We chat with Grammy-nominated producer DJ Snake — the master-mind behind the chartbuster Lean On — on his tour to India
Ever since he watched La Haine (a French cult film revolving around an unstoppable DJ) at the age of 14, William Grigahcine knew just what he wanted to do. Now, at the age of 29, with a net worth of an estimated $12 million, a perennial favourites on Billboard’s Hot 100 lists and with Grammy nominations to his credit, William a.k.a DJ Snake is well on his way to realising his dream.
On his maiden tour to India at Sunburn in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad, he’s set to show us why he’s where he is. “The idea was to start as a rapper. Clearly I was terrible at it!” says the DJ, rapper and producer. Yet the strong influence of hip hop in his tracks is unmistakable — perhaps, as a throwback to the ghettos of Paris where his life was “cut”. “I began working at a record store in Paris where we’d have the most famous DJs and producers pass by every day.
One day, I decided to take my chance and I hooked up with one of Europe’s best hip hop DJs who taught me the ins and outs of the music game,” he says. But that’s not the only thing he takes away from his town. His moniker (however much he dislikes it) is also a part of it all. Known to have dabbled in graffiti as a youth, this musician would constantly evade the police, earning him the title “snake”. Since then, there has been no looking back.
Performing at house parties and moving up to bigger arenas like night clubs that were once ruled by David Guetta, Snake eventually became a mainstay at music festivals like Coachella and Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas. Spinning hit tracks like Get Low and Turn Down For What (both of which featured on Furious 7), You Know You Like It and Lean On and topping it all off with a Grammy nomination for producing Lady Gaga’s Born This Way are all feathers in his cap.
After his shoot for the Lean On video at Karjat and Virar in Mumbai, Snake is happy to be back in India, this time on tour. “I’ve seen the response we’ve got on the video and this definitely makes me want to perform here. India has always been mesmerising. It feels like some kind of special creature with one foot in history and one firmly in the future,” says Snake. After this, he’s packing off to New Zealand and Australia.
He may spend several weeks on the road, but he still remembers to have his fun while at it. Recently, he flashed his bud and electro house producer, Dillon Francis’s phone number on the big screen at his Ultra set — you know, just for fun. “I’m sure he enjoyed this, apart from his favourite number changing. I know everything that’s trending at the moment, but I don’t take it seriously, you know? It’s all in good spirit,” he says, being the last one to get consumed by social media and gossip.
“I get my sh*ts and giggles out of it and move right back on to real life. I find people more interesting than computers at the end of the day,” he smiles. Otherwise, he’s consumed in watching culture documentaries that inspire him to pick more beats and put out a carefully thought out chartbuster that will remain the dance anthem for weeks on end.
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