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KSHMR marks his London debut show at Ministry of Sound on Friday 22 July, where he'll take the reins in The Box for his highly-anticipated outing. Ahead of the show, we caught up with the world-renowned American DJ and producer to talk through his inspiration, musical history and what he looks forward to this weekend.
MoS: Where are you in the world right now?
KSHMR: Right now, I am in Prague!
What was the last club you played at and which country was it in?
The last venue I played was Electric Love in Austria and it was incredible. The crowd was absolutely massive!
How did you come up with the name KSHMR?
I came up with the name KSHMR because I am Kashmiri-American. Since my dad's side of the family is from Kashmir, my grandpa and family made sure I was aware of my heritage. Naturally, it played a role in choosing my artist name.
What would you say was the golden moment in your career?
I would say the golden moment was at the Sunburn Festival in Goa, India. I brought my grandpa up on stage and he danced with me to an old Bollywood song I played in front of 50,000 people. It was such a great conclusion to the saga I had with my grandpa, where we were constantly fighting over whether music was a good move.
What do you love about being a DJ and what do you love about being a producer?
I love being a producer because you can take any idea and paint it into music, which is such a magical art form that can make you feel any number of things. You can’t put into words why but it just connects with people so profoundly. The fact that I can create and have this effect on people is why I make music everyday. DJing, to me is seeing that effect in real-time. In the most amplified setting, you can see how your music moves people and how it makes them feel. When it comes together just right, there’s no feeling like it.
You’ve worked with lots of dance music producers over the years such as Tiësto, Carnage and R3HAB, just to name a few… but who did you enjoy working with the most and why?
One of my favourite guys to work with is Bob, who was a part of the Crossnaders. He mixes all my tracks so, in that sense, he is my most frequent collaborator and on every song we work together until they are the best they can be. Since I started working with him, which was years ago, I’ve pretty much made every song with him because the mix is such an important part of dance music.
What tracks have really been going off in your recent sets? Is there any tracks from up-and-coming producers we should be looking out for?
I’ve started to play this new ID called Maria Maria, which is a return to more of a big room sound. In terms of other peoples tracks, right now I really like Flutech by Joel Fletcher.
When was the first time you played at Ministry of Sound and what made it so special?
This is my first time playing at Ministry of Sound. I’ve heard so much about the legendary venue, I’m so excited to be a part of it.
You’ll be playing your London debut set in The Box at Ministry of Sound, what are you most excited about playing there?
I’m really excited to play all the new music I’ve been working on and see the crowd's reaction!
Finally... what can you promise fans ahead of your set on Friday 22nd July?
It’s going to be a special experience with animated story telling, mixed in with high energy dance music and some new tracks you’ve never heard before.