Welcome to the cloud club

CHENNAI: In a rainy Sunday evening a few weeks ago,

Geetha Natarajan

drew up the blinds, switched on warm lights, logged on to Instagram for DJ Prashanth Amir’s set. It was the party she’d been waiting for months into the lockdown.

Before Covid-19, Geetha, who works with an e-tail company in Chennai, would have rewarded herself for a productive week by dancing till dawn at the city’s choicest dance floors. Now, for revellers like her, the club has moved to the cloud, as DJs and bars host livestreams of popular sets for partygoers to celebrate in the comfort of their homes.

"I know much of this could be done anytime — on YouTube or

Spotify

. But the knowledge that you’re listening to a live gig is exciting, and you can place requests too," says Geetha.

Days into lockdown, several independent musicians and DJs began finding creative ways to produce and present work online, while trying to keep their own spirits up. But as the internet began exploding with content, and hotels and bars shut doors, the creatives have been going the extra mile to monetise their work as well as get educated on a new market of internet partiers.

DJs Arjun Nair

and Nishanth Naidu from ANSWER Music did this through ‘Safe and Sound’, a social distancing party experiment in association with Bengaluru’s co-working and co-living space The Hub and The Unscripted, in June. The duo brought together 15 people — mostly quarantined residents of The Hub — masked, and at a distance of six feet from each other, and played a 45-minute set for them. This was livestreamed by The Park, Chennai, Vh1 Supersonic and many others on their social media pages. "Our research showed the risk of transmission was negligible within a group, separated by six feet in an open space. We ensured that their health status was cleared on the Aarogya Setu app," says Arjun. "We wanted to create a model of clubbing that could be followed and would instil confidence in people that a well-regulated space like this was safe to visit." Arjun and Nishanth are looking at ways to monetise the second edition of ‘Safe and Sound,’ tying up with ancillary brands on the lookout for fresh content and a pay-as-you-wish format.

Even as those like Sunburn offer virtual festivals for `99 per head, bigger artists like Nucleya do Virtual Reality concerts, and talks of drive-in gigs make the rounds, smaller artists have to stay technologically adept and marketable.

Prashanth, in-house DJ at Hyatt Regency’s 365 AS, joined hands with visual artists Akil T3k and NME to provide whimsical background art for the gigs he recorded and live streamed from home. "Artist management companies and clubs too want to stay afloat and a little novelty in production goes a long way in getting them to see you," says Prashanth, who has also been doing 90-minute sets for corporate virtual parties.

Prashanth, along with entrepreneur Arasu Dennis and a few others, has started a company that provides end-to-end solutions, including sanitisation of space, audio equipment and lights for house parties during lockdown.