DJ Akash takes a class. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

At 4pm twice a week, a group of students troops into a house in New Alipore. It’s tuition time for them, but text books are nowhere in sight. For, the students are all wannabe disc jockeys, taking private lessons from DJ Harish.

Mixing music at parties is no longer the profession of a whacky few. A large number of young people are pouring into “academies” to learn how to fuse bhangra with pop and lace ballads with foot-tapping rap.

Cashing in on the growing demand, some established DJs are providing private lessons. Fees for a four to six-month course range from Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000. The batches are small to allow students enough time on the console.

“Even kids studying in Class VI approach us for lessons. They are asked to come back after their Class X board exams,” laughs Harish.

“DJing is serious business and all those looking only for fun are eliminated right at the start,” says DJ Akash, who runs an academy on Dr Suresh Sarkar Road. He is planning to open training centres in Dum Dum and on Ballygunge Circular Road.

Applicants have to clear an interview before they are taken in. Those who are just “passionate about music” — the most common explanation for wanting to become a DJ — are shown the door.

“I am usually flooded with queries from schoolchildren, many of them girls. Students from Durgapur, Asansol and Bhubaneswar also want to learn the tricks of the trade. They generally play in private parties till they are 21. There is no dearth of jobs. We even conduct placements at times,” says Akash.

Some, like MBA student Piu Majumdar, are learning to mix music as a hobby. “Some of our students come from the hotel industry or are call centre executives. They want to play DJ at office parties,” adds Akash.

The DJ courses are not just about mixing tracks. They comprise theory and even on-the-job training.

Students have to attend lectures on the history of music, its various genres, experimenting with popular numbers, using the microphone and merging one’s voice with the music. Professionals are enlisted to provide grooming tips.

“Most of the kids know nothing about rock and other serious genres. They just enjoy playing Bollywood hits. We let them experiment,” says Akash.

Are parents more open to their children becoming DJs? “Parents have realised that you need not be a drug addict to be a DJ. The myths around the profession are being broken. This has become another career option for creative kids,” says Harish.