Exclusive | Sunburn to draw the best global acts: Percept's Shailendra Singh

Sunburn is a three day Electronic Dance Music Festival held every year at Goa, India. Inaugurated in 2007, Sunburn is a synergy of music, entertainment, food, shopping and lifestyle that attracts music tourism in Goa. In the past six years of existence, Sunburn has brought together renowned Indian and International DJs to entertain crowds of thousands over a three day period in December. Sunburn caters to a wide Indian and International audience and it showcases India as a Dance Festival destination to the world. The festival which is held at Candolim Beach in December has seen the best of the international and national acts entertain crowds of over tens of thousands. Sunburn has planted India on the International music festival scene and is Asia’s Premier Dance Music Festival. Ranked as the 9th best festival in the world (CNN), Sunburn is a Percept property owned by Shailendra Singh in partnership with Nikhil Chinapa.

Spread over Candolim Beach, Sunburn has multiple stages with artists playing simultaneously from noon to 10 pm. The final countdown to the most explosive Electronic Dance Music (EDM) Festival – Sunburn Goa 2012 has begun with the announcement of a staggering line up of artists. The 6th edition of Asia’s premier music festival which will take place on December 27th, 28th & 29th, will feature a star packed lineup of some of the world’s best headliners including Grammy winning DJ Paul Van Dyk, Grammy nominee Brian Transeau (BT) along with Dutch progressive house artists DJs Sander van Doorn and Fedde Le Grand. Presented by Micromax, Sunburn is organized by Percept Live, a division of Percept Limited.

The genre of EDM was paved by Sunburn in India and the festival has been largely responsible for placing India on the global map as one of the top destinations for EDM in the world. The annual festival that was launched in Goa in 2007 has steadily grown in terms of the numbers of followers worldwide. The excitement and anticipation for the 2012 edition of Sunburn can be judged by the frantic record breaking pace of early bird tickets sales which sold out at the rate of a ticket per second!

With a view to nurturing emerging talent in the EDM space, this year the Sunburn Anthem & Video Contest (SAVC) has been extended to 15 other countries beyond India. The contest which entails two components: Audio Remixing and VFX creation will give a chance for winners to savor their moment of glory at Sunburn along with VIP treatment and an all-expense paid trip to Goa. Not just that, the winning track will also be featured on the Sunburn Anthem compilation along with acclaimed international & domestic artists. What’s more, in addition to winners, lucky voters who participate in the online vote to choose a winner also stand a chance to win free tickets to Sunburn Goa 2012.

Adgully caught up with  Shailendra Singh, Joint MD, Percept Ltd, to learn more about the upcoming festival,  the excitement that awaits audiences, how they have paved the genre of EDM in India , their sponsors etc. Some excerpts from the interview:

This is the 6th edition of Asia’s premier music festival which year on year has never failed to create an impact on audiences. When asked about the star packed line  up for the upcoming festival, Singh said, “Sunburn draws the best international and Indian acts from across the globe every year. This year too we have put together a staggering line up of artists including – Grammy award winning DJ Paul Van Dyk, Trance ace Sander Van Doorn, Dutch house heavyweight DJ Fedde Le Grand, Grammy nominee Brian Transeau (BT), Latin House legend Roger Sanchez, along with DJs Richard Durand, Arnej and Dutch duos W&W and Showtek.

Explaining how Sunburn has paved the genre of EDM in India and how as on date it is the most sought after festival he said that Sunburn began as a gathering of a few thousand followers in Goa, dedicated to the love of the EDM. “But over the last six years, Sunburn has transformed into a bedrock for EDM artists world over by bringing together globally renowned DJs from across the genre under one roof. These efforts have given millions of EDM fans a chance to experience their favorite artists first hand. The Sunburn experience is at the heart of what has made Sunburn so popular and desirable. The festival offers the best in electronic dance music, access to world renowned artists, world class sets and stages, the magic of Goa and over a 100,000 music lovers soaking up the sun. Sunburn is also India’s first and only international music festival which today is a lifestyle brand in itself. Along with EDM lovers, Sunburn has attracted music lovers from all genres looking for a world class music festival experience.” he said.

He also added to say that  the other aspect that has fuelled the popularity is the constant innovation with the concept and making it larger than life every year. Every year Sunburn manages to surprise people and they leave wanting to come back every year.

Sharing some of the initiatives undertaken to nurture emerging talents in the EDM space he informed about how Sunburn is committed to its mission of nurturing talent in the EDM space. In order to spot budding talent across the globe and provide them with an international platform to showcase their skills, Sunburn has created the Sunburn Anthem and Video Contest (SAVC). The SAVC is an annual property created solely to promote EDM talent in India & Asia on a global platform. The contest is made up of two components: Audio Remixing for the music composers and VFX creation for the Visual Jockeys. Winners of the Sunburn Anthem & Video Contest will get a chance to play at Sunburn Goa 2012. Winners will also receive an all expenses paid trip to Sunburn 2012, from anywhere in the world and loads of Sunburn goodies. The winning track will also feature on the Sunburn Goa 2012 compilation along with acclaimed international & domestic artists – Hence SAVC enables young artists to enter straight into the big league! 

Given the staggering line up of artists when asked what is the ratio of international artists versus Indian artists in the festival he said, “Almost half the line-up this year is made up of highly talented Indian artists.” 

There is no doubt that Sunburn has planted India on the International music festival scene. Elaborating further on this statement he said, 

“Sunburn today is Asia’s biggest and most popular music festival with a massive following within India and globally. Close to fifty percent of Sunburn attendees are international music fans arriving from across continents. The success of the festival has put Goa on the world music map making it a highly sought after music destination. Sunburn is also one of the very few homegrown lifestyle brands to achieve international success.”    

Throwing light on the sponsors of Sunburn 2012 Singh said that Micromax is the presenting sponsor for Sunburn Goa 2012 with Absolute, VH1 and MTV acting as Associate sponsors. Tuborg and Cannon are Co-sponsors of the festival. “Sunburn has over the years transformed into an attractive platform for brand innovations unseen in the music and lifestyle business. Brands partnering with Sunburn have been able to discover new insights into customers, enabling them to design unique experiences for their customers, as they live through the exhilarated Sunburn rush.  This year too a string of international brands such as Havaianas and MINI Cooper have partnered Sunburn to create some unique experiences.  Havaianas will launch an exclusive Sunburn Collection – a line of ‘glow-in-the-dark’ neon flip-flops at Sunburn 2012 and to be sold in India exclusively through Sunburn, said Mr .Shailendra Singh. Mini-Cooper too is a co-sponsor of Sunburn 2012. The luxury brand will host a state-of-the-art lounge at the festival.  Mini will also run their global ’Best Seats in the House (by MINI)’ concept at Sunburn. In addition, The MINI COOPER RB (Red Bull) is expected to be showcased for the first time at Sunburn Goa 2012. Red Bull and MINI are global partners and are both partners of Sunburn.

The International music festival will be six times larger, more extravagant and is slated to be the biggest and loudest Sunburn yet with over 150,000 sunburnites expected to attend. Truly a larger than life event that will unfold in Goa beginning 27th December 2012!