Marathi in the mix: Mumbai DJ gives vintage songs a new twist

Krunal Ghorpade performs at a previous show in the city

City-based DJ and music producer Krunal Ghorpade aka Kratex is your quintessential sound nerd, but with an interesting catch. Instead of boasting of complex analogue synthesizers or limited-edition gear that can cost one a fortune, Ghorpade talks passionately of a different kind of collection - a mammoth repository of vintage Marathi songs that he has collected over a period of seven years with the aim to remix them into house music tracks. As the artiste gears to bring his sub-genre that he fondly calls M-House to a venue in Worli, he breaks down what it takes to build a new subgenre from scratch.

Over a phone call from his home studio in Virar, the 28-year-old reveals the story behind his first hit that kickstarted his journey in May - a remix of the popular Marathi nursery rhyme, Mamachya gavala zau ya. The artiste reveals, "It was just another day and the rhyme was being played at an event in my neighbourhood. It quickly turned into an earworm, and I decided to put it on a house track that I was working on." Ghorpade's chance experiment now stands at six lakh views across the artiste's social media platforms. "Remixing tracks that I grew up with almost feels like an instinctive process to me. Once I realised that people were taking a liking to it, I decided to go big. I release a track every weekend now," he shares.

What makes the artiste's rise fascinating is the appreciation pouring in from listeners across the country who might not have the cultural context for most tunes he remixes. "That is the beauty of house music. It's not abstract. You don't have to spend time understanding or decoding it. It's made for dancing, and thankfully, people oblige," he laughs. To that end, Ghorpade shares that he has a groovy set lined up for the city he grew up in. "Mumbai is home to peculiar dialects of Marathi. I will be playing some classics that feature the slangs from the city, Koli folk songs that I have been experimenting with, and some originals that I wish to test through this gig," he reveals.

As for the rise of Marathi songs in world music, Ghorpade tells us that it's the dawn of a new era. "Supporting regional music and regional media is slowly becoming ‘cooler' in the eyes of the current generation of consumers. Musicians are infusing genres like rock, hip-hop and pop with the language, Devanagari typefaces are making a comeback in the visual design space, and brands are becoming more hyperlocal each day and want to work with us. We are all set to bring a revolution," he concludes.

On: Tomorrow; 9 pm onwards
At: Glocal Junction, AB Nair Road, opposite Nehru Planetarium, Worli
Log on to: in.bookmyshow.com
Cost: Rs 999 onwards

State of music
£ Abhanga Repost - Marathi rock fusion band
£Shreyas and Vedang - Marathi hip-hop duo
£Sambata - Marathi rapper
£RockSun - Marathi poetry-rap fusion
LOG ON TO YouTube