Zaeden: Being a DJ didn’t help me challenge myself

Sahil Sharma, popularly known as Zaeden, wanted to explore singing as a career. It made him leave his career as a disc jockey (DJ), even at a time when he was getting noticed by the audiences and had opportunities to share stage with international artistes.

“Honestly, I just felt that being a DJ didn’t help me challenge myself as a musician. I wanted to do something different, something that allowed me to express more. Singing and songwriting have given me so much space and elements to explore which is exactly what I wanted,” shares Zaeden, 26, who started out as a DJ at the age of 14, and earning fame with work, later landed an opportunity of closhing the show at David Guetta’s Mumbai concert.

With the pandemic-induced curb on live shows, does he feel the road ahead is a difficult one for DJs and singers who love to perform live? Without brushing of the challenges, Zaeden, talks of both positive and negative sides of the situation.

“The impact of the pandemic, be it long term or short term, depends from person to person. For live gigs, it’s definitely a setback, virtual shows just don’t feel the same. But we’ll come out of this soon,” he says, adding, “I feel the pandemic has given DJs a lot of time to put out new music and collaborate with different artistes.”

Having quit as a DJ, he is working to shape his singing career and recently released his debut album, Genesis 1:1.

Talking about it, he says, “Each track on the album has been inspired by some or the other event that I’ve personally experienced or observed. It’s an amalgamation of all events and emotions that every person experiences at some point in life.”