Saudade (IND) [Interview]

Hailing from India but now calling Belgium home, Rahul Phogat aka Saudade, has carved out a unique sonic identity in the world of progressive and organic house, resulting in a short but meticulous discography that present’s a resonant worldly sound. Inspiration from classical music luminaries in Ludovico Einaudi, Max Richter, Jóhann Jóhannsson and Sultan Khan, have fuelling Suadade’s journey, making him one India’s most intriguing up and coming talents. On the strength of his debut release, a 2021 offering via A Tribe Called Kotori, the Antwerp resident would go on to choose his projects wisely across the next three calendar years, notching releases for Bridges For Music, Plano B, Manual Music and Mobilee Records, the latter of which was a contribution to the label's 'Zooom' series. Now, continuing on an upwards trajectory into 2025, Saudade adds Musique de Lune to his resume with a three-track showcase 'Childishness'.

Progressive Astronaut caught up with Saudade to learn more about the release of 'Childishness', growing up in India, Moving to Belgium, DJing and much more. Enjoy

Hi Rahul, thanks for talking to us today. How has the start of the year been for you?

This year has been full of creative alignment so far. I took a break in December to visit my family in India, which truly recharged me. Returning to Belgium with a heart full of love and a soul craving expression, I’ve already finished five tracks this year, including a remix for my dear friend and incredibly talented singer-composer, Static River.

Let’s look back on 2024, what gig of yours stood out the most and why?

Amsterdam was undoubtedly one of the highlights of last year. I was scheduled to play from 2–5 AM, but the DJ before me was playing 145+ BPM trance techno. I decided to start my set with an unreleased track of mine - Chain Reaction, originally produced at 123 BPM, and it surprisingly worked beautifully. It was a challenging gig that pushed me out of my comfort zone, but the experience was incredibly rewarding — a pure, raw energy flow. I love these unexpected moments in life because they ignite something deep inside me and broaden my horizons.

Now let’s look at tracks, what is a track or tracks which came out last year that impressed you the most and why?

Title track from my Still Life EP, released on Manual Music has been a great success with support from Eelke Kleijn, Francis Mercier and more. Also received great support from radio spins.

Above & Beyond – Crazy Love (Anuqram Remix) was another standout. Every time I played it on the dancefloor, it evoked pure emotion—happy tears!

Ben Böhmer’s Bloom album was also a special release, with Hiding being my favorite track. I played it during an ambient closing set at The Other Side club in Amsterdam—one of my core memories from 2024.

What is a song/track you’ve never stopped listening to since childhood? And why has it stuck with you this long?

Kishore Kumar - Zindagi Ke Safar Mein is a Hindi song I grew up with. It’s an ode to the ephemeral nature of life, reminding us to appreciate everything—the highs and lows, the joys and sorrows. Even as a child, it evoked a bittersweet longing in me, possibly planting the seed for my artist alias, Saudade.

How did growing up in India affect your music taste and direction into becoming a DJ and producer?

Music is deeply embedded in Indian culture—it’s everywhere, from Bollywood films to wedding celebrations to even vegetable sellers who turn their sales pitches into melodies.

Through my parents, I was exposed to Indian classical and Bollywood music from a young age. However, I fell in love with electronic music as a teenager after discovering Avicii. Attending his 2013 show in New Delhi was a pivotal moment—it inspired me to start DJing. I immediately downloaded Virtual DJ and began mixing, mostly just annoying my neighbours.

Who from India inspired you the most early on and why were they inspirational for you?

First and foremost, my parents—Krishna and Surrender. From my father, I learned the values of hard work and resilience; from my mother, I inherited kindness. These values shaped me into who I am today. This duality is also why I have a strong analytical left brain and an emotional right brain. Balancing the two isn’t always easy, but it serves as a guiding force throughout my life.

You eventually relocated to Belgium, tell us about how the scenes differ from country to country and how did the move affect your journey into being a producer and DJ?

I lived in Netherlands before Belgium. I was exposed to the underground scene for the first time in a club called Toffler in Rotterdam. That night single handedly changed my musical perception and trajectory. From then on, I grew increasingly passionate about DJing and Producing. Club Toffler still is as I call it – a techno temple for me. Throughout my years in Netherlands, it exposed me to a broad range of artists and genres in dance music.

I eventually moved to Belgium to study electronic music production course at SAE Institute in Brussels. That was an amazing year full of learning and meeting new people from the music industry. It rewarded me with friendships that would last a lifetime. It was also the first time I could focus on music 100%, which resulted in me finishing over 250 tracks over the span of 1 year. Thanks to which, I am now able to mix and master my own tracks.

For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you?

