Premiere: Producer Masta Justy Evokes a Spectral Sound for ‘Air Asia’

Bengaluru-based seasoned DJ-producer Masta Justy aka Jatin Vidyarthi’s upcoming album project Humid brings together a collection of songs created between 2010 and 2019, with the first glimpse arriving in the form of “Air Asia,” a suitably spacey song that also has an intriguing music video shot by filmmaker Simon Meier.

The song journeys along with a sample of a spoken announcement or bulletin of sorts, along with tabla melding with nimble percussive elements. Vidyarthi says the samples were sourced from his grand uncle’s tape collection, which he was able to acquire. “I’m a big fan of tape and analog vintage sound. It was sad to see that being replaced by CDs, [but] we are glad that vinyls and tapes are making a special comeback in the past few years.”

For the music video, Vidyarthi informed Meier about the need to have an “organic feel and an Indian vibe.” The artist adds, “The word lush was used constantly, hence you can see that being translated both in the album cover photo and the video.”

Meier, for his part, adds that he used previously filmed drone footage at his favorite swimming spot along the Kaveri river. “To complete the video, I had gone to several other locations on the banks of this river that I feel deeply connected with, to get more footage. The goal here was to visualize the sound of the track in a partially abstract way. I used a drone and a Fujifilm mirrorless camera,” the filmmaker adds.

The seven-track Humid – which releases on June 6th via Bengaluru-based label Subcontinental Records – is described by the producer as a “mishmash of different genres of electronic music” That includes everything from hip-hop to drum and bass, to house and ambient.

Watch the video for “Air Asia” below. Buy/stream ‘Humid’ here.