Over the past 20 years, DJ Mass has been travelling the world, gathering experience, working with international artists, and seeking their advice on how to grow. Having DJ’d in over 98 countries, DJ Mass has made himself an impressive name in both the local and international music industry. His passion for music was heavily influenced by his parents and grandmother who would listen to pop music by the likes of ABBA and Boney M all the time. He discovered the concept of a DJ at the age of 10, when he stumbled across a magazine that explained what a DJ does. In the early ‘90s he began mixing music and eventually got into it professionally. Now, after playing alongside the likes of Tiesto and Skrillex he founded his own record label company: Senter Records.
Brunch caught up with DJ Mass for a chat on his career, Senter Records, and more.
He was the first DJ for renowned musicians Bathiya and Santhush and remixed their song Siri Sangabodhi Maligawedi back in the late ‘90s and in the year 2000, he moved to Dubai, where he continued to professionally DJ in big clubs and festivals up until he moved to Singapore, where he decided to begin making his own music.
Having worked with many successful international artists, he has always been advised to “start where you began”, which for him, is his country of birth – Sri Lanka. “This was why I came to Sri Lanka, to build my tribe. That’s why I gathered a young, talented, and inspirational group of DJs and producers to produce music with me.” He explained that this is not a task he can embark on alone, because if he was to do that, he would be riding solo. “Diplo started his label with DJ Snake and Major Lazer and they produced hits from their label which then blew up. This was my main inspiration.” He questioned himself why we couldn’t do that in Sri Lanka and decided that this is what he wanted to do, except with his own twist.
Over the years, DJ Mass has built a very strong network of connections internationally; some which he has worked with for over 15 years and have become very dear friends of his. “DJ Catch is one of those people – he and I started at the most basic level of music – I watched him grow and now he has sold multi platinum and is a giant when it comes to the reggaeton and moombahton sound in Germany. He’s going to be collaborating with me on a Sinhalese track,” he revealed. Like this, any artist that signs under his record label has the link to DJ Mass’s huge network of connections, so it comes with the opportunity for international collaborations.
With a career so successful, it was almost unfair of us to ask him what his most memorable gig was, but having made him choose, he did reveal some exciting moments in his career. Having DJ’d for crowds of 50,000 to small parties of 50 people, DJ Mass expressed that sometimes, the smaller, intimate parties are more memorable. At one of his gigs “a VIP guest said ‘hey man, why don’t you come DJ for my party?’ and when I did, I saw Shakira on the dance floor dancing to my music! She was apparently a good friend of that guest and I was blown away”. He offhandedly commented that he has also played for afterparties hosted by Will Smith and Tom Cruise, and a few more renowned celebrities; a fact we found to be quite impressive. Although dubbing these as good experiences, DJ Mass informed us that his most memorable gig would be the time he played back to back with Skrillex. “He’s an awesome DJ and an awesome person. That energy you receive of someone who has made it so big is very memorable.”
When talking about some challenges he faced in his career, he named something very unorthodox; we would never have realised what an obstacle a Sri Lankan passport would be to an artist that plays internationally. “We have a lot of travel restrictions. For example, if I get a gig in the US, I need to apply for a visa and it may get rejected. By the time I reapply and get it, the gig might be over. This isn’t a problem for those with an American or European passport, but for us, it’s a big challenge.” Despite all these challenges, he has still managed to DJ at over 98 countries, adding that it may have been over 200 countries had the passport allowed him to travel freely.
We asked DJ Mass what his opinion on the current music industry is in terms of DJing. “It’s a very sensitive topic. Most of the DJs in Sri Lanka tend to mix two songs together and choose not to explore other options. If you look at an international point of view, DJs are also producers.” Using Calvin Harris, Skrillex, DJ Snake, and a few others as examples, he pointed out that while they are DJs, they are predominantly music-makers who make their own music that gets on the charts and features other artists and vocalists on their tracks that then tops the Billboard charts.
He observed that it is unfortunate that DJs here are still DJing at weddings or are looking for a one-time source of income. “They don’t see the benefits of releasing their music in a way that will help them, in the long run, to become recognised as artists.” This is what inspired him to launch Senter Records. “I want to send a message to DJs and tell them that it’s time to level up. We do have a lot of music producers but unfortunately, a lot of them make underground music instead of hitting the commercial market.” He also explained that in order to reach this market, they need to be putting out Sinhala pop music or EDM tracks, which is what he hopes to do with Senter Records. The record label is predominantly South Asian pop EDM, so he also aims to take Sinhalese, Tamil, Hindi, and Maldivian sounds to an international level.
Letting us in on an exciting new release, he informed us that this is the biggest track he’s ever released. “Until now, I haven’t released anything under my name on Senter Records; I’ve been featured on tracks, but nothing of my own.” He didn’t want to tell us the name and spoil the surprise, but he described this release to be a famous classic Sri Lankan track that he has remixed and will feature Romaine Willis and Apzi.
He also told us that the music video has a fully choreographed routine from start to finish, featuring a trope of talented female dancers, from Sandarangi Perera’s dance group. “When the music video drops, everyone’s going to be like: whoa!” he promised. Giving us some insight into how this collaboration happened, he shared: “Apzi is hands down one of the greatest rappers Sri Lanka has ever produced and being a female, she is empowering the entire community. What she's doing with her rapping skills is insane so I really have mad respect for her.” He added that he had also featured on another track with Romaine Willis which was released recently called My Kinda Heaven. “I love Romaine’s vocals; she’s got good vibes and a lot of positive energy and it’s amazing working with her.”
