Cover image 📸: IGS @vikiwikii

From the opening track of this mix, you know you’re in for a ride. ’Dance Dance’ is an edit of an old Bollywood classic SAQIB made with Haider Uppal (available here as a free download). Its lush groove sets the tone for a 90-minute dance of deep-fried disco that flirts with main room prog in the most analogue way.

Hailing from Pakistan, the now Brooklyn-based DJ is an ardent student of music, an arc that includes playing heavy metal bands in Lahore on the way to studying electronic music production in New York (Rutgers University, Point Blank Music).

Today, he’s signed to labels including Flying Circus and Sol Selectas alongside DJ bookings at Electric Zoo, Cityfox and The Brooklyn Mirage. Upcoming shows include supporting BLOND:ISH at Industry City in NY, which follows his recent Nino Torres remix on his own Beats in Time imprint. All signs, of course, that arc is still rising.

Featuring tracks from Maceo Plex, Nick Curly, Piemont, Rigopolar, and more, this is a lively adventure into SAQIB’s splendid yet slightly psychedelic world.

BALANCE SELECTIONS 277: SAQIB

BALANCE SELECTIONS Q+A

Name: Saqib
Location: Brooklyn, NY
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Alias/Producer name: SAQIB
Labels affiliated with: Abracadabra, Beats On Time, Maccabi House, Sol Selectas, Flying Circus, Lump Records, Cue, and coming soon to Desert Hearts Black.

My last 3 releases:

What music did you listen to as a child?

My mom tells me that since I was two years old, I was rocking to music and naturally inclined to the beat. My dad is a singer and he loves classic Bollywood, so I grew up listening to a lot of those songs. I got into heavy metal and started playing the electric guitar when I was 12, and then I picked up the bass, drums, and sitar. I played in metal bands until 2009, when I discovered electronic music.

When was the first time that you realized that you liked electronic music?
I think I had some inkling of it for a very long time. Growing up listening to bands like Nine Inch Nails, Tool, Ministry, Slayer, Rammstein, Slipknot, and other bands with a very harsh, edgy, and futuristic sound, I learned that I liked electronic sounds fairly early on as a teenager.

I love music that uses mechanical sounds but still feels like music—sounds that are glitchy, robotic, imperfect, odd. Funny enough, when I went to university in the States and went to a club with friends for the first time in 2005, the music was EDM, and I really did not like it at all!

When was the first time you saw a DJ in a club?

As I mentioned earlier, my first experiences with “club” music were through EDM, and I wasn’t very into it in 2005. The first night at a club where I truly connected was in Toronto in 2009, listening to Carlo Lio with Talal & Zoi, which completely blew my mind.

I think the main event was at the club Footwork, and then the afterhours took place in a loft, the name of which I don’t know—I’m not even sure it had a name, haha.

That was the first time I heard minimal, techno, and house music, and it utterly captivated me. From that moment, I never looked back. I quit the metal band I was in and the record label I worked for to start anew in electronic music. With zero experience, zero connections, and no clear idea of what I was doing, I was armed with nothing but a profound belief in myself!

Which producers/artists/acts inspire you?

My favorite musicians, in no particular order, are Bill Evans (jazz piano), Dimebag Darrell (guitarist of Pantera), Miles Davis (trumpet), Ravi Shankar (sitar), Amy Winehouse (vocals), J Dilla (producer/MPC40), Andre 3000 (vocals), and Stevie Wonder (piano and vocals).

I think they each possess a unique and distinct sound that has deeply influenced me throughout my life. It’s hard to explain why. I just love their music.

I listen to a lot of music outside of electronic, and that’s what inspires me the most as a music producer and artist. Hip hop, old Bollywood, Turkish singers from the 70s, alternative bands—a lot of different things.

Lately, I’ve been into the Turkish singer Nese Karabocek, old Bollywood songs in the Saregama catalog, Deftones, Fela Kuti, Asa Moto, Secret Chiefs 3, Andre 3000‘s flute album, Balkan Beat Box, and discovering new things every day!

