Who is the Kolkata DJ who performed at Tomorrowland Belgium 2024?

On December 26, 2023, Kaushik Das was feeling a bit down. He didn’t have a gig yet on New Year’s Eve – the one-day DJs are certainly the most sought after. “Getting booked for a gig on December 31 is a big deal for DJs,” says Das, who performs under the name DJ Roop.

It wasn’t all bad, though – Das, who has been a DJ producer since 2014, had a DJ teaching gig at the Tomorrowland Foundation Music & Arts School in Kolkata’s Ek Tara. That connection not only allowed him to help kids get into DJing, but also to hang out with EDM stars like Martin Garrix, Armin Van Buuren and more when they visited the school. “There have been many occasions when the Tomorrowland Foundation team has visited our school for various reasons and I’ve really enjoyed interacting with them,” he says.

While he was in office, he instead received an offer from electronic music festival Tomorrowland Belgium 2024. Das says: “I got an Instagram message from one of the Tomorrowland employees, whom I had met during Martin Garrix’s visit to our school Ek Tara, asking if I was available on July 27, 2024. I just said yes, without any hesitation. Then he had told me that they wanted me to perform at Tomorrowland Belgium 2024 on the V Sessions hosting stage. After seeing this text, I almost jumped in my office! All my sadness was gone and I immediately called my parents to inform them.”

Das, who was familiar with Tomorrowland before he went to school, says he’s been watching sets from one of the world’s biggest music festival gatherings for years. Das performed at Tomorrowland last month and was “really nervous” about his international debut. “It took me a while to get used to the environment once I landed in Belgium. And once I was on stage, it took me 5-10 minutes to assess the crowd because you know the cultural difference in Europe compared to us. But once I got the hang of it, my performance went really well after that,” he says. Das says he was especially encouraged by all the Indians in attendance. “I got a lot of confidence when I saw quite a few Indian flags in the front row. And at the end, it was absolutely amazing,” the DJ adds.

While Das had a lot on his side in terms of a previously established connection with the Tomorrowland team, he says that it takes a lot more to stand out as an artist. “I think you have to look around first. Then, based on what’s popular, you have to think of something very unique (and) that will be loved by a large audience.” While others might aim for high-end clubs, hotels and festivals in India, Das supported a “social cause with my art form” by partnering with a non-profit that teaches DJing to underprivileged girls. “Typically, DJing is quite an expensive art form in India, I was lucky enough to get a full 100 percent scholarship for Partymap courses. But I always wanted to make DJing affordable for lower and middle class people as well. Empowering women is a top priority now,” he says.

During Tomorrowland in Belgium, Das says his favorite memory was hanging out and networking in the artists’ village. In the media village, he was interviewed by DJ magazine as well as One World Radio And Coke Studio. “There came Armin Van Buuren and suddenly surprised me. This was all planned by the Tomorrowland team, thanks to everything they did for me,” Das adds.

Among his favourite sets at the festival are David Guetta and Swedish House Mafia. After this, Das will release more music as DJ Roop and is targeting “big labels” and “big artists” to support the new music. He adds: “I want to do a fair number of shows across India. This is something I have been missing since the beginning. I am also trying to think of some collaborations with brands that will help both the brand and me grow together.”