My name’s Nerm. I’m a creative consultant and producer, and I love making exciting new things happen. I’m deeply into technology and its intersection with the arts. I specialise in harnessing the power of organisations to help evolve culture.
Recent Work & Consulting
I curate, strategise, and produce large-scale events, program festivals, and creatively oversee campaigns for major brands and institutions. I consult for various companies, charities, and official bodies, and advise and develop a wide range of artists – from the incredibly well-known to the nascent.
Taking international acts to India and supporting Indian artists in the UK is a lifelong passion. I was part of the four-person core team responsible for the debut Indian tours of Skrillex, Major Lazer, Goldie, Disclosure, and Mala, and spent five years programming for Viacom’s VH1 Supersonic Festival. I served as the head creative consultant for the relaunch of BUDX (a collaboration between Budweiser and Vice in India), delivering a festival run, a documentary series, and transcontinental musical collaborations across four contemporary genres.
Oh, and I still throw “Dirty Little Parties” and step behind the decks for selective curation, like the Daytimers residency finale at the Jazz Cafe or closing out Anoushka Shankar’s Brighton Festival
Broadcasting & Journalism
Before stepping fully into high-level consulting, I spent years as a prominent broadcaster. My journey with the BBC began in 2003 with a BBC Radio 1 special, leading to a four-year run hosting Electro East on the BBC Asian Network, which provided a vital platform for alternative music in the UK and India.
I then became a full BBC Radio 1 DJ alongside my Shiva Soundsystem label mate D-Code. I represented genre-blurring, the flip side of Drum and Bass, and hosted guests like Matt Helders from Arctic Monkeys and broke exclusives from The Prodigy featuring Dave Grohl. Together, we regularly stood in and co-presented alongside Mary Anne Hobbs, Annie Mac, and Zane Lowe. Later, I moved to BBC 6Music, hosting the 6Mix residency alongside Groove Armada, Erol Alkan, Andrew Weatherall, and Tiga, while also standing in for Gilles Peterson.
As a writer, I’ve covered culture, media, and music for Time Out, Rolling Stone, Mixmag, Vice, The Independent, and BBC News. I’ve also presented and appeared on a lot of television, including BBC One, MTV UK, MTV India, E! Entertainment TV and BBC Two.
Audio Production & Shiva Soundsystem
My background is rooted in heavy audio production. I’ve soundtracked feature films, TV shows, catwalks, art shows, and photography exhibitions, as well as remixing well-known artists.
In 2000, I founded Shiva Soundsystem, which evolved from a hybrid live-DJ set into a sprawling collective and record label based out of a massive warehouse HQ in Hackney. We championed early appearances by the likes of Orifice Vulgatron (Foreign Beggars) and Prash Mistry (Engine Earz Experiment), ran hundreds of club nights, and released era-defining tracks and compilations such as Mumbai Cells and India:One. Personal highlights include hosting Aphex Twin at our legendary residency at Herbal in Shoreditch, and our notorious “Supersonic Buddha” night at Brick Lane’s Vibe Bar, which we later brought to the Royal Festival Hall. We started touring India heavily annually in 2000 and regularly playing Glastonbury Festival in 2002.
Where It All Began
I cut my teeth in the late ’90s as a resident DJ at Ministry Of Sound in Birmingham, went on to front the cult electro-punk band Charged, and was the headline DJ for the international club night Swaraj – tours that took me all over the world and ignited my career in the creative industries.
Drop me a line on Instagram or hit me up on the contact page
DemesNe(rm) 
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