*Note : This post was due long back. I finally got down to publishing it!
I won’t say that I have been okay. I haven’t. But, writing is something I can never stay away from. The beginning of December really sucked. It got better though. Way better. I finally stopped being a closet photographer and displayed some of my work. It was a really nice experience. It felt so good to see my pictures blown up and framed; the sucky beginning started fading away.
The 27th, 28th and 29th of December were one of the best trips I have taken so far. Those three days were jam packed with experiences I never thought could happen in such a short period of time. There were numerous first timers and sweeter second timers :).
Last year, when A went for Sunburn 2009, he had just entered into the vast realm that is trance music. He observed everything that he could. A different genre, different people all at one venue just with one thing on their mind – to have an epic three days. It changed the way he felt about music. He took an oath then, that no matter what, the following year, he’d make sure we both made it to Sunburn 2010. A year later, we did. I never really had any expectations. I felt exactly the way he did a year back when he went. I had just immersed one leg into the pool of trance and there was no turning back. I would drown myself in that pool! Music has always elevated me to highs beyond imagination. It isn't earthly, this feeling. Trance, however, I could feel reverberating in my soul. As dramatic as it may sound, the sounds I heard, felt like they were coming from within.
A, P and I have always been quite the scientists when it comes to music. We experiment, and we experiment. We search every nook and cranny of awesomeness to find what we do. We still feel like we only end up reaching to a very small circle. A circle that continues to orbit around us and possesses the same kind of hunger that we do when it comes to music. To those that have become a very close part of this blog and continue to help us share our music - Salut. We appreciate you for sharing the same kind of passion that we do. We know you're the kind of person that absolutely has to resort to some sort of bodily movement when a good song plays. We'd love to meet you.
A & I had a fabulous first day with Ajit Pai, Riktam & Bansi (GMS), Richard Durand, Ned Shepard, Sultan and Nadia Ali. Ajit Pai is one hell of a talented DJ. There weren't too many people when he was playing, but that just made me glad cause it gave me a lot more space to dance! His energy level was phenomenal in spite the 4.30 pm sun burning down on him. It was the second time I was hearing him play live and I was a huge fan already. Riktam & Bansi blew my mind. Nothing short of pure genius. We danced so much to their set that the soles of our feet were screaming bloody murder. Which brings me to one of my most important tips for Sunburn 2011 - Soak your feet in a huge bucket of hot water for an hour before you leave for the venue. Believe you me, you will thank me. Richard Durand's remix of "Emergency" by BT had A and me singing it out loud to each other as everything around us seemed to blur into one big giant ball of lights, sounds and joules of energy.
Gasp all you want, but I am not a very big Sultan/Ned Shepard or Nadia Ali fan. Something P has always clucked his tongue at. I decided to watch them live to give him a word by word feedback. They played THREE of P's all time favourite songs (The Island by Pendulum, A Million Stars by BT and Fire In Your New Shoes by Kaskade). He's probably face-palming himself right now as he reads this.
Day 2 was probably the most epic of them all. A and I went earlier still to reserve the perfect spot for Aly & Fila. Apart from a bunch of highly entertaining Egyptians, Aly & Fila did absolutely nothing to us. We kept waiting for the buildup to coil around us and devour every sense, but that moment never came. Superb props for their visuals though. Protoculture followed suit. Dream On, one of A's favourites, had him jumping up and down till we realized who was going to play next.
Two words.
Ma Faiza.
Before her set, we found ourselves a tiny little towel laid out on the sand with an umbrella over it (I wish I could remember the sponsor's name right now cause we were thanking them profusely for providing an inconspicuous little towel that barely covered both our asses. But oh, well.) and rested our sore pairs of feet that had been through a whole lot that day. (Tip : Even an hour of soaking your feet in hot water before you hit the venue is not enough! Your feet will still feel like they're falling off. It feels AWESOME.) We watched all kinds of people pass us by. A guy that was dancing by himself, grabbing fistfuls of sand and dramatically letting go of it, a couple that derived a better high screaming at each other than listening to the music, a group of friends laughing as they clicked pictures of themselves adorned in ridiculously large headgear, shutter shades and glow sticks. The different kind of people kept us amused for a really long time.
Then the music stopped.
She was up.
She entered with her top hat and slayed the crowed with the very first track. Time didn't exist then.Her set was just an experience I won't ever forget. I connected with every track she played. Even though there was a weird guy in front of us doing some major tantric moves.
Sunburn, the whole experience I had at Sunburn rather changed me in so many ways. Many of which I'm still unraveling. It's like you become a part of this collective consciousness when you go there. You're all there for the same reason - to feel free, to express yourself and to have fun. You can feel the freedom reeking in there and it makes you feel like you're in another world for those 3 days. A world where music defines a way of life. A world where you can connect with people you don't even know. A world where you can just be.
I love A for making sure I experienced what I did last year. And for those of you that often think that Sunburn isn't really your "scene", I'm telling you right now. It is. You might not love that particular genre of music, but you most definitely will love the experience.
I hope to see you all this year. It's going to be 10 times better. I can feel it. Drop us your contact details if you're definitely going this year and want to hang out with us. We'll make it epic. Soundthrutime style.
P.S - P, if you don't come this year. You're going to get "accidentally" whacked on your head, put in a bag and you'll wake up in Goa.
:)