Sending out a message to the DJs, artists, dancers, and everyone in the arts industry who are going through a tough time due to the Covid-19 situation, he shared: “I just want to tell them to keep inspiring. In a world full of negativity and so many bad things going on, we are the only ones who can spread some happiness, joy, and love. If we stop what we’re doing, it will be gloomy, so despite all the hardship, we must continue what we’re doing. Don’t ever lose your passion.”
Check out his socials on the link below.
LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/officialdjmass
Brunch caught up with DJ Mass for a chat on his career, Senter Records, and more.
He was the first DJ for renowned musicians Bathiya and Santhush and remixed their song Siri Sangabodhi Maligawedi back in the late ‘90s and in the year 2000, he moved to Dubai, where he continued to professionally DJ in big clubs and festivals up until he moved to Singapore, where he decided to begin making his own music.
Having worked with many successful international artists, he has always been advised to “start where you began”, which for him, is his country of birth – Sri Lanka. “This was why I came to Sri Lanka, to build my tribe. That’s why I gathered a young, talented, and inspirational group of DJs and producers to produce music with me.” He explained that this is not a task he can embark on alone, because if he was to do that, he would be riding solo. “Diplo started his label with DJ Snake and Major Lazer and they produced hits from their label which then blew up. This was my main inspiration.” He questioned himself why we couldn’t do that in Sri Lanka and decided that this is what he wanted to do, except with his own twist.
Over the years, DJ Mass has built a very strong network of connections internationally; some which he has worked with for over 15 years and have become very dear friends of his. “DJ Catch is one of those people – he and I started at the most basic level of music – I watched him grow and now he has sold multi platinum and is a giant when it comes to the reggaeton and moombahton sound in Germany. He’s going to be collaborating with me on a Sinhalese track,” he revealed. Like this, any artist that signs under his record label has the link to DJ Mass’s huge network of connections, so it comes with the opportunity for international collaborations.
With a career so successful, it was almost unfair of us to ask him what his most memorable gig was, but having made him choose, he did reveal some exciting moments in his career. Having DJ’d for crowds of 50,000 to small parties of 50 people, DJ Mass expressed that sometimes, the smaller, intimate parties are more memorable. At one of his gigs “a VIP guest said ‘hey man, why don’t you come DJ for my party?’ and when I did, I saw Shakira on the dance floor dancing to my music! She was apparently a good friend of that guest and I was blown away”. He offhandedly commented that he has also played for afterparties hosted by Will Smith and Tom Cruise, and a few more renowned celebrities; a fact we found to be quite impressive. Although dubbing these as good experiences, DJ Mass informed us that his most memorable gig would be the time he played back to back with Skrillex. “He’s an awesome DJ and an awesome person. That energy you receive of someone who has made it so big is very memorable.”
When talking about some challenges he faced in his career, he named something very unorthodox; we would never have realised what an obstacle a Sri Lankan passport would be to an artist that plays internationally. “We have a lot of travel restrictions. For example, if I get a gig in the US, I need to apply for a visa and it may get rejected. By the time I reapply and get it, the gig might be over. This isn’t a problem for those with an American or European passport, but for us, it’s a big challenge.” Despite all these challenges, he has still managed to DJ at over 98 countries, adding that it may have been over 200 countries had the passport allowed him to travel freely.
We asked DJ Mass what his opinion on the current music industry is in terms of DJing. “It’s a very sensitive topic. Most of the DJs in Sri Lanka tend to mix two songs together and choose not to explore other options. If you look at an international point of view, DJs are also producers.” Using Calvin Harris, Skrillex, DJ Snake, and a few others as examples, he pointed out that while they are DJs, they are predominantly music-makers who make their own music that gets on the charts and features other artists and vocalists on their tracks that then tops the Billboard charts.
He observed that it is unfortunate that DJs here are still DJing at weddings or are looking for a one-time source of income. “They don’t see the benefits of releasing their music in a way that will help them, in the long run, to become recognised as artists.” This is what inspired him to launch Senter Records. “I want to send a message to DJs and tell them that it’s time to level up. We do have a lot of music producers but unfortunately, a lot of them make underground music instead of hitting the commercial market.” He also explained that in order to reach this market, they need to be putting out Sinhala pop music or EDM tracks, which is what he hopes to do with Senter Records. The record label is predominantly South Asian pop EDM, so he also aims to take Sinhalese, Tamil, Hindi, and Maldivian sounds to an international level.
Letting us in on an exciting new release, he informed us that this is the biggest track he’s ever released. “Until now, I haven’t released anything under my name on Senter Records; I’ve been featured on tracks, but nothing of my own.” He didn’t want to tell us the name and spoil the surprise, but he described this release to be a famous classic Sri Lankan track that he has remixed and will feature Romaine Willis and Apzi.
He also told us that the music video has a fully choreographed routine from start to finish, featuring a trope of talented female dancers, from Sandarangi Perera’s dance group. “When the music video drops, everyone’s going to be like: whoa!” he promised. Giving us some insight into how this collaboration happened, he shared: “Apzi is hands down one of the greatest rappers Sri Lanka has ever produced and being a female, she is empowering the entire community. What she's doing with her rapping skills is insane so I really have mad respect for her.” He added that he had also featured on another track with Romaine Willis which was released recently called My Kinda Heaven. “I love Romaine’s vocals; she’s got good vibes and a lot of positive energy and it’s amazing working with her.”
Sending out a message to the DJs, artists, dancers, and everyone in the arts industry who are going through a tough time due to the Covid-19 situation, he shared: “I just want to tell them to keep inspiring. In a world full of negativity and so many bad things going on, we are the only ones who can spread some happiness, joy, and love. If we stop what we’re doing, it will be gloomy, so despite all the hardship, we must continue what we’re doing. Don’t ever lose your passion.”
Check out his socials on the link below.
LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/officialdjmass