We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sarthak Rocky Sahoo, AKA 6FUT7 a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

6FUT7, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

Upon entering college, I wanted to enter the art and design space. I was already invested in drawing, painting, and playing piano, and I wanted to enter my foot into as many doors as possible. Earning a BFA was a big risk, taking into account the economic situation of the world and how hard it is to find work.

After getting into my major after being a premajor for a year, I started to explore different avenues for my creative vision. Pre pandemic, i was creating works of art that reflected political circumstances in south asian countries, as well as reflecting on cultural identity. I explored video, sculpture, digital illustration and collage, and even founded a local streetwear company that screenprints on top of secondhand clothing.

The streetwear brand was a huge risk. While I initially made profit, my company tanked due to not having a sustainable plan, and dealing with issues regarding my business partners.

After all this, I began to venture into the world of sound. My friends started taking me to see underground djs and festivals. and my mind became exposed to a world of creativity and artistic power. While I was completing my degree in UX Design, my weekends were always going ojut to shows, seeing how djs tell a story with sets that had no requests, just well articulated and curated to a certain vibe. I remember thinking that its a need for me to enter this world. Combining the dance floor with screens that offer personalized visuals based on the dj’s liking, i recognized this was a canvas for me to go beyond visual satisfaction, and into raw storytelling and messages.

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.

I’ve been a drawer/painter all my life. In high school, i was in several art competitions and exhibitions where i got the chances to showcase my love for art and drawing to bigger audiences, and even made commission money from my work, never having to pick up a part time because this eventually became a very consistent business. I would constantly get commissions from people asking to do portraits and logos.

In College, I earned my BFA in UX Design, a specialized pathway for entering the world of user research and design for products in tech. During this time, I explored countless mediums, minored in art history, and delved into the world of art at a deep, intrinsic level.

My passion kicked off when I discovered music production. I’ve been playing piano all my life and performed countless times for cultural events and doing my own private shows. But when I discovered what was capable with synthesizers, mixers, MIDI Instruments and a DAW, I felt like sound was a canvas for further exploration. This inspiration to start making music kicked off when i got into the DJ’ing sphere, when i realized that being a DJ can also mean putting on a show to tell a story, tell the story of sound. House and Techno Music inspired me to do so, and the visual opportunities to explore are endless.

The most proud decision i made was transitioning from visual art to music, because now I can spearhead my visual art into storytelling and apply that into my music in the form of shows. But first, I must continue to embark on this journey to keep exploring my sound.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

NFTs can harm artists by promoting environmental damage due to the high energy usage of certain blockchains. The market is oversaturated, making it difficult for emerging artists to get noticed. The focus on financial value and speculation can detract from the artistic merit of the work. There’s also a risk of theft, with unauthorized NFTs being minted from digital art. Additionally, traditional artists may feel excluded if they don’t embrace this new medium.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Simply going out to other shows to support local DJ’s has helped me greatly. It inspires me to find different sounds and explore the world of electronic music further. DJ’s such as Hot Since 82, Keinemusik, Kaytranada, Channel Tres all have sets where they’re sound is largely exploratory

Contact Info:

• Instagram: dj6fut7 and rockysahooart
• Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/2cWAy26weFzFh2dM9

Image Credits

Artist name: Rocky Sahoo