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News |  10 Jul 2013 15:32 |  By RnMTeam

Ghazal star Talat Aziz takes to EDM for Bollyboom

MUMBAI: Ghazal icon Talat Aziz is exploring new grounds beyond the serenity of ghazals and traditional music. The man, known for his ‘smooth as silk voice’ has been rapidly catching up with the intricacies and nuances of global phenomenon- Electronic Dance Music (EDM).

Introduced to EDM by his son Adnan, who has a keen interest in the music and has dabbled into mixing and adding effects to tracks, it was a challenging but educative road for Aziz to take with surprising results.

“It was initially a very challenging experience. It was my son Adnan who introduced me to the genre and he educated me about how to mix sounds and create grooves. The genre is a fresh product for me,” Aziz told Radioandmusic.com.

Beyond the technicalities and philosophy, what Aziz’s introduction to EDM did was spark an idea. Holding talks with Percept Live’s- which owns live music properties like Sunburn- head honchos, a new idea germinated- a concept of bringing the thousands of remixed Bollywood songs enjoyed by millions under one roof.

Christened ‘Bollyboom’, the new property is a festival on the lines of Sunburn that will enthrall crowds with Bollywood music remixed to EDM or Bollywood Dance Music (BDM). Its unique selling proposition (USP) and where it diverges from Sunburn is Bollyboom will a heady mix of EDM laced with retro Bollywood songs, topped with a multitude of other entertainment options in one area giving revelers an unforgettable experience.

Percept is serious about building the intellectual property (IP) of Bollyboom. It has already earmarked Rs 30 crores to build the name and is targeting 1, 00,000 people in its first year. It is aiming for topline revenues of Rs 250 crores by FY 2014 and Rs 1.5 billion by FY 16.

The Bollyboom team will have to create different set of songs and sounds for each of the venues to go with the mood and ambience of the cities.

Its officials have also worked out the copyrights and performing rights for the songs to be used.

Bollyboom will not restrict itself to the youth (although its main target) but the whole Indian family. So, in addition to the music, the festival will have balloon rides, shopping, food to keep the rest of the family entertained while the youngsters groove to the EDM.

To ensure that the music is world class- and way above the ‘run-of-the-mill’ remixes, some of top music artists have been roped in- Sonu Nigam and music directors Salim-Suleiman with Aziz taking up the creative responsibilities.

“I will not be performing for the shows (which will begin 24 December, Delhi) as my style of singing will not match the songs and beats of Bollyboom. But my contribution will be in the creative part- checking classic Bollywood songs and selecting the ones that can be mixed and played for the festivals,” Aziz said.

Aziz’s task is formidable. The Bollyboom property is not a one off show. Percept plans to hold the festival across India, especially to smaller centres like Ahmedabad, Chandigargh, Jaipur, Pune and expand it abroad to UK, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

“Where we stand apart from many DJs and mixers is that being trained musicians and having been in the profession for a long time we know music. I can make out which song will work with which sound, what chords- major or minor- are being used, the scales and pitch,” Aziz pointed out.

With the popularity of Bollywood music- contemporary and retro and Indians’ fondness for fast beats a la EDM- Aziz is confident as the rest of the team is of Bollyboom’s success.

“The secret of the longevity of classic Bollywood songs are its melodies. And the Bollyboom songs will not have the whole songs but patches of the melodies in the tracks. So we will have classic melodies and EDM music that will bring out its flavours.”

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