Delhi based musician Kohra ‘deeply moved’ after DJ John Digweed played five tracks from his upcoming album

Delhi based electronic musician, Madhav Shorey was shocked and surprised when former World number one DJ, John Digweed played five tracks from Shorey’s upcoming album, akhõ, on Digweed’s weekly live streaming sessions.

For the Delhi based electronic musician, Madhav Shorey aKa Kohra, it was a “deeply moving” gesture, when the popular British musician John Digweed, a former World number one DJ, who is also known for bringing progressive electronic music to the mainstream, played, not one, but, five tracks from Kohra’s upcoming album - akhõ, on his weekly live streaming series, Bunker Sessions -12. “It was actually a few days ago when a friend sent me a message telling me he’d played quite a few of my tracks on one of his streams ,” Kohra tells us.

Madhav Shorey aKa DJ Kohra’s album, akhõ, will be out next month.

Digweed also tweeted later that he wanted to play three more tracks from Kohra’s album. “I was obviously shocked and surprised at first, but deeply moved shortly after. He’s played a very important role as a DJ in shaping the sound for many including myself,” Kohra adds.

“This album is the kind of sound you’d hear in clubs back in the early 2000’s coming out of the UK and even parts of India. The experience was wild, yet innocent. There were no brands or sponsors and it was all DIY. Also, to be able to play at a club - you had to be a great DJ! There were no shortcuts or hacks around it, like there are today. I feel the fact that it ponders on what I’d call “the golden era” is what sets it apart from the music today. This is only a guess, but perhaps something that he understood very well,” he adds.

For the 34-year-old, the idea of the entire compilation was an “introspection into my own roots before I became who I am today.” That demanded more tracks, and that’s why Kohra decided to release an album, instead of releasing a couple of singles, or an EP.

“I work outside the domain of trends or what works. In fact, they are the very point of rebellion that push me creatively. “It had to be a style away from the current trends which took me down the path of blending ambient and progressive textures with breaks, electro and even jungle or what we better know as drum n’ bass today,” he says.

“While I did that, it would only be fair to go all out with an album instead of an EP. I’ve done many EP’s in the past and the whole format to me now seems less artistic and more a trend to put out music more consistently.I wanted to challenge myself more, until I had an entire album. I intend to continue this format regularly, besides EP’s and singles which I’ll be putting out anyway,” he signs off.

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