residency at Poison and due to his close friendship with Sanjay Dutta and friend Wayne Beck, Beat2 had the opportunity to co-host his other favourite star artists like Nick Warren, Dave Seaman, Stephane K and many more such luminary names every time they visited India.
Beat2’s residency list continued to grow and through his extensive network, he was invited to perform at VIP parties hosted for/ by Bollywood celebrities, Award Functions, Luxury & Lifestyle Magazines, International Brands, Designers, Fashion Show events to name a few. Beat2’s focus was not waivered by other activities and he continued to explore and promote underground sounds.
Learning & Coaching:
Beat2 had already been doing coaching activities while he was learning the skills at Azaredo Acoustics and did have a knack of training people from the beginning which may be credited to the other degrees he held. Beat2 had also started learning Music and passed multiple grades in Theory & Practicals through corresponded from London College of Music and Trinity College. Beat2’s urge to learn and master the technicalities of the music industry continued as he trained himself for Mixing & Mastering Electronic music through an Online course from Point Blank, London which he cleared with Distinction.
In 2009 DJ Aqeel launched his Academy Future DJ which was officially supported by Red Bull & Pioneer. The academy was run under Beat2’s supervision where he trained students who have eventually gone out do make a a brand out of themselves in their respective genres. Later on Beat2 continued teaching in his personal studio where he has trained students who is creating a name for themselves on the international circuit as well..
With all the experience, love for technology and academic expertise, Beat2 is well poised to train the next generation of Music Producer & DJs.
Coalition Music:
In 2011, Beat2 & Sanjay Dutta decided to start their second project ‘COALITION MUSIC’ which was a super success and later on became synonymous with quality electronic music in the country. It was launched at a time when EDM had explored as genre and suddenly there was dry patch of consistency in the quality underground music scene. Sanjay & Beat2 decided to fill the void with this effort through various activities.They would host a weekly podcast and invite DJs from all over the world. The podcast was supported by the likes of Dave Seaman, Guy J, Sahar Z, Guy Mantzur, James Harcourt etc. to name a few. In 2014, they kicked off their international artist gigs roster by hosting and touring with the likes of Dave Seaman, Sahar Z, Guy Mantzur, Mariano Mellino, Pedro Aguiar and Darin Epsilon. Alongside the events Coalition Music Record Label was launched with Beat2’s first EP Intriguing Space followed by young talent from India. With the success of the podcast on their Soundcloud & Mixcloud platforms, Coalition Music moved on to Frisky Radio with a monthly show ‘Origin’. Coalition Music activities slowed down by the end of 2016 due to Beat2’s health issues. In 2020 Sanjay Dutta & Beat2 mutually decided to part ways and the brand Coalition Music was officially taken over by Beat2, which is’MOONPHASE’ now.
International Adventure as a Producer:
On Sahar’s visit to India organised under the flagship Coalition Music, Sahar & Beat2 were unwinding in his studio before Sahar was about to board his flight back to Tel Aviv after a super successful tour. Upon hearing Beat2’s music, Sahar asked him to share links for his reference when he is back home. Little did Beat2 know the gift Sahar had in mind for him. In some weeks, Sahar shared an email with Beat2, stating that he had shared his music with Hernan Cattaneo and that he had loved it and would like to sign for the upcoming Sudbeat compilation. This marked the beginning of Beat2’s work finally entering the International horizon as a Producer.
Beat2 had been invited in the past to do guest mixes by artist from various countries and Coalition Music had also become a label by now. But this marked the arrival of Beat2 as a producer on the international circuit. That year, 2015 Beat2 was at ADE and received a warm welcome by the international community and more work flew in the form of remixes and ep releases with labels such as Asymmetric Recordings, 3rd Avenue, Balkan Connection, Electronic Tree and Laika Sounds.
This organic journey of getting inspired through music from Napster, listening to non-stop cassettes, playing at a private in the living room to performing at super clubs, festivals, vip parties, hosting big events, touring international artists and promoting cutting edge music, Beat2 had done it all without compromising his core sounds.
The Breakdown & Resurrection:
Like every interesting story, Beat2 story started with humble beginning and kept climbing up till it peaked. In 2016, on his second visit to Amsterdam for attending ADE and taking things on higher level, Beat2 didn’t know he was struggling with serious health issues. That trip was spent most of the times in the room once he landed in Amsterdam. It was only because of support of his Mentor/ Business Partner then, Sanjay Dutta, Beat2 peacefully flew back to London and later to India. On his return and getting himself checked, he realised he was having serious issues for over a year due to a Vitamin D Deficiency which had made it impossible for him function and continue on this exciting journey which had just begun after all those years of personal sacrifice and dedication. Beat2 decided to put a break on his work and the hectic lifestyle which came along with it. He then (maybe due to the deficiency) excused himself of his last residency which was Royalty. After all those years years of constant travelling, night life, exposure to loud sound and many other factors which were ignored- it resulted in putting breaks on the adventure. The breakdown made him realise, in his quest for becoming the artist he visualised he had forgotten to take necessary care of his mind and body which resulted in whatever had happened. Beat2 decided to go the natural way and let the body and mind be repaired/ healed before taking up any other work commitments. He received a lot of flak from his fellow DJs & followers for suddenly disappearing from the scene, but he had already made his choice.
In January 2017, Beat2 decided to go back to his Yoga roots with his introduction to Sadhguru (Isha Yoga)- The Inner Engineering course with a constant nudge from a close friend. This changed and enhanced his course of life and got him back to much higher version of himself than before. Along with that Beat2 received some personal setbacks in his family due to which his responsibility had to shift from his music career to more personal.
After having done his duties on his family font, Beat2 returned to the music scene actively in 2020 by receiving an Award for Best Producer (#2) and Best DJ (#23) in Delhiites, Luxury Lifestyle Magazine Polls. Inspite of being unwell, Beat2 had continued to host his radio show Origin on Frisky Radio along with doing Remix work, as and when they were offered. Following the award, April 2020 marked the launch of Beat2’s solo project ‘MOONPHASE’- the label has which already received a grand welcome from the International Music community and promises to grow from hereon.
Current Affairs:
Beat2 currently is effectively managing different roles as an Artist/ Label Owner/ Online Radio Show Host/ Events Designer along with close friend Bhavesh Joshi (Ex DJ) managing admin work with a super team supporting the exciting musical endeavour.
In Beat2’s words ‘this is my second innings, just like a cricket test match and I am ready to hit the ball out of the park’