Since my musical tastes are quite diverse from drones to neo-classical and eventually house and techno, discovering my sound has been quite a journey.

In my formative years, I started listening to music with the goal of understanding the key elements that make up the “soul” of the record. That understanding truly helped me get better at my craft. It also helped me refine my workflow better, instead of starting with the drums, I now start with a melodic backbone of the record and once that’s solid, everything else simply flows into place.

You cite Ludovico Einaudi, Max Richter, Jóhann Jóhannsson and Sultan Khan as influences, tell us what it is about this contemporary classical, post-minimalism, electronica style which gravitates towards you and how you incorporate your inspirations from that into your own music.

At home, I now exclusively only listen to neo-classical music. Besides calming my nervous system, it also sparks a flare of inspiration which I then channelize through my original productions. Going back to my current production workflow, this music helps me lay the groundwork for the melodic parts of my tracks.

Sometimes I simply loop a drone with some automation, layer it with field recordings, which creates a canvas, already evoking certain feelings which helps induce a trance-like state. That emptiness can induce auditory hallucinations, where mind becomes a receiver, letting the melodies come to itself rather than chasing them.

You have a new EP ‘Childishness’ out now via Musique de Lune, tell us a bit about the release and what sort of vibe you were going for on the three tracks.

‘Childishness’ EP is an ode to my personal journey of being in touch with my inner child, keeping a playful light hearted attitude to life. It’s amazing how a child’s mind differs to an adult; how easy it is for children to be fully immersed in here and now. We shouldn’t be afraid of that part of ourselves - just embrace it, love it.

The tracks were first composed in summer 2024, with a very minimal studio setup at the rooftop of my current home in Antwerp. We later recorded some spoken words with my fiancé Noémie for the title track. We had so much fun working on this project evoking exploration, wonder, awe and beauty.

How would you say this EP differs as to what you’ve been releasing leading up to it?

Childishness EP uniquely encapsulates my broad range of musical influences. From classical elements like violin in Nyepi and pianos in Drowning and Childishness with afro influences, it’s a testament to my musical world at this phase as an artist.

“Timelessness” is an essence that I aspire to in my productions and I believe its captured especially well in this EP. The records are well suited for a broad range of settings be it a club or a late-night drive looking at the city lights fade away in the rear-view mirror.

How much play have the tracks gotten in your sets and where do you generally program them?

A lot, I’ve played the tracks across various venues this past year. My favourite moment has been the day-time open air event at the iconic Het Steen Castle in Antwerp. I played a 4-hour opening set starting with an ambient beginning and Nyepi was one of the first tracks that gave a strong sense of rhythm along with textures and atmospheres. I love how Drowning blends so well with Nyepi so I usually program the tracks next to each other.

Let our readers inside your studio for a moment, what is your current setup and what studio tools are featured heavily in your recent productions and more specifically on ‘Childishness’?

You enter my studio; warm lights fill up the space and the smell of Palo Santos grounds you in here and now.

My studio setup is quite simple and minimal, consisting of Deep Mind 2, Ableton Push 3, a studio mic and a midi keyboard. I also have some percussive instruments which I recorded for Childishness EP.

The pianos and violin used in the EP are a layered combination of ALT Piano and Olafur Arnald’s composer toolkit in Kontakt. The EP also heavily features the Deep mind 2 hardware synth for pads. The arpeggios are done with Juno 106 and DIVA has been heavily used for basses.

With this being your Musique de Lune debut, please tell us why the label was a good home for ‘Childishness’?

I was first introduced to the label via a close friend and talented DJ and now also a producer – RedFreya. Soon I was in contact with the team and felt a close connection and a personal touch with the label. I’ve been following Musique de Lune’s releases and their growth recently has been impressive. When I finished the EP, I knew Musique de Lune would be a great home as my debut release on the label.

Which track from the EP has been getting the most play in your sets and where do you generally program it in?

All tracks have had a fair share of playtime in my sets. Nyepi has been my go-to opening track for a while followed by Drowning since they blend in beautifully with each other. The title track Childishness works well for peak time or as an outro track since it combines a driving groove with emotions.

This is your sixth release since first debuting in 2021, how would you say your sound has changed over the last four years?

After my debut EP in 2021, I went back to my roots to re-discover what “Saudade” meant for me. After a phase of exploration and multitude of finished projects the picture became clearer – it’s a feeling of longing not necessarily for something in the past, but for a bright and beautiful future that’s being created through our actions here and now.

This realization stuck with me and helped shape my sound as it is today. I also realised “Saudade” was never about a genre, thereby opening my horizons and producing across a broad range of genres including ambient, techno, indie-dance and afro. The “Saudade” sound that you hear now is an amalgamation of my life experiences and inspirations up until now and it’s a journey – ever changing, evolving.

