Mr. Bill Returns to India This Week

Metal, psytrance, glitch””these are part of what Australian DJ and producer Mr. Bill a.k.a. Bill James Day has been fascinated by over the years. He’s also influenced by Australia’s most famous musicians such as Jimmy Barnes or AC/DC, but that’s more passive. Day says over the phone, “Even though I didn’t really like that stuff, I was exposed to it. I think that no matter what happens around you ”“ and whether or not you like it ”“ it’s going to influence in some way.”

Over the phone from Chennai, where he’s performing a one-off show and conducting a workshop at IndieEarth Xchange’s annual conference, film and music festival, Day talks about how we’re all “creatures of assimilation,” to be influenced by our surroundings. The producer, who made his India debut in 2013 at the Bass Camp festival, adds, “Metal definitely was a phase for me, but I don’t think it’s something I’ll ever grow out of and it’s the same with psytrance and glitch.”

Mr. Bill’s popularity grew when he released songs like “Cheyah” in 2012–very much a perfect example and introduction to anyone getting into glitch hop””and “Thwek” with German producer Virtual Riot in 2014. But then again, Day says he’s not about to play tracks “people can hear at home” at IndiEarth Xchange. There’s going to be a lot of new stuff that’s unreleased. I’ve got tracks from friends that are unreleased.”

It’s been about a year since his last release, but Day clarifies that a lot of his new material feels “unfinished.” He adds, “I would still play it to a crowd, but I still feel like there’s things I can do on the track before I release it publicly.” Until then, you can always hear it at his latest show and get an idea from his Ableton masterclass. He explains about his workshop in Chennai, “In the last year, I’ve developed a ton of new tricks, and I haven’t got to show anyone, because I took a bit of a break from YouTube. So I’m looking forward to show that off to people.”

Mr. Bill performs at IndiEarth Xchange 2017 on November 26th at The Park, Chennai. Event details here.