One Year of Lockdown: Three Mumbai-based DJs say the pandemic has altered Mumbai’s club scene

Photo is for representational purpose only. Pic/ istock

The Covid-19 pandemic put an end to socialising last year, and Mumbai's nightclubs bore the brunt of the economic pain. With fluctuating lockdown restrictions, owners are even now uncertain about the future of their clubs, especially because they can't afford to pay their DJs with a 50 per cent occupancy rate and 11:30 pm curfew (the current best-case scenario).

This, in turn, is creating a problem for DJs, especially the ones who aren't on the payrolls of any club in the city. DJs are now looking to play at clubs outside Mumbai, so that they can earn enough to be able to run their households in the city.

DJ Cyrus, popular for playing at the Bombay Cocktail Bar in Andheri, among others, says he started doing gigs in Goa because of the uncertain nature of curfews in Mumbai. While he spent most of December 2020 in Goa, before returning to the city, he will be heading to the sunshine state again this weekend for Holi, as the Mumbai clubs he usually plays at aren't organising any gigs due to Covid-19 restrictions amid the city's second wave.

DJ Cyrus

"My boss called me and told me he will have to shut down a lot of gigs because nothing is open and clear. Everything is uncertain. This is a problem because in Mumbai, nightlife begins only at midnight, and goes on well into the morning. I am losing out on a lot of money because of these cancelled gigs," he says.

Cyrus says he is not only looking to earn a decent living, but also to play for an audience, which he observes has only increased in Mumbai since he played his first post-lockdown gig here on October 31 last year. "There is a different kind of energy from the crowd coming to the clubs. After I started playing at my regular clubs, I saw the crowd almost double because people were desperate to party. In terms of the audience, I think it has only increased from before Covid-19," he says.

DJ Lemon

Anil Chainani, who goes by his stage name DJ Lemon, believes audiences have changed. He says he does not see the old crowds coming to the clubs anymore, maybe because of a mindset shift. "I think the clubbing people have changed, but even the new crowd is keeping the clubs packed. The people who want to party are coming out, but I don't see the people who used to come before. I think the ones who used to party outside earlier have established their own partying circuits outside Mumbai - e.g. at their holiday homes in Lonavala," he says.

Lemon says he has played gigs every weekend till now, as he not only shuttles between Mumbai and Pune, but also travels around the country (he will be playing in Lucknow this week).

DJ BobbyK Worldwide

While Cyrus and Lemon have had a good run until now, with few hiccups, Kuldip Kerkar, another city-based artiste who goes by the stage name DJ BobbyK Worldwide, thinks the nightclub scene got a bad rap, and DJs were the worst hit because of it. "When I started in October, it was all a mess; we didn't know what to expect. I started doing gigs, but there were a lot of fluctuations, and entertainment got all the blame (for the rise in positive Covid-19 cases).This is affecting the nightclub business. People who frequent nightclubs are well educated; they take precautions, use masks and sanitisers, and the waiters sanitise the tables and chairs," Kerkar says.

DJ BobbyK, who has weekly residencies at Radio Bar and 3 Wise Monkeys in Mumbai, says the changing restrictions in the city are proving difficult to manage for DJs like him, who don't get a monthly salary and rely on gigs for a living. "If only 50 per cent people (patrons) are allowed inside bars, how will we survive? Many of us don't get a monthly salary, so we depend entirely on these gigs," he says.

Cyrus says that with crowds only increasing in Mumbai, he is hopeful of playing more gigs right here at home.