Anjali Hursh

DJ

Fez, Holocene, etc.

As you may have observed, Portland is about the whitest city on the
planet. Happening upon a party hosted by Andaz is like falling through
a rabbit hole—revelers of all races and ages come together on the
dancefloor, sweating to the infectious Indian beats of DJ Anjali and
the Incredible Kid, while outtakes from classic Bollywood films,
spliced together by James Frank, encourage everyone to try freaky new
dance moves. A Portland native, Anjali got her start behind the
turntables seven years ago, spinning her favorite Brit pop, glam, and
’60s French girl pop at house parties. She spent a year in New York,
frequenting Desi parties (Desi is Hindi for “from the country”)
and buying all the Indian music she could get her hands on. Five years
ago she hosted her first Andaz party, spinning Bollywood and Bhangra
music alongside her partner, Stephen Strausbaugh (AKA the Incredible
Kid). Since then the two have been fixtures on the dance circuit,
appearing the last Saturday of every month at Fez Ballroom and at their
Atlas night on the second Saturday of every month at Holocene.
Occasionally you’ll find them elsewhere—like maybe the Knitting
Factory in NYC, where they had a residency for some time, or at
Powell’s Books, where both work a respectable two to four days a
week.

Don’t miss Bollywood Horror V, a Halloween costume contest and
dance party at the Fez on October 27!

Did you grow up listening to Bhangra?

No. I grew up listening to Bollywood.

What’s the difference?

A lot of Indians see Bhangra as being kind of drunken Punjabi music,
whereas Bollywood’s trying to be sophisticated and house-y. Bhangra is
from Punjab, so the Punjabi speakers want to hear that. Hindi speakers
want to hear Bollywood because Bollywood’s sung in Hindi. Bollywood’s
kind of cheesy. Bhangra is a little darker, harder; its producers are
more influenced by hiphop or grime or drum ‘n’ bass.

Are there greatest hits that everyone remembers from being a
teenager, like Madonna or “99 Luftballoons”?

There’s a singer named Alisha from Bombay. She did an album called
Madonna Jabu—“jabu” means magic—and it’s all Madonna
covers in Hindi.

Are there any places to learn Indian dancing? I saw some hot
moves that I’d love to appropriate.

Not really. Sometimes I give lessons at our night. Most of the
Indian dancing classes offered in the Portland area are classical, like
temple dancing.

The dancing is so flirtatious. It seems to follow
a script: innuendo, passion, rejection, and humiliation.

It’s totally flirtatious. People act out the lyrics and everything.
It’s so different from Indian culture where you can’t touch your
partner, you can’t kiss in public. But then these Hindi lyrics are
almost raunchy!