New York’s Indo Warehouse Travels to Los Angeles This Week, Plots India Debut

In the span of a year, label and platform Indo Warehouse have gone from throwing parties for 200 to over 3,000 people in New York City. On May 19th, founder and DJ-producers Kahani aka Armaan Gupta, Kunal Merchant (a partner at Indo Warehouse) and Ethyr head to the nightclub Sound in Los Angeles, taking the show to the West Coast for the first time.

Gupta says that the impetus to create Indo Warehouse stemmed from experiences that he and other desi DJs had over the years. “As kids, we found ourselves DJing family parties and being taken to classical concerts. In college, we were leading bhangra teams and spinning at house parties. Now, we’re forging a new sound that encapsulates all of those influences. Our culture’s music – the past, present, and future – is engrained in who we are,” he adds over an email interview.

As a DJ who has dipped into bhangra, Bollywood remixes and more over the last five years, Kahani also ended up remixing New Delhi duo Tech Panda x Kenzani’s “Khoyo” and released “Indo house” singles such as “Sawali,” “Ranjha” and collections like You Asked For It and You Asked For More.

When Indo Warehouse launched in 2022 as a label and “experience series” and platform for artists, it wasn’t necessarily unprecedented. After all, there was the Asian Underground scene from the late Nineties and early 2000s that shone the light on the likes of multi-instrumentalist Karsh Kale and DJ Rekha. Gupta is all praise for everyone who came before them. “The Asian Underground movement was groundbreaking. Hearing Talvin Singh’s song in a TV commercial was a mind-blowing moment! We have great respect for the artists who created space for us to do what we’re doing,” he adds.

Now that dance music is no longer viewed as an underground movement, Indo Warehouse sees their area of functioning as less of a niche than it was before. They don’t view the label’s sound – so far put forward 16 original records including the Year One compilation album out in December 2022 – to be for people who avoid pop or commercial music. That extends to the audience they want to draw as well at shows. “We believe the sound we’re creating is unique and destined to connect with people who are not only of South Asian descent,” Gupta adds.

The Los Angeles show will include “big records” from their recent New York City event in March, plus new material they’re road-testing. Gupta says they have over 20 songs ready for release, with the first singles coming out starting this month, while the search for more artists to add to the roster continues. So far, Indo Warehouse has worked with everyone from Pakistani-Canadian DJ-producer Khanvict, Mumbai/Goa-based DJ-producer Zokhuma, Kenzani, Payal Jay, Areublue and Nihal Singh, among others.

The connection to India remains strong, with Gupta saying that they will be in the country to perform soon. He adds, “This year is focused on bringing our sound to the world. We’re excited to see people across the U.S., Canada, U.K., Europe, Middle East and India.”

Indo Warehouse Los Angeles takes place on May 19th at Sound, LA. Get details here.