FEMWAV make space please mix 006: Tsurbhi

Sound the alarm, please, for FEMWAV make space please mix 006 has arrived, and it is special because 006 is 001 in 2020. But first, important updates: 2019 was less than ideal (understatement!) in Indian sociopolitics. The end of year has seen millions of Indian people join together in solidarity against the Islamophobic and unconstitutional Citizenship Amendment Bill, which later became Citizenship Amendment Act, to the outrage of many who opposed it.

Since then, India has seen Uttar Pradesh turned into a police state torturing and subjugating its Muslim community and illegally confiscating their property. The nation's capital has seen peaceful protesters brutalised by its police, and its left-leaning universities attacked with full sanction of the police and central government.

Poster source

Indian women have been at the forefront of the growing movement steadily opposing CAA as well as the state's many excesses all over India. The rest of the country is uniting against its government and finally demanding accountability, joining its long oppressed kin in the north-east and in Kashmir. It is a sight to behold.

In these times of turmoil and transformation, we thank everyone creating awareness, speaking out boldly and frankly, protesting, appealing, and engaging in dialogue with those who have no access to facts. This kranti is long overdue.

This revolution, however, is a marathon not a sprint. It calls for considered and consistent questioning of systemic structures, and a complete rebuilding of contemporary culture in India. As news outlets slowly wake up to the role of women in this ongoing social metamorphosis, so must we continue to highlight the work of femme and NB artists in the cultural shift that runs parallel. The arts have always been inextricable from social change, and we must carry on reminding the people of the immense hard work being put in by these artists to normalise their participation in the community.

True to that spirit, here we are, seeking to turn the community's attention to another under-the-radar femme artist.

Bringing us fresh sounds in these times is Tsurbhi, a promising new DJ and Producer steadily making her foray into electronic music experimentation after much consideration. Her mix features her bass-chasing energy, showcasing fresh curling bass nodes, crisp drum licks, and a constant reference to late-90s UKF dnb massive, alternating between moody and frenetic. Which makes sense, considering Tsurbhi hopes "you’ll see how it [the mix] mirrors the many highs and lows that life puts us through. I know it is a little bit like how my life has been ever since I took up music!"

Tsurbhi also took special care to focus on femme dnb producers for this particular mix. "Curating this mix led to an interesting deep dive into the world of female DnB producers. As I had expected, DnB produced by female producers, sounded no different from the DnB produced by male producers."

Dive in here:


Tsurbhi also recently curated a mix for the boxout.fm team, which can be heard here.

If you are a femme/NB DJ or producer and would like to show us your spin on the next make space please mixes, write to us femwav@gmail.com. We can't wait to hear from you!

Written by Uvika Wahi