DemesNe(rm)

My name’s Nerm and I do a bunch of stuff with music, events and media. I love making exciting new things happen. 

I started off as a resident DJ at Ministry Of Sound in Birmingham in the late 90’s, was the front man for cult, electro-punk band Charged and was the headline DJ with international club night Swaraj. Touring with Charged and Swaraj took me all over the world and got a lot of media attention.

I founded Shiva Soundsystem in 2000, with musicians joining my DJ sets – evolving into a live band. This then exploded into a sprawling collective with a large warehouse HQ in Hackney that ran hundreds of clubnights, programmed festivals, developed a load of associated artists and a record label.

Personal highlights include having Aphex Twin as “DJ AFX” playing our residency at the legendary club Herbal in Shoreditch and our clubnight “Supersonic Buddha” achieving a notorious status during its extended residency at Brick Lane’s Vibe Bar.
We started heavily touring India annually in 2000 and regularly playing Glastonbury Festival in 2002.

As I was being interviewed a lot by the BBC, it seemed like a natural step to becoming a presenter, starting in 2003 with a one-off special on BBC Radio One. My weekly show on BBC Asian Network Electro East started in 2006 for 4 years, providing a platform for alternative music on the station. I also dipped my toe into the mainstream with a bunch of event hosting, live chairing and TV appearances. 

I was a BBC Radio One DJ for a few years alongside Shiva Soundsystem label mate D-Code, representing the flip-side to Drum and Bass and genre-blurring, with guests like Matt Helders from Arctic Monkeys and exclusives from the Prodigy featuring Dave Grohl. As well as our show, we did a bunch of stand-ins and co-presents with Mary Anne Hobbs, Annie Mac and Zane Lowe.

I then popped up on BBC 6Music, mixing even more diametrically opposed forms of music together, mainly on the 6Mix (alongside fellow residents Groove Armada, Erol Alkan, Andrew Weatherall, Tiga, Ben Watt and guests DJ Shadow and Thom Yorke) and standing in for Gilles Peterson.

I’ve written about culture, media and music for the BBC, Time Out, Rolling Stone, Mixmag, Vice and The Independent. 

I love working with audio and have soundtracked feature films, TV shows, catwalks, art shows and photography exhibitions. I’ve remixed a bunch of well-know artists and produced a solo track or two. They’re usually way more danceable and radio-friendly when I work with D-Code.

I continue to curate, strategise and produce large scale events, programme festivals and oversee campaigns for brands & institutions. I consult for various companies, charities and official bodies. Harnessing the power of corporations to help evolve culture is a passion of mine. I’m deeply into technology and it’s intersection with the arts. 

I advise and help develop a wide range of artists, from the incredibly well known to the nascent. Supporting artists from India in the UK has been something I’ve done instinctively my entire life. Taking international acts to India is also something of a passion. I was part of the 4-person core team responsible for debut tours there by Skrillex, Major Lazer, Goldie, Disclosure & Mala and programming for Viacom’s VH1 Supersonic Festival in it’s first five years.

I was the creative consultant for BUDX with Budweiser and Vice India, a run of festivals, documentary series and trans-continental musical collaboration project across four contemporary genres.

I also throw Dirty Little Parties, just for fun. 

Drop me a line on Instagram or hit me up on the contact page