I often moonlight as a DJ via an alter ego, Hyde & Sikh.

I’m a fan of all types of electronic dance music, especially House and Techno, and love digging and collecting music as much as I can. Performing as a DJ, creating atmospheres for dance floors as well as moods for people mingling together, is gratifying and joyful. I’ve been a DJ on and off since my college years and have recently been working on studio remixes and production. Fingers crossed, I have a goal to release an EP record by 2022.

OriginS

I grew up in the 70s listening to my dad’s vinyl records in India and Australia. Sly & The Family Stone, Abba, Neil Diamond and, in particular, the song ‘Dreadlock Holiday’ by 10cc sealed my early love for disco, reggae, and R&B.

I also performed traditional Punjabi Bhangra dance as a teen. Bhangra drum beats are uniquely infectious, and permeate much of the world dance music scene today [yes, that track]. Today, one my daughters carries on our tradition, dancing and competing in national-level bhangra competitions.

People wonder what happened to disco at the end of the 70s. The answer is that disco largely disappeared from mainstream, commercial radio by 1981, especially after the ridiculous promotion of ‘Disco Demolition Night’ at a baseball game at Comiskey Park, Chicago. Yet the music remained in the underground scene, evolving into house, drum and bass, and techno genres. House music in particular, took off right there on the SouthSide of Chicago.

So when I immigrated to the US in the early-80s, there I was, lucky enough to find myself in Hyde Park, in the South of Chicago, totally immersed in the early hip hop and burgeoning, local house music scene. Then, while attending college in Cleveland, I started a college music radio show around new, underground electronica and alt. Rock. I often went to Detroit and watched how House music was co-evolving there with drum machines and sequencers to create a grittier, driving sound called Techno. Much of my indulgence in all things electronica and dance music comes from this foundational triad of Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit in the 80s.

I’ve also been fortunate to travel extensively throughout Europe the past three decades and experience the electronica scene and rave culture unique to cities like Amsterdam, Berlin, Dublin, London, Stockholm and several others.

About Hyde & Sikh

+biri of Hyde & Sikh is a house+techno+hip hop DJ from the Southside of Chicago, USA, and lives in San Fransisco/Bay Area, California.

Hyde & Sikh is also a production collective and a long standing BurningMan sound camp.

+biri of Hyde & Sikh believes in shaping sounds for the dance floor with conviction around mood-setting and stories for the dancers. Constantly learning and digging for music, he has a wide range in styles and is at ease curating tracks across various genres.