MUMBAI: After programming music for various venues across the city, music producer Nishant Gadhok has started his own artist management/booking agency called ‘Gently Altered Music and Entertainment (GAME)’. Through this initiative, Gadhok, popularly known under his stage name, GAD (Gin At Dawn), aspires to bring local and international acts to the country so that more people are exposed to the independent electronic culture.

“Through GAME, we are on a mission to be the sound of underground music in India. We aim to introduce the masses to the flip side of mainstream dance music,” said Gadhok. For the same reason, he has signed on 8 artists; two deephouse, three techno and three independent artists, including Saral, Sharan, Burudu and the newly signed Arfaaz Kagalwala’s solo electronic act Fuzzy Logic.

Gadhok also added that he does want to restrict himself to booking artists belonging to just deep-house, techno and indie electronica. “We decide on our artists depending on how good, unique and singular their music is and whether the music has a universal appeal.” Gadhok came to Mumbai eight years ago, and since then, has created a name for himself in the city’s underground electronic scene. He continues to programme the music for various venues such as Boveda, Hoppipola, and seasonally at Salt Water Pool Side at JW Marriot Hotel.

Aiding GAME in its endeavour of helping its artists book gigs at various places are Mixtape, Vh1 and Budweiser. With their help, GAME conducts various music showcases across the venues. These showcases include ‘Beat Salad’ and ‘Frisco’ at Boveda, ‘Ciroc Your Sundays’ at JW Marriot and ‘Hoppi Sundays’ at all branches of Hoppipola.

Gadhok hopes to expand GAME by producing its own original showcases in Pune, Delhi and Bangalore, especially, since he said that he has a “really strong team” to support him. What started out as just one person, Gadhok is now joined by two artist managers and two event managers. The company’s growth became even more prominent after it signed on as promotional partners for The Lost Party, which was held earlier this year.