Within electronic music, some of the artists who really inspire me with their music are Dixon, Maceo Plex, Raxon, DJ Tennis, Adam Ten, Mita Gami, Luke Alessi, and Stimming.

What was the last album that you downloaded/purchased?

Nhii and Sarkis Mikael, Plant Power on Sounds of Khemit – super awesome new release I just received as a promo. So good.

What is your current production and DJ setup like?

My current studio is in Brooklyn, NY. I use a mix of hardware and software synths, creative sampling, and a lot of imagination. I also play guitar and provide vocals for my tracks. I’m passionate about sampling, exploring the creative possibilities of sound design, and music production in general.

Predicting my latest obsession at any given time is challenging because I’m always in search of new methods and ideas. Lately, I’ve been particularly into Arturia’s Pigments, EFX Motions, and Ovox.

When I DJ, it’s mostly digital. Although I have a small vinyl collection, I don’t play it out. The reason is that I often play a lot of music from my label and my own studio—sometimes tracks I’ve just finished the week before—and I don’t want to wait for the vinyl pressing process before I can play them out.

Digital formats are ideal for me because they enable me to play music that I’ve just created. The same goes for tracks from my friends who are producers. Moreover, in today’s world of 2024, the financial realities of being a working DJ and playing vinyl records are simply not viable without an investor or some form of support, haha!

What releases do you have on the horizon?

On my side, I have an EP coming out in May 2024 on Desert Hearts Black, which includes a collaboration with the one and only Aquarius Heaven on the mic. I’m also working on several official recreations of old Bollywood classics with the Indian label Saregama, set to be released earlier this year as singles. One of these tracks, “Dum Maro Dum,” appears in this mix around the 30-minute mark.

Additionally, I’ve got a remix for Uone on Beat & Path coming later this year in August. Plus, there are a couple of releases in the pipeline that I’ll be at liberty to discuss soon.

Aside from this, my label Beats On Time is quite busy, with monthly releases from artists whom I really admire and am excited to showcase on the platform. For example, B.o.T, Nino Torres, Tal Tobi, IPI, Sam Jaspersohn, Melodic, K2W0, Taylor Chin, and more. We also host a monthly podcast series that I highly recommend checking out.

Where can we hear you perform?

I’m fortunate to have some cool events coming up on the horizon – this summer and beyond. Some of the highlights for me would be the Abracadabra event on May 11th with Blond:ish in NYC, my Boston debut on April 26th, and some shows on the west coast this summer. I’m also really looking forward to ADE!

Tell us more about the podcast you made for Balance?

This mix was recorded on CDJ’s – but due to technical issues with my recorder, then my mixer, then a dead battery… I actually ended up recording and re-recording a couple of times haha! Worth it though. As a fan of the series, I put a lot of thought into it. I tried to keep it melodic, grooving, smooth and generally moving in an upward direction. Balance series with a Saqib stamp, you can say.

I played a couple of my own tracks including the opener, ‘Dance Dance‘ which is a collaboration with my friend Haider Uppal, my edit of the Bollywood classic ‘Dum Maro’, my edit of ‘Chik Chak Chok’ which is a classic Egyptian track, and finally the first of my label’s free download series from B.o.T. ‘No Church In The Wild’ was the closer.

My Recommendations

The top two tracks in my DJ set currently are:

If I could recommend only one of my tracks for you to listen to it would be:
My track for Adam Ten’s label, Maccabi House, last year:

If I could recommend only one track for you to listen to it would be:
This is an amazing and unforgettable track. I have no words for it.

The last movie I watched that I really liked:
I thought Ricky Stanicky was a really funny movie on Amazon Prime. 

My favourite TV show:
RICK AND MORTY! and Larry David’s curb your enthusiasm.

My favourite holiday destination/hotel:
Anywhere within the country of Georgia overall is incredible. And anywhere with a beach. I love the water 🙂 

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