Shifting to DJing for a moment, how often do you get a chance to play in Belgium? And how do you go about programming a set?

Past couple of years have been quite rewarding as a DJ. Belgium has started feeling more and more like home mainly due to the beautiful group of souls I’ve met thanks to music. This sense of community has been one of the most rewarding aspects of being an artist. Besides playing in Belgium, I am grateful for the international playing experiences in Netherlands, UK and Serbia.

The only programmed aspect of my DJ sets are the 2-3 intro tracks. That gives me the time to settle in, lose myself in music and flow with it. Once the “thinking” part of the brain subsides, the spontaneity takes over. The moments that result from this process are impossible to program since it’s something that can only happen when you are lost in the moment. Obviously, this needs a right balance of “effortless-effort”, achievable through a well-organized music library, which I do on a monthly basis. So, the tracks on my USB stick are mainly sorted with time and occasionally to a specific gig or venue.

What is it about DJing, compared to producing your own music, that makes it interesting for you?

DJing and producing are inseparable for me personally. I believe DJing has a huge educational and inspirational aspect that affects my workflow and creative process in the studio. DJing helps me understand what works on the dancefloor and more importantly – “Why”.

DJing is also letting the audience inside my heart and soul thereby establishing a very personal connection. I play what I feel in the moment and in return, the audience channels my emotions in their own personal way.

Can you tell me a bit about how your work as a DJ has influenced your view of music, your way of listening to tracks and perhaps also, your work as a producer?

I’d say that DJing and storytelling go hand in hand. This storytelling aspect connects both DJing and producing music, just on different times-scales. A well-curated DJ set takes the listener on a journey, evoking a broad range of emotions with highs and lows. I follow a similar approach consciously or rather sub-consciously while producing music, where the core essence remains the same – be it a DJ set or a piece of original music.

How important is it for you to have gigs to be able to test your own unreleased music?

Quite important – besides the obvious response of the audience which is invaluable, I feel like I listen to my own music more objectively while playing a DJ set. That helps me make better production decisions, often this means coming up with more effective track arrangements and a minimal sound selection.

Current Top five tracks in your sets?

• Deadmau5 - Re_Jaded
• Tinlicker – Less Than a Minute
• Pryda – The Beginning
• Massh – iLanga
• Saudade – Weight of attraction (one of my unreleased tracks)

If you are not DJing, producing or socializing at clubs, where do we find you? And doing what?

My days begin and end with meditation and yoga—a sacred ritual that keeps my mind grounded and my body in tune. It’s my way of creating a moment of stillness amidst the chaos of creativity.

Lately, I’ve developed a deep love for swimming. There’s something meditative about being submerged in water—the rhythmic breathing, the fluidity of movement—it’s the closest thing to weightlessness on Earth.

I also love nature, so you would find me on hiking trips in a forest, ideally close to mountains and water. One of my recent wild adventures has been in the Himalayas where we hiked up to an altitude of 5,400 m in peak winters with temperatures dropping up to -25 degrees C.

If you could set up an event with a line-up of five artists of your choice, who would you book and what set times would you ascribe to the artists? (Do not include yourself)

• Nthng (ambient opening set)
• Alaskan Tapes
• Nils Frahm
• Max cooper
• Jon Hopkins (closing set)

If you were not a DJ/Producer what do you think you’d be doing with your life? (Something not music related)

I would either be an astronaut or a marine biologist. Understandably both interests are poles apart but somehow the vastness of space and the oceans excite my imagination and I would have loved to explore either one or both in a parallel universe.

What’s something people do not know about you?

I studied a Master’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and specialized in acoustics, particularly the noise radiation mechanisms from aircraft engines. I am currently also working as an Acoustics Engineer at Atlas Copco, combining my analytical brain with my love for sound.

What TV series have you been enjoying recently and what are some of your all-time favourites?

Not a big fan of TV series but I love cinema. Here are some of my all-time favourite movies:

• Samsara
• Nobody
• Koyaanisqatsi
• The Disciple
• The Revenant

What can we look forward to from you across the rest of 2025? Any releases or gigs you are looking forward to?

Quite some unreleased music in the pipeline waiting to see the light of day. Also working on an ambient EP with field recordings which is coming along pretty well.

Most excited for my unreleased track – “Weight of Attraction” which was reviewed by Manuaykene, as a result got l overwhelming amount of love and support so thank you all!

I will soon be leaving for my Asia trip with 3 months in China, so looking forward to the experience.

'Childishness' is available now via Musique de Lune: https://tinyurl.com/zxk5y98h