It can be assumed that a DJ’s work is cut out for them and that all they do is splice, scratch and mix beats in between readymade material. But when Suraj describes his musical process, he shows how a lot of work, thought and care goes into both original work and remixes. He constantly works to produce new material and this is what he is promising the Blankets and Wine audience.

Among his original tracks is ‘Wawere’, which focuses on Olith Ratego’s vocals within an electronic loop. A similar contemporary sound and theme run in his ‘Rabai’ with Makadem. “As for remixes, there is an element that I usually catch onto and then I work around so in that process, the original artist is still the main focus, while I blanket a cloud of sound around them,” he says.

While working with Santuri Safari , Suraj had the opportunity to collaborate with SARABI, producing remixes to ‘Fire’ and ‘Koko’s Vibration’. ‘Koko’s Vibration’ maintained SARABI’s melodies, instruments and vocals against an ambient background. In ‘Fire’, Suraj stripped down the original sounds, added layers of kick and bass with percussions to make it the perfect dancefloor track. Most recently, he has collaborated with one of his favourite artists, Riot Stero. To fan and critical acclaim, they remixed and produced Winyo’s ‘Abiro’.

The remixes and collaborations demonstrate Suraj’s range in tastes. They have also raised his profile in the local and international scene. To keep his material current, Suraj is always on the lookout for new releases, both from favourites and upcoming artists. During live shows, he feeds off the crowd’s energy.

“A lot depends on where I am. Is it a festival or club or radio gig? What time I am playing and what other artists are on the bill to do.”

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