Being a DJ in Delhi, Akshay Johar tells us there’s a few things he always wanted to address, whether it’s getting asked to play Bollywood item numbers by drunk ladies or how his “older relatives” think he’s getting paid peanuts to pander to whatever the clubbing crowd wants. Johar, who performs under the moniker MojoJojo, says, “I’m a DJ and I play my own music. People from other scenes think I’m a sellout for being in this (electronic music) space. It baffles me. I’m just creating original music. I don’t really understand the animosity.”

The bassist for bands such as Barefaced Liar, Gravy Train and the Doppler Effect, Johar took to bass and electronic music in 2012 and released his first offering, a compilation of remixed Bollywood songs called Bass Bahar, in 2014. He’s now ready with his second release, a full-length album of all-original material called Shots Fired. Johar assures us, though, that this isn’t just EDM. “My contention with that grouping is that it’s looked upon more as a trend and a fad. It’s somehow an easy route to become popular and got a negative connotation,” says Johar.

Johar started writing and producing with the likes of Delhi producer Jai Vaswani aka Nanok, Mumbai bass music producer Piyush Bhatnagar (Sound Avtar), Gravy Train vocalist Tanya Nambiar and rapper Krsna last year. Tracks like ‘Storm’ feature piano and cello parts that where recorded live, and ‘Nepal’ features live drums as well. “Wherever I felt it sounded too digital, I recorded the instrument live.”

With a 10-city tour lined up to promote Shots Fired, Johar is a bit bummed that he wasn’t able to figure out a live line-up for his gigs. He says, “For my Delhi launch gig, I’m getting all the vocalists but I genuinely want to pull this off with a live drummer. It might happen in November. That’ll be a dream come true.”

Find out more about MojoJojo’s tour and Shots Fired on his Facebook page.