More than two decades in the music scene, DJ Kunal Bose continues to spin hit after hit. He has, of course, met and crossed several hurdles and that has made him one of the finest DJs in the city. From events to weddings, from freelance to resident, he always believes in offering an experience rather than “coming, playing and leaving”. Here’s a chat with the 39-year-old DJ.
How well do you connect with the audience at weddings?
People literally come to the stage and they dance. I am an entertainer, not just a DJ who comes, plays and leaves. The bride and groom dance and I am in midst of the celebration. I want to entertain them, speak on the mic, and make people pose. My percussionist, at times, finds himself in the crowd.
There seems to be a lot of preparation involved.
I have to brief my team that the vibe will differ from party to party. Not because I have prepared something that I have to play. I can play different renditions of a song. There is a time and place for every song.
At a time when there was no YouTube or a school for DJs, how did you pick up the art?
I used to go to The Park hotel to see what was happening and then tried it myself. Beat matching was most important, so I pressed the minus and plus buttons till I got it right. When I got it right I was so happy and slowly, say, in a year’s time I was doing proper mixing.
How did you get started?
Tantra opened in 1998 or 1999, parallel to Someplace Else. There were just a couple of clubs back then. I was in Class IX and a friend took me for a jam session on a Sunday evening. I was not allowed to attend late night parties. At 6pm there was a big DJ console on a platform and people were dancing (in the lower tier). I thought it was crazy. My friend knew the DJ and he took me to his booth, so I could see what was happening. I started watching how he was using the CD player and two turntables while Sanjay Dutta was one of the DJs at that time, who would perform at 2am. Anil and Conrad were the other DJs at the time. I started focussing on the console, and as an ordinary man, all I could see are the lights and hear the music.
I called my friend the next day to ask how does he play like this? My family members are followers of Rabindrasangeet, so this was new for me but my parents supported me through the journey. So I went back to the club to watch how it is used. After that I bought secondhand DJ equipment.
Before learning?
Yes. I bought a Denon 1800F for Rs 45,000 and I started collecting music and burning them on to CDs and then I started playing. I needed to know what each button does. I could hear the sound but there was no connection. I went back to The Park and the DJ explained I had to match the beats and rhythm. So I started playing music at home and teaching myself beat matching, low-tempo and high-tempo tracks. Six months went by and I slowly started clubbing and I would go for the night sessions where Sanjay Dutta would play.
What happened during these night sessions?
We would wait for him. He would arrive with a handful of records, big heavy bags.... So we would get excited. The moment he started playing, there was no looking back. I wanted to be that man.
When was your first gig?
Arijit da (Arijit Bose, owner of The Sound) arrived on the scene and I started doing small shows and private parties. Lake Land Country Club was opening a bowling alley with a club and that was my first break in 2,000 and the owner was Bharat Bagla. Even now he treats me like a younger brother. I started playing six days a week, 2pm to 10pm. I had to be there no matter what and at times come home late.
But soon there were more gigs....
After that I was a freelance, so I played at Calcutta Rowing Club, Saturday Club and other places. I then moved on to five-star properties... I played at Taj Bengal for a year. My first contract was with The Big Ben, Kenilworth Hotel, after DJ Douglas. I was the resident there for about four years. From there I went to Venom in 2006 as resident DJ. So from a polished English retro place to a super-night club where you play hardcore commercial music, commercial house, hip-hop and more. At times parties would go on till 7am.
You also were associated with the Ministry of Sound, London, right?
This is where the tie-up happened, Bunty (Sethi) got the tie-up done. International DJs started coming and we were opening and somehow they liked my music and I started touring with them. Ministry of Sound, Hedkandi, HouSexy... all three brands were taken care of by Bunty Sethi and I started touring with him and another International DJ. I was playing at F Club in Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore. This put my name on the map and I really look up to Bunty and he really mentored me.
What happened after Venom in 2012?
We started with a club called Nine F which is where Urban Desi is and we started with a bang and then I moved on because nightlife had a lot of restrictions because of an incident that had taken place in 2013. I thought it would take some time to rejuvenate, so I moved into freelance mode and then weddings. That’s when I cottoned on to the concept of after-parties after the sangeet. The event organisers decided to put a headlining act after the sangeet... an after-party. So even if Honey Singh or Astha Gill is performing, the DJ performing after is also performing as a main act.
Your DJ performance is now about an experience?
My presentation now makes people aware of who is performing, who is my visual artiste, my percussionist. The team getting recognition matters a lot, so I announce all their names and give them the entire package. As a freelance, I was called to many clubs to perform but what about weddings? My focus completely shifted to that and I started playing after-parties where we are also a part of the celebration. When it comes to the production, I want to give different visuals that go with my set. My visual artiste, Parth, usually plays with me because I don’t want random visuals. My concept should be different. I have started jamming with a percussionist, so I got Shubho’s (Saha) contact and briefed him.
You are set to go on a tour?
Yes, I have a bunch of wedding gigs lined up. I am performing in different cities till February. I am playing in Delhi, Pune and, of course, Kolkata... also a few other weddings around the country.
Happy moments
DJ Kunal Bose played for Shah Rukh Khan’s IPL team, KKR, as their official DJ for many years and he even played at IPL after-parties
He has been featured in Wedding Sutra (a website for wedding DJs) as a favourite celebrity DJ from Kolkata
DJ Kunal Bose has opened for artistes like Amit Trivedi, Kanika Kapoor, Sonu Nigam, Vishal-Shekhar, Vidya Vox (above) and Shirley Setia
The veteran DJ has introduced a live percussion and visual artiste — Subhajit Saha — to his mix for an audio-visual experience