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Nikhil Chinapa, one of the early driving forces behind India’s electronic music movement and a key name behind large-format festivals like Sunburn and Supersonic, was in Lucknow recently for a festival appearance.
In an exclusive chat, he shared his thoughts on AI in music, explained why intent at the top makes or breaks large events, and outlined his vision of turning public spaces like airports into cultural hubs.“It’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better,” says Nikhil about artificial intelligence in music and other creative fields. For him, AI runs up against the limits of emotion when it comes to music. “Music is something that’s precious and should not be relegated to monkeys on keyboards.
Understanding music theory and having an innate sense of when you should say ‘ooh’ and when you should say ‘ah’ is difficult to quantify, and I’m not sure whether AI can ever do that.
” He illustrates this with everyday listening situations: “You’re a human being, you’ve just won a gold medal in university. That’s a playlist. Your girlfriend of four years just broke up with you. That’s a playlist. How can AI really tap into that? AI cannot replicate emotion because emotion is transient, emotion is ductile, emotion moves constantly.
That will be difficult for AI to figure out.”India’s festival scene has room to growDespite the visible growth of music festivals across Indian cities, Nikhil, one of the founders of Sunburn and Supersonic Music Festivals, believes the scene is only just beginning to tap into its potential. “Twenty years from now we will still be just starting. That is the truth of the potential of India.” Clarifying that he is talking specifically about the live music and festival market, he adds, “We have not even scratched the tip of the iceberg.
The amount of headroom that we have for growth is phenomenal.”When the conversation turns to overbooking, crowd safety and revenue-driven decisions in India’s live music ecosystem, Nikhil reframes the issue as one of leadership, not capability. “We have the infrastructure. We have the people who know how to run the infrastructure. We have the technology.” The real gap, he argues, is intent. “Intent always starts at the top.
In any organization, whether it’s corporate, government or non-profit, intent starts at the top.
The problem is always at the top. It is never in the middle.”He contrasts this with global touring setups, as he says, “When a show like Coldplay comes in, their core team overlooks each and every thing. The person running it will say, ‘No, I will not let you do this, and you have to do it this way.’ Whereas here sometimes it becomes ‘Dekh lenge, ho jayega, kaam chala lenge.” For him, the way forward is clear. “We need to take giant steps. We need more festivals, more curators, more brands getting involved, more sponsorships, more experiences, more emphasis on culture, more emphasis on people, and less emphasis on spectacle.”Reimagining airports as cultural hubsAlongside helping to scale and establish a festival in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, Nikhil is also working on a project with Bengaluru Airport that hints at his larger vision for public spaces.
“Airports in India have a lot of land, and with that land they have parking, electricity, connectivity and infrastructure. We’re trying to see whether we can turn parts of those spaces into cultural hubs where artists can perform and curate experiences, spoken word, cinema, sculpture, poetry, immersive art, music, food, retail.
” The idea, he says, is to reimagine how public infrastructure can host culture. “We need to look at a space and ask what else can I do with this space.” For Nikhil, this isn’t just a passing idea but a lifelong mission. “I think before I die it will happen in every airport in India. I will make it happen or other people will make it happen, but it will happen.”-Manas Mishra
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