Nucleya: I like making music, not because I need to make a post on social media
Electronic musician Udyan Sagar, talks about his decision to not sign with a big record company which helped him control his own music and how that has helped him in staying “honest” about his music, which he says he makes for himself and no one else.
Udyan Sagar aka Nucleya is one of the most popular names in the indie music industry, and someone who actually proves that one doesn’t necessarily need a big record label to be a popular, successful or a wealthy musician. And while his initial decision to go indie was because “no on wanted to” sign him, he stuck with the choice because he wanted to stay in control of his music.
“When, for example, you are making music for a movie, you are not the only person who makes decision. A lot of stuff is decided by its director or the movie producer or the script writer. [But] indie music is created for yourself by yourself. You can literally explore anything and go in which ever direction [you want to],” he says.
“The more people like your music, more royalties you make. There’s no commission,” adds Sagar whose latest track, Jadi Buti, which saw him collaborate with popular international electronic act Major Lazer and singer Rashmeet Kaur, probably proves how big a name he has fast become in the electronic music industry, in India, ever since the 40-year-old released his first ever EP Koocha Monster, in 2015.
“I have been lucky since last five or 10 years. I was in the right place right time,” he says, rather humbly, insisting that he doesn’t “deserve to be called the “King of EDM or some such thing” as he feels there are “more creative musicians” than him.
“If you work hard enough and you love the art just to be able to emote yourself creatively and have that honest relationship. then everything else that happens beside music is a bonus, [because] whatever happens beyond music is something you can’t control,” he says.
“I like making music, not because I need to make a post on social media, or that there has been a gap between my releases. There cannot be another reason apart from you generally wanting to create music,” adds the 40-year-old.
The idea of staying “who you are and being honest about music” has always been there with him, when he decided to go solo, which was recognised by his family and his friends, who Sagar feels, helped him stay focussed, and more importantly, kept him motivated enough to not lose hope.
“Financially, I never felt that I need to stop doing music, because, at the very point where things could have gone wrong, there was always some source of income. And that played a very important role. My parents or my wife never stopped me because I guess they also saw that my emotionally stability was through music,” he says.
That probably explains his decision to stay independent, which he now feels is not only becoming more rewarding for the musicians, but popular as well. “Since the entire business has gone digital, there’s very little for artist to stay with a record company. For example cost of making video is a huge difference. It’s way cheaper now,” he says.
The biggest take away from staying independent is that musician, Sagar says, “can create content”, that they feel is “unique, interesting and think that people will consume” since sharing has also become easier. “Earlier distribution was under control of record companies. But now you can release music by yourself. I don’t think it’s important to have a deal with a record company,” he signs off.
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