"You can't call yourself a musician until you’ve released an Album”-DJ Kunaal Gurbaxani

DJ/producer Kunaal Gurbaxani aka GURBAX who has built a legacy for himself in the Indian bass music scene. Today he is one of the most fresh and ubiquitous DJ/ producers in the Indian electronic music scene. With massive independent releases like ‘Boom Shankar’, ‘Aghori’ and ‘Aatank’, GURBAX has gathered over 50 million+ plays on YouTube alone, hit #1 on the Indian iTunes Electronic Music Charts, played almost every major Indian music festival stage including VH1 Supersonic, NH7 Weekender, TimeOut72, YouTube FanFest, Red Bull Tour Bus,etc.

GURBAX, recognized for being at the forefront of the bass music movement in India is gearing up for the release of his maiden album that dropped on 8th April 2022. Titled ‘REBIRTH’, the futuristic 8-track compilation sees the artist teaming up with a diverse bunch of collaborators including singer-songwriter Rashmeet Kaur, bass music heavyweight NDS, Billboard charting songwriter and artist Mayila, Amsterdam-based producer & future-bass pioneer GANZ, Las Vegas-based rap duo called Gold Lemonade and LA-based singer/songwriter Devesh Dayal.In this freewheeling chat with Loudest, he talks about his albums and music journey. Excerpts from an edited interview:

Q1.Hello,Tell us about your musical journey?

A.Lots of ups & downs. I first learnt how to make music in 2013 so I’m still relatively young in the game and have a long way to go to hit my goals. I do feel blessed to have been able to find my calling though. GoLa give thanks to my parents for supporting & allowing me to chase my dreams.

Q2. What was the inspiration behind the concept of your album ‘REBIRTH’? How did it come about?

A.I’ve been fantasising about making an album ever since I made my 1st song back in 2013. Even though I’ve been releasing singles & EPs quite consistently since then, I’ve always felt this void & voice in my head telling me, “You cant call yourself a musician until you’ve released an album”. I needed to reach this milestone so I finally could shut that voice off. That was what drove me to work towards this. Its a new direction & a journey into a different confine of my consciousness. Most of the records on the album are 3-4 years in the works cause I’ve just been too scared to expose this side of myself to the world. If there’s one message I want the album to propagate, it would be to inspire other artists to never let fear come in the way of reinventing  yourself.

Q3.Tell more about your favourite albums?

A.Linkin Park - Hybdrid Theory Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Californiction PreLy Lights - Filling Up The City Skies John Mayer - Continuum

Q4.What advice do you have for people entering this field now?

A.Learn an instrument when you’re young and stick with it. It’ll help you loads later down the line

Q5.Tell us about your upcoming projects?

A.Album is out but I am not gonna be stopping,Got tons of amazing projects in the pipeline. Next release will be in July.