MUMBAI: Two of the brightest stars in India’s music space are gearing up to ensure Mumbai has one of the most musically charged up starts to the New Year. This 29 January 2016, make your way to High Street Phoenix for their mega monthly music property AWESTRUNG to hear scene stealers Madboy/Mink and watch India’s dubstep sensation NUCLEYA set the stage on fire with no charges and an exciting ambience to liven up your mood for the evening. A property that started in early 2015, AWESTRUNG, in association with Pepsi MTV Indies, Furtados and Radio Mirchi, has been instrumental in bringing diverse genres of music and some of the country’s finest musicians, closer to the masses.

With his latest album ‘Bass Rani’ becoming the toast of the party season across India, NUCLEYA is busy finishing his next project, a definitive crackler slated to be out in 2016, along with a Bollywood track. One of the early proponents of the now-popular genre of Dubstep in India, NUCLEYA has built on that start to emerge as one of the most exciting, experimental and engaging producers in the Indian scene in the past five years. He has made his mark as an Indian dance music producer, focussing on sounds and textures that are Indian in sound but international in appeal.

His latest album ‘Bass Rani’ explores regional sounds and cements NUCLEYA’s position as the Indian leader in the ‘global bass’ movement, as he continues to look to the future for new sounds. He has performed at numerous music festivals around the world including Glastonbury (UK), Edinburgh Fringe Festival (UK), Lille 3000 (France) and the Electron Festival (Switzerland), where he performed alongside artists like Diplo and Modeselektor.

Close on the heels of a successful 8-City Tour for their latest EP Union Farm, and a spectacular NH7 Weekender Pune where they charmed over 5000 people, Madboy/Mink are all set to kickstart 2016 with a banging AWESTRUNG. Described, as the terror twins of Funk and Swing, Madboy/Mink is the collaboration between Imaad Shah and Saba Azad. Based out of Mumbai, India, they have, in a short time, gained notoriety for their electric live sets, both at big festival stages as well as underground parties across the country.

Mashing up dirty disco, funk and old-school swing there is a heavy emphasis on live performance. The electronic energy on record is reproduced live on stage using a combination of live synths + guitars + soulfully destroyed samples and a Harlem speakeasy vocal style creating a post-mod electro cabaret experience. Their song ‘Calcutta Kiss’ for Detective Byomkesh Bakshi recently amassed over 150,000 views on Youtube. Post AWESTRUNG, Madboy/Mink will take their brand new live performances featuring horn players/dancers and a crazy audio visual show to open for international artists Dub Inc at the upcoming SulaFest 2016.

Excited about kick-starting the year with a one-of-its-kind music festival, Totem Pole, The Phoenix Mills president (West) Rajendra Kalkar said, “With December gone, yes, the party season might be over for some but we at High Street Phoenix intend to give Mumbai many reasons to keep the celebrations continuing. And following AWESTRUNG will be the yearly crowd puller ‘Cool Japan Festival’ in February.”

Madboy/Mink and NUCLEYA will transform the Courtyard into an infectious dance floor. With an event calendar as exciting as this, Mumbai is turning into the mecca of music festivals and must attend shows.