We recently connected with Mehul Chowdarapu and have shared our conversation below.

Mehul, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your career and how did you resolve those issues?

As a creative, one aspect of this art I didn’t expect to think about so much was branding. I never realized how important branding was, until I started referencing other well-known artists that I looked up to. It would be very simple for artists to produce what they felt like with no thought given to how it will be received, but this could result in highly variable products that would make it extremely difficult for an intended audience to connect to the artist.

Since I am a DJ and music producer, I didn’t expect to think about smaller details such as clothing, what my image will be, what colorways could best represent the mood of my music, and what visuals would best complement that style. In addition, this also will affect how I portray myself on social media, and how to best showcase my music and talent without sacrificing my personality through the lens of social media.

I first encountered this “roadblock” when I started getting booked to play at the big EDM club in San Diego, NOVA, which was owned by Insomniac. I had a talk with the artist liaison who booked me, and came to understand how branding is able to connect an audience to my music and myself. This is when I started to seriously work on my brand.

Because I am still finding my brand, it is a constant struggle to balance how much to showcase my personality, when to let the music shine, and when to cater towards the larger audiences, whether it be through the lenses of social media or at live shows.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Mehul Chowdarapu, and my artist alias is HUL. HUL is a musical project I started in high school when I was 16/17 and am continuing to refine today. I started off as DJ’ing in middle school and slowly delved into music production in my later years of high school. I fell in love with DJ’ing and the EDM scene in middle school, as I remember watching the EDC Las Vegas livestreams in my bedroom, watching David Guetta, Martin Garrix, and Steve Aoki taking the mainstages. I began DJ’ing using a free DJ software called Virtual DJ on my laptop, and eventually saved up my first paychecks of my first job to pay for a DJ controller. I started playing open format at proms, formals, and other high school parties, but never really got to play any EDM because it just wasn’t mainstream enough, atleast for the crowds I was playing to.

In college, music unfortunately ended up taking a backseat as there weren’t many opportunities to DJ and I had to focus on my career as I wanted to become a doctor. However, halfway through, I was able to pursue a minor in music and that reignited my passion for creating. Soon after, I started to seriously put in the work to refine my sound, properly learn the fundamentals of music production, and be inspired by other music producers around me. Fast forward a couple of years, and I am confidently releasing music now, having signed some songs to music labels, and having played opening slots for major artists.

HUL is influenced heavily by the iconic mainstage EDM sounds of the early 2010’s, and I incorporate these nostalgic feelings to develop my signature sound through groovy basslines and aggressive sounds. I’m a very easygoing and fun guy, so my goal is to bring that same energy to the dancefloor to make sure my fans are having a great time. I am very proud to say that I have been able to perform at the same clubs as the artists that I look up, and get my songs signed to music labels, and this is just the beginning.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

The biggest issue right now with ensuring creative pursuits are not stifled, is financial burden. It is well-known that most artists don’t earn enough to comfortable pursue their artistic career full time. The solution is simple in theory, but definitely not easy to execute. Society itself needs to move away from the trap that is late-stage capitalism, and move towards the idea of a society that doesn’t depend on money to live. Because art is seen as “non-essential”, it’s very hard to afford a livelihood with revenue from the art that is generated by artists. This art made to be consumed and earn profit also deeply influences how art is created, which in turn, influences the culture of the art. I know this answer is very abstract, and there are definitely other policy changes and other legislative measures that can be taken to support artists, but to “best” support artists, this is what society needs to do.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

It was only after I got a minor in music, that I started taking music production seriously, but looking back, I don’t think I needed to take the minor to learn my fundamentals. What I learned in those classes, I could have easily found on YouTube University. YouTube is still, so underrated as a knowledge source because I have learned 90% of what I know about music production from YouTube. If I was to talk to my self from 10 years ago, I would have told him to just start watching YouTube videos about music production and DJ’ing. Even if I didn’t act on the knowledge that I learned from those videos, by process of diffusion, I would have still learned loads of information that I could have used to jumpstart my music career earlier on.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://allmylinks.com/djhul-contact
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hulmusic/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@backtohul
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/djhul
• Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5Ck0PAElUtAVV5BC82ToRl?si=V9d9_9tnR7y1gzQhKnVveg