Mumbai: Two gentlemen host dance parties at chic bungalows in Bandra

At Secret Sessions, attendees are informed three hours in advance about the venue

Five men were enjoying a ciggie break outside China House, Grand Hyatt, in 2015, when they discussed: what would gigs be like if they were held at venues that didn't look anything like China House? The men, in alphabetical order, were Abhishek Kukrety, Aditya Jaiswal, Ankit Mansukhani, Chirayu Vedekar and Davind Handa.

Two of them had a musical connection: Jaiswal, alongside being a nine-to-fiver at Reliance Jio, is DJ Bombay Karma, while Vedekar plays bass guitar with Agnee. The others are suits: businessmen and vice-presidents. The chat resulted in an elaborate house party atop Kukrety's house - on his building terrace - and about 40 people showed up. The performers included Samad Rehman (9OH) and Apurv Dogra (Bryan The Lion), Sid Chandra, and in-house talent, Jaiswal. It was BYOB, casual and intimate: a rare Mumbai evening, when the stars aligned to create the perfect vibe.

Davind Handa. Pic/Bipin Kokate. Location Courtesy/ The Good Wife

After officially launching as Secret Sessions in February 2016, and curating more than a dozen parties, the quintet, like The Beatles, disbanded. Today, Jaiswal and Handa continue to be its driving force, and they've only become more ambitious. They've hosted bacchanalias on boats, around pools, inside Bungalow 9; at their New Year's bash last year, 400 people turned up. They've hosted acts such as Aqua Dominatrix, Kunal Lodhia, Vasudha Sharma, Tansane, and several other homegrown artistes.

And, their biggest achievement has been that they've hosted these parties on rooftops, without shouting about it from the rooftops. "We saw an immense response to our second event, and the guest list exploded," says Handa. "We didn't want too many people. So, we decided to exist and run as a closed group. You can request to join in [on Facebook], but we work at one or two degrees of separation: only known people or friends of friends. We're about 2,000-strong, and we have 2,000 requests pending.
We haven't accepted because we don't see common friends or rooted art interests."

Aditya Jaiswal aka Bombay Karma

Handa, 36, shows up for the interview, straight from work, looking like someone more at ease with subjects as dry as futures trading than the indie scene in Mumbai. In a navy-blue jacket and slim pants, he admits, "As a student or banker [today], I don't really listen to a lot of music and I don't know most of the international artistes." He corrects himself, "I know of a few, but I don't listen to them much." But, in November 2010, after he saw Armin Van Buuren perform at Blue Frog, his heart turned, and his feet followed. "I have seen the scene develop and evolve. And, that's how my interest in the gig culture and [the music] community started developing. I go to listen to all kinds of music, predominantly knob-twiddlers, who do electronic, alt electronica, drum and bass, analogue bass lines and synth pop sounds."

It was at one of these gigs, where he met Jaiswal. As a DJ, Jaiswal, 31, plays house, disco, techno and underground. "He attended my second gig [at IBar in 2014] and liked what I played," says Jaiswal. From hosting a Secret Sessions every month in 2016, the duo has scaled down to four a year. "Because this is a community event, it's not a money-making proposition, and we have to put in a lot of effort in curating a single gig," says Jaiswal. "The artistes have really supported us. They've played for free. If they're charging 40K in the market, they might do it cheaper for us. But now, we also feel that we should give them a decent amount of money, because we don't want to take advantage of them. So, we've stopped doing gigs for 80 people. Now, it's for at least 250-300 people."

Though, it continues to retain its DIY-BYO attitude. "Some of the venues have allowed us to BYOB," says Handa. "Or, we would have beer for Rs 100 or at MRP. Because we want to bring value to our community, [our goal is to] create different experiences." Since they have debuted, so have a host of other secret gigs, but Jaiswal says, "Other gigs are listening sessions. Secret Sessions is about dancing. We always host electronic artistes who have a different sound." Handa says, "What drives us is seeing these people come and celebrate dance, feel the way that they do at our gigs."

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