Aneesh Gera is a Goan DJ and record producer who has performed at numerous music events across India, and the world.
He enjoys a massive fan following, with online streams already crossing the 5 million mark. His repertoire of genres includes house music, trance, electronica, deep house, progressive house, chillout, down tempo, and more.
He started his career at a time when only a handful of Goan DJs existed. He’s a boy from Goa who simply pursued his lifelong affair with music to now become one of India’s best DJs.
Aneesh Gera is also India’s first dance music producer to be featured on the US Billboard Dance Chart. He’s performed with BT, Above and Beyond, Swedish House Mafia, Paul Van Dyk, Pete Tong, and numerous other artists.
Featuring him on our Humans of Goa series was a no-brainer as Gera has without doubt, taken Goa to progressive (pun) heights.
Humans of Goa is our original and official series that shares inspirational stories from the lives of Goans.
Let’s get a glimpse of his life.
Tell us about yourself…
The world knows me as Aneesh Gera. I am a Goan DJ and my profession includes all things music.
https://in.askmen.com/in-the-spotlight/1116409/article/aneesh-gera-is-all-about-taking-you-somewhere-with-his-music
What was that one moment when you decided that mixing tracks and entertaining people is what I want to do full time? Why not something else?
I LOVE music! The idea of mixing 2, 3 or 4 records on top of each other to create something new has always worked for me. In fact, creating a set is an evolution. It’s an art form in itself. That makes me an artist. My passion and profession is Music.
A bit about your role models. Any aspects or traits that makes them so… (can be from the art world too that many people don’t know about)
I have met several of them across the years. It’s usually the ones who can afford to have an ego that don’t want to meet. and vice versa. Then again, it’s a great lesson, although each situation is different.
Quincy Jones, BT, The Chemical Brothers are people I would love to emulate. I really admire the works of Paul Gauguin
Any inspirational moment you remember in your life that changed everything…
Several actually. I’ve had my fair share of setbacks. It’s not about how many times you fall, but how many times you pick yourself up, and move on forward.
What was the biggest challenge when pursuing this as a fulltime career? And how did you overcome it?
Personally, I wear a few hats in the music industry. At one point, even up to nine different roles. So for me its about doing justice to each of them without compromising on quality & integrity.
Name your favorite DJ (or musician) or anyone in your industry that you want to be like. Any fanboy moment you experienced or precious advice someone gave you?
Meeting Roger Sanchez/Eric Prydz & the Swedes in London (The Swedish House Mafia) was pretty surreal.
Who is the one person you’d like to meet from the past? And what would you ask him/her?
Any of the greats – Ray Charles, MJ, ACDC, Aretha Franklin, Etta James etc. I’d just want to listen and learn. Can you imagine their challenges & yet they’ve overcome them. Simply inspiring.
Can you write a couple of lines for us here on the topic of “Music is Life”?
The one true universal language. It breaks down all barriers and stigmas. Nothing comes even close to it.
What role did family and friends play? Any quick incident you recall that helped you overcome a hurdle or challenge in life with help from fam?
My Mum has been a rock throughout my music career. Starting off as a DJ at 17 in 2001, the world then was very different.
The profession was frowned upon (to say the very least) and had a fair bit of stigma attached to it. There were loads of misconceptions. But my Mum has stood by me and supported me through all that.
She supported my foray in DJing, Audio Engineering, Music Production, Writing Music, starting my own record label, hosting radio shows, and going on international tours.
She still is my harshest critic. As it should be.
How did the entrepreneurial journey start? What were the DJ learnings that shaped you to grow?
Unintentionally, I just wanted to be a DJ and now its 10% of what I do 🙂
What were people’s feedback (negative and positive), and who stood by you the most?
That’s something you’ll have to ask people, but for me it’s essential to surround myself with good positive people within my circle.
What is the legacy you want to leave behind? And for whom?
I want to contribute to my industry and help it grow. I want to pave the way for the next generation of music creators. Putting Goa on the map has always been close to heart.
Tell us about the NFT tie up with RCRDSHP. What makes this game changing for DJs & how does it benefit music production?
This is for music artists, songwriters, music producers and beyond. To be signed to one of the biggest agencies in the world for NFTs is massive. I’m buzzing with how our sales have been thus far. It’s incredible and really exciting, especially for an industry that’s taken a beating for the past 25 years.
You can catch a snippet of this conversation on ItsGoa‘s Instagram page. Humans of Goa is our original and official series that shares stories from the lives of Goans. ‘Humans of Goa’ celebrates the spirit of every Goan.
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