Weird Sounding Dude [Interview]

As one of India's rising musical mavericks, Weird Sounding Dude has emerged from his country's electronic landscape as a premiere progressive house talent. Long a favourite of genre tastemakers Hernan Cattaneo, Nick Warren, Guy J and Cid Inc, the Bangalore resident often touches on disparate themes and sounds, straddling the divide between intergalactic design and groove-centric hypnotism. With a career that now spans a decade, Weird Sounding Dude has compiled an impressive discography with standout releases via Anjunadeep, Hoomidaas, The Soundgarden and Sudbeat Music. This week sees Weird Sounding Dude making his debut on the trendsetting WARPP imprint with a remix of 'Algorythm' by Tali Muss and label boss Bondarev.

Progressive Astronaut caught up with Weird Sounding Dude to learn more about his 'Algorythm' remix, creative process, DJing, and more. Enjoy.

Hi Abhijith, I hope you’ve been great. Thanks for speaking with us today, what was the last piece of music you listened to?

Hi Mitch, I am doing great, thank you so much for having me again. Well I was listening to a bit of Bonobo this morning, his music always helps in setting the mood and energy for the rest of the day.

How has your year been so far and what gigs have stood out for you these last few months?

It’s been a very productive year so far, I was fortunate enough to tour Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and also did a great set at both local club shows and music festivals. I think every show I played at, had its own charm and aesthetics, I enjoyed playing them all.

Take us through a day in your life, from a possible morning routine through to your production work and otherwise, please.

I start off my day with some yoga followed by watering my plants. I also teach music production online, I do a couple of sessions of that on a regular basis. I don’t spend a lot of hours in production instead I work on a limited time basis with limited tasks for the day, which I find to be more result oriented. I recently became a father as well so I spend most of my time with my son which I enjoy a lot. If I have some free time left for the day I spend that time learning some new skills.

When you were first getting started in production did you have someone help you or are you completely self-taught? And what would you recommend new producers do to help with the learning curve of production?

I am a self-taught producer, I still learn a lot of things on a day to day basis when I am teaching music production or when having conversations with other artists. In my early days I had help from my Indian producer friends namely Audio Units, Vipul Agrish and Praveen Achary, who used to take time and provide me with their valuable feedback for my tracks, which helped me a lot to grow and guided me towards the right path. All I can say for new producers is that there is no one way of doing things, there are multiple ways to achieve your goal, don't be bothered about the result much just enjoy the process, eventually everything will fall in place and remember learning never stops.

You have a new remix of ‘Algorythm’ by Bondarev and Tali Muss out now via WARPP, tell us about the remix and how it showcases your current sound.

I have been a fan of WARPP ever since they put out their first release, so I was very happy to come on board for this project. While approaching this remix, I tried to write a track which fits the label ideology while staying true to my current sound as well.

What was it about the track which made you want to remix it and what do you generally look for in terms of a good remix project?

I really enjoyed the groove of the song, which influenced me to pick it up. The vibe was great in the track and it just clicked with me. While picking tracks for remixing I generally try to listen to parts which inspire me to work on them.

Some producers like to stay pretty close to the themes of a track when they remix it, while others, Guy J being a good example, create something completely different and fresh, how do you generally approach remixes?

I start off by loading all the stems / midi, after which I start to zero in on the parts that I would like to use in the track. Once all this is done, I start off by building the groove, while editing / sound designing the stems / midi according to the vibe I am looking for.

What is the task you enjoy the most when producing and what would you prefer someone else to do?

I enjoy the process of putting the track/idea together a lot, not much of a fan of the arrangement process, so I would probably hand that over to somebody else.

As a DJ, you’ve become known for longer sets that take the listener on a journey, tell us how you approach DJing and more specifically programming a set.

Irrespective of genre, I plan my sets by creating different playlists based on the energy levels of the track, vocals, breaks and for classics. While DJing once I figure out the mood of the dancefloor I start to fit the tracks from the playlists accordingly.

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 also, your work as a producer?

Unlike before, doing shows on a more consistent basis has definitely influenced my production learnings/techniques a lot. I now understand the meaning of the term “Less Is More” a lot better now and surely helped me understand what mood works on the dancefloor across various scenarios.

How much prep do you put into the tracks you choose to play?

I start off my segregating into a couple of playlists on rekordbox based on the drive and groove, and then fit them in according to my set based on the mood of the dancefloor.

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?

If I had to pick five, it would be

Ame

Dixon

John Digweed

Guy J

Simon Vuarambon

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

I would probably be spending time with my family either going for a movie etc or on a holiday.

Current Top five tracks in your sets?

It’s been such an amazing year of releases from all corners of the world it’s a bit difficult to pick just five of them, my choices not in any particular order would be.

Ezequiel Arias - Arcoiris

GMJ, Matter - Shelter Of Hearts

Dabeat, Kamilo Sanclemente - Seriously

Kostya Outta - For Lovers

Sebastian Sellares - Caliope

If you were not a DJ/Producer what do you think you’d be doing with your life?

I would have probably continued with my Civil Engineering career.

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

My all time favorite series has to be Dark, Breaking Bad, Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen. I haven't been watching much of any series lately, so I don't have any current favorites.

What can we look forward to from Weird Sounding Dude in 2024?

A lot of new music and a few collaborations!!

Weird Sounding Dude's remix of 'Algorythm' is available now via WARPP: https://tinyurl.com/4xfw55mv