When this writer headed to Virar to meet Krunal Ghorpade at home which also happens to be his studio, better known as DJ Kratex, the first thing that struck us was that DJ-ing was never part of his long-term plan. “I would credit my father for making me a melophile,” says 32-year-old Ghorpade. “He travelled a lot for work and always kept a Walkman handy as music was his only companion during those journeys. I grew up surrounded by audio cassettes and countless albums, which, in hindsight, were probably a little too much,” he laughs.

As our conversation drifts towards the Black Eyed Peas, David Guetta and old-school Marathi music, Ghorpade recalls the moment everything changed. “The first time I saw a proper DJ set was at my college freshers’ party; it was completely alien to me. I couldn’t fathom that this was music. That’s when I was introduced to techno and house music. Around the same time, I watched a David Guetta documentary, and from that day I realised this was something I’d actually like to do. The output would be entirely mine, something I had created from scratch.”