Today we’d like to introduce you to Zorawar Shukla.
Zorawar, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I moved to LA from Mumbai in 2021. I came here primarily work in the film industry as an actor/ writer/ director. However, I soon realised that my DJing skills, which I had honed over over the last 12 years in India would be the key to sustaining myself financially in Los Angeles. I arrived with enough money to survive for a few months but I knew I had to hit the ground running. I was introduced to a DJ company that is one of the leaders in wedding/ private events space in SoCal through a friend in an acting class. Having had no prior experience in weddings (I had built a career as a DJ/ MC at clubs and music festivals in India) I had to learn quick and within a couple of months I was able to get myself up and running, being able to pay rent etc without dipping into my savings. After a couple of years working with the DJ company, doing all types of events, I started to focus on Indian weddings. With my Indian background and wide knowledge of American (and world) music, this was a formula that really began to click. I started realising that I was increasingly in demand and at that point decided to start my own brand focusing on Indian and fusion celebrations, called Desi Beat Collective. The DJ company that I previously worked with has come on board as a partner. It’s been about 4-5 months since we launched the brand and the response has been overwhelming!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road at all – my equipment has been stolen out of my car, I had a bad crash on the way to a gig where my car was totalled, I’ve lost money countless times because of carelessness and silly mistakes. Also, going from performing at clubs to weddings is a big change – I am now not only an entertainer but also in the customer service industry. That mentality shift took some time to understand.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
What sets me apart is my background and variety of life experiences I’ve had. I was born in India and grew up in Singapore, Hong Kong and Boston. I’ve been lucky enough to have travelled extensively all over the world through my work and also for pleasure. Apart from Djing, I run a music festival in India every year which has over 2000 attendees, I have made two award winning documentary films, and am an active stage and film actor. I bring a truly global perspective to any project I work on.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success to me is health. A healthy body, healthy mind, healthy heart and healthy bank account!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.desibeatcollective.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/desibeatcollective/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/desibeatcollective/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@desibeatcollective?si=qiIc7e3wEF7kAbCH
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/desi-beat-collective-los-angeles
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/desibeatcollective
