For our August Dubplate feature, we have this terrific producer-DJ from Pune, Ankan Chowdhury. Co-running 'SoundsForTheSubs', he has been pushing this sound for a while, apart from also working in design/art. With an EP and a short film in the pipeline, Ankan has a lot going on at the moment. We had a quick conversation with him, read on to know more about this young talent, and press play to this outstanding mix he has put together for us and our audience, you guys. Check it all out. Don't forget to support, share and show some love.
1. For the guys who are new to Ankan Chowdhury, tell us something about yourself! A - Hey guys! My name is Ankan Chowdhury, I am a beat maker/producer based out of Pune, India. Apart from making music I love to work on films doing sound design and film scores, this is because of studying in a media & communication college and watching such a diverse range of films. Since my childhood, I've always been intrigued by music. I remember my first ever exposure to beats was when I got a tabla set at the age of 3 ½ years, and at the age of 9, I got a small synthesizer. I’m always listening to different kinds of music - so many different genres, and love to exchange songs with people, so if you ever recommend me a song, I really appreciate it. :)
2. You like to experiment with a lot of styles/genres, but what's Ankan's Forte?
A - I usually produce dubstep/drum&bass/jungle , and its mostly inclined towards tribal textures but I’m also experimenting with different kinds of sounds to give it a more organic touch using recorded samples from nature and other sounds created from recording samples from different objects, again over here it’s just experimenting with different kinds of objects making different kinds of sounds.
3. We're digging the recent mix you did for Samsara which had tons of unreleased gems from artists across the country. Tell a little more about it?
A - I’m always checking out new music on different platforms but mostly on soundcloud for some reason even right now, spotify is also a great platform to explore new kinds of tunes with playlists updating every day. But yeah whenever I like track, I’m always checking out the profiles i.e the artists profile or the record label profile of that tune. I heard this track from Jonathan Thomas who is the co-head of Samsara Beats, then just started checking them out and heard so many insane production from different kinds of artists.
So when I was making the guest mix for them, I thought of playing some of my favourite tunes from homegrown artists and artists abroad - but kept it till the genre of footwork.
My main idea was to play some unreleased tunes mostly from homegrown artists which no one has ever heard before, to engage our people as well as putting ourselves out there. Whenever I’m making a guestmix, I’m always thinking of putting out music from homegrown artists :)
4. How did the idea of SoundsForTheSub come about and how you plan to take it forward?
A - SoundsForTheSub is a culture centre pushing forward underground bass music and sound system culture & bringing the bass community together from across the country. Our aim is to push music ranging from deep dubstep, dub, jungle, drum&bass, footwork, grime, etc. Our basic idea of forming this collective was to bring awareness to these genres and exploring more of its sub-genres, trying to get to know as many artists/people as we can.
At the start it was just about writing content & making blogs about recent bass music events happening around. But then later on we decided to make to make our own content with guestmixes from homegrown and international artists, hosting our own events and build a culture centre where we bring in artists across the country here in Pune for our SoundsForTheSub showcase/events.
5. What is your opinion on the bass music scene in Pune?
A - Pune bass music scene is growing gradually. I’ve been here in this city for like 4 years now and it has been a great experience for me witnessing some of the best acts from artists i’ve been looking upto and getting inspiration from when I had started listening to bass music and producing. There are not a lot of events happening where you can just go for the gig, only a few ones happen once in a while. But I’m really glad that these events are happening, especially when Krunk is getting down any acts. Otherwise I don’t see anyone else then them hosting any for now (i.e dubstep/drum&bass/jungle). My first ever bass music gig was Bass Camp Festival 2017 and I had witnessed such amazing sets from Om unit, Kutmah, EZ Riser, Midland Sparks & Nikki here in Pune.
6. What's next for Ankan Chowdhury?
A - Currently I am working on a short film, will be doing the sound design/film score, we are right now in the pre-production stage. I'm also working on releasing an EP, but not very soon, most probably it will be experimental jungle/halftime.
7. 5 tunes you guys are digging at the moment?
A - 1] J Robinson - Congoman
2] The Untouchables - Baiana
3] Ego Death - Run It
4] Aztek - Ionized
5] TMSV - Fm Dream
Follow Ankan Chowdhury - Facebook | Soundcloud | | Mixcloud | Instagram
Tracklist 1] The Untouchables - Bushi Ronin [Samurai Music] 2] Shiken Hanzo – The Centipede [Independent Release – Centipede EP] 3] Overlook – Former Self [Osiris Music] 4] Outer Heaven – Still Waters [UVB-76] 5] Homemade Weapons – Tantrum ( Red Army Remix) [Weaponry] 6] Antagonist – Temporal [Independent Release] 7] Ahmad – Blackout [Repertoire] 8] Dreadmaul & Ahmad – Levitation [Paradise Lost Recordings] 9] Personnage – Burden [Independent Release] 10] Ankan Chowdhury – Tribe Wars VIP [Independent Release] 11] Ankan Chowdhury – Stranger Danger [Unreleased] 12] Mani Festo – Awake [Rupture] 13] K3Bee – Bristle [Next Phase Records] 14] Samurai Breaks – Tommy 2Fast [Halogen Music] 15] Yoofee – Clart [Through These Eyes] 16] Johney – Leave It [Samsara Beats] 17] Acid Lab – Retrograde [AGN7 Audio] 18] Jonathan Thomas & Tokyo Noir – Out 19] The Crow Knows – J Majik [Infrared Records] 20] Ricky Force – Plastic Mentality ft. Tamen [Repertoire] 21] Dub one – Brothers Unite [Foundation X] 22] Skanna – Find Me (MAC-Vs Tribute Remix) [Independent Release] 23] Nebula – Artcore [Scientific Wax] 24] Champa B – Movin [Scientific Wax]