Kerano: ‘Hitting No.1 is No Big Deal’

Although he’s released just three tracks so far, Kerano clearly has his eyes set on the global music scene. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Karanvir Singh aka Kerano is not one to fuss over hitting number one on music streaming service Beatport’s progressive house chart.“We have this habit of making things a big deal if we do well.  I was happy that the track was number one but Indian producers and DJs”¦ we just need to realize that we should be represented right on top. It shouldn’t be a big deal if an Indian does it,” says the 23-year-old artist on the phone from his hometown Delhi.

Although he’s released just three tracks so far, Kerano clearly has his eyes set on the global music scene.  While his 2015 debut track “Here I Stand” managed to rank number four on the Beatport monthly charts, his 2016 sophomore release – a collaborative effort with Dutch duo Magnificence- “Breathing” shot to number one. His latest track “United” [with Dutch producer Jochen Miller] peaked at number three on Beatport’s Top Ten chart.

In an exclusive interview, the young producer discusses dethroning Swedish EDM legend Axwell on Beatport, exploring new sounds on future releases and his upcoming co-operative work space for musicians.

How did it feel when “Breathing” climbed to number one?
I remember I was on my way to the airport and I was on Beatport on my phone. [The track] was on number two, but when I refreshed the page and it came up to number one, I called up my manager and told him I couldn’t believe we did it.  At the time [Swedish producer] Axwell was number one and we thought ”˜ok there’s no way we can beat Axwell’ but then the next day we were at number one. It was pretty unreal.

How did the collaboration with Magnificence come about on the track?
They’re really chilled-out guys. I met them in Amsterdam when I was there last year and we just clicked. There were no egos and we could work easily together, so we kind of just sat in the studio and made the rough idea for “Breathing” in Amsterdam itself. When I came back to India I sat in my studio, developed the idea and sent it back to them. We reached a point where all of us were really happy with the track and decided to release it. It was really good working with them, they’re super talented.

Can you tell us a little bit about Coop, the co-working space for musicians that you are building?
It’s my passion project. The thing is when you’re tied to labels and you’re tied to agencies, you at times don’t have the creative freedom that you would want. You want to produce a certain kind of music but because you’re affiliated with a certain label, you may not be able to do that. So the idea behind this space was for me to express myself in whatever way I wanted, musically. Then I started getting a lot of messages from other producers, saying ”˜Can you teach us, or can you have a master class for us,’ so I decided I want to have a space where producers come and collaborate and meet each other. We have a full-fledged [music] course as well but apart from that, it’s a co-working, creatively energized space where producers will come, sit, work and meet each other.

What do you think is the next step for electronic music? What are the kind of styles of music that you want to want to explore in your upcoming work?
I feel EDM is moving a lot towards [integrating] pop culture. Prog house is on its way out, nineties style deep house made a comeback in the beginning of the year but that’s changing now as well. I definitely think bands are going to make a comeback. People want to slow down now. Like electronic music is working in fests and parties and things like that but for everyday listening, people want something else.  There are artists like Martin Garrix and Steve Angello who experiment with so many different sounds and don’t stick to the same thing, which is great. That’s kind of what I want to do, experiment more and work with different kinds of artists.

Listen to Magnificence and Kerano’s “Breathing” below