DJ-Producer Axl Stace: ‘It’s Great To See Melodic Techno Coming Into Major Festivals’

As someone who started out playing in alt-rock bands, Axl Stace aka Ankur Sharma says melancholy is often at the center of his sound as a melodic techno producer and DJ. “As an artist, I’m still stuck in that era, the melancholic feel that the music from then had is exactly what I bring [to Axl Stace]. That rebellious sound is always there, even if I don’t want to make the track like that, it ends up sounding like that. That’s what sets my melodic techno apart from the others,” he says.

Axl Stace’s music – particularly his remix of Pink Floyd’s “Hey You” – has traveled far over the few years since he started a few years ago. Grammy-winning electronic artists like Rüfüs Du Sol and the immersive duo Tale Of Us have dropped his remixes at stages around the world. It’s even allowed Sharma’s work to hit stages ranging from Tomorrowland and Awakenings. In terms of how they found his music, Sharma says he’s just fulfilling a demand for discovery that already exists. “They have always been looking to support someone from Asia, in general, not just India and they’ve been looking and found my music,” he adds.

Fresh from a tour of Vietnam, Sharma says it’s still a struggle for an Indian electronic artist like himself to tour internationally. Even as his music gets pushed by top-line electronic acts, Sharma says it’s difficult to get a show outside of India because promoters don’t necessarily see them as having a market. “To build that kind of scene, I think you really have to get good at your music,” he says.

Performing at Vh1 Supersonic this week, Axl Stace has so far appeared on lineups such as DGTL Mumbai in December and supported Tale Of Us at their recent Mumbai show in November. “I’m doing a couple [of gigs] in Europe as well. I think many big festivals are also coming to India and I’m super excited for the scene in India,” Sharma says about what’s coming up. More than anything, he’s happy that the space for melodic techno has opened up. “It’s great to see the melodic techno kind of scene coming into major festivals. Before, it’s always been like, ‘EDM, EDM, EDM.’ Afrojack or Martin Garrix. But even at Sunburn, it was honestly very liberating to hear [South African DJ-producer] Black Coffee headline. It’s been so refreshing,” the artist adds.

Catch Axl Stace perform at Vh1 Supersonic on February 25th, 3 pm onwards at the BUDX Spectrum stage at Mahalakshmi Lawns, Pune.