I can't express what this means to me: DJ Roop, only Indian to play at Tomorrowland Belgium 2024
The 25-year-old wants to give his international audience a taste of his Indian culture and art
Kaushik Das AKA DJ Roop wears many hats - computer science engineer by day, student by evening and DJ by night. Based in Kolkata, he also teaches music to underprivileged kids on his days off. Now, this 25-year-old will be the only Indian to play at Tomorrowland in Belgium this year. The music festival will take place over two weekends in July.
Das will be the first person from East India to perform at this multi-day international electronic music festival. “I’m still shocked. I cannot express what playing at Tomorrowland means to me. I just want all Indians to be proud of me,” he tells us.
While he is nervous about playing and has still to figure out his setlist for his one-hour performance, he wants to give his audience a taste of India and its vast instruments. So, Das plans on wearing a kurta and playing a lot of fusion music to get the audience grooving, “I want the international audience to connect with my music, so I want the songs to have English vocals so it is easier for them to understand. However, for the background music, I want it to have some Indian essence, like the tabla, tanpura, or harmonium. I also plan on including a few Hindi songs and even a Bengali song, like Rabindra Sangeet,” he tells us.
Having opened for DJ Martin Garixx when he played in the City of Joy, and seen DJs wave their country’s flag with pride while they performed, he says, “One day before Republic Day, the day Tomorrowland announced their official lineup, I went out and bought a big Indian flag. I want to carry it with me to Belgium.” He will become only the fifth Indian to play at this prestigious music bonanza.
Sharing how his life changed with one call, he talks about being “disappointed” that he hadn’t bagged any gig for New Year’s Eve when he got a call the day after Christmas last year. He says, “I got a text from the team asking me if I was free in July. When they told me, I started jumping in office. People around me were staring and I’m sure they were wondering why was I acting this weird” (laughs).
