MUMBAI: Gaurav Malaker, who is one half of electronic duo- B.L.O.T., has revealed a rather unpleasant incident he encountered while attending Sunburn 2014 in Goa. The DJ/ producer was a part of the artist line-up at the EDM festival, playing at the Space Station Stage on 27 December. Two days later, however, Malaker ran into ‘Inceptor of Sunburn'- Shailendra Singh, who allegedly ordered him to leave the festival for simply visiting Vh1 Supersonic, which was also taking place in Goa at the same time.

Malaker, in a Facebook note titled ‘The Politics of Dance and Other Short Stories', has stated that on 29 December, a day after he visited Vh1 Supersonic, he was noticed by Singh at the Sunburn "artist village", particularly by the other festival bands he was wearing. Singh, who was being escorted by bodyguards, allegedly pointed out the Supersonic band and asked Malaker why he had that band on, to which the DJ said that he had checked out Supersonic the previous day.

The answer seemed to have infuriated Singh because he supposedly responded, "You might be a whore and like whoring yourself out but I don't appreciate it. You can't come to my house wearing my rival festivals band."

Unfortunately for Malaker, Singh asked him to leave the artist lounge immediately, with which he complied since there was a bodyguard ushering him out. Malaker, however, has not left all that quietly. In the aftermath of the incident, he has taken to one of the most powerful tools right now- social media, to voice his thoughts.

His rather detailed note says, "It really is unfortunate (and at once exciting) that one can affect the Inceptor of Sunburn and man with many talents (source: www.shailendra-singh.com) Mr Shailendra Singh so deeply, merely by visiting another festival in Goa. Perhaps, even more tragic is that he appears to think he has the right to decide where I, (or anyone else), choose to go."

Malaker goes on to emphasise to Singh that "artists you book for your festival are not your employees, and are not bound by your megalomania". He also added that while he chose to play at Sunburn, he decided to visit Supersonic because he likes music and supports other artists and friends by watching them play.

The musician, who is also a partner in Quila Records, went on to list several other things that Singh should have spent time looking into. Malaker also added, "Sunburn is not a playground for you to unleash your ego like its some sort of untamed stallion. It is (or was) a music festival. Sure, It might be a ‘brand' for you but it is a music festival for most others."

Having been in the scene for over a decade, Malaker claims that it is "heartbreaking, and ridiculous" that the festival has been reduced to this, and that this is not the first time an individual has been treated in this manner in or around the popular dance music festival which has been around for seven years now.

Radioandmusic tried getting in touch with Malaker but he refused to comment. 

Read full note here: