V.I.V.E.K, born Vivek Sharda, is one of UK bass music's under-the-radar builders. As a producer, DJ, label head, and soundman, he has a mythology that begins in Southall, where he absorbed sound-system culture as a teenager. In this context, Southall is more than a birthplace or London suburb. For a British Indian artist working inside Jamaican-rooted sound-system culture, it was a lived lesson in musical diaspora, where Punjabi, reggae, dub, and UK streetbeats coexisted without categorization into neat, little heritage categories.
He describes Aba Shanti-I and Jah Shaka dances as formative experiences, specifically in how a bassline can be skeletal while the rest of the track moves around it. V.I.V.E.K's music rarely chases the cartoon violence of dubstep's global afterlife. Instead, it works through pressure, negative space, delayed impact, and ritualistic patience. On Saturday, May 16, V.I.V.E.K joins the stacked lineup of deep dub and d&b heavyweights as Black Rhino Radio celebrates its 5th Anniversary at Control Club.
After his production debut, Natural Mystic / Sunshine (On The Edge, 2007), V.I.V.E.K joined the Deep Medi orbit in 2009 with Kulture / Meditation Rock. Though shaped by Mala's meditative bass, V.I.V.E.K's own signature held harder tactility. This would be featured by an extended rollout of releases, Feel It, Pulse, Eyes Down, Soundman / Diablo, and Out Of Reach. His later Against The Tide / Trinity for Tectonic confirmed a parallel alliance with Bristol bass, while his remix of Johnny Osbourne's "Fally Ranking" (Greensleeves, 2011) connected dubstep's low-frequency future to reggae's recorded archive.
The decisive career shift came through SYSTEM. Started in 2012 with friends and family, Sharda has grown frustrated with the weak sound in UK clubs. In response, he built a custom sound system and wheeled it in across London. In September 2015, the SYSTEM crew took it into KOKO for a one-off with Dillinja, Kromestar and Channel One Sound System. In June 2018, The Pickle Factory hosted V.I.V.E.K for a five-hour set with SP:MC and Dego Ranking. Later that year, SYSTEM reached Electric Brixton with a heavyweight bill featuring The Bug with Flowdan, Kode9, D Double E, and DJ Chefal. These would be just the beginnings of the now-legendary nights, smashing together dubstep, grime, dub and reggae across the British capital and beyond.
System Music followed, launching with Asteroids / Over My Head in 2013. The same period produced SYSTM003, known through tracks like "Mantra," "Show Me," "Soundman VIP," and "Asteroids VIP," and later, Square Off. The label also became a platform for other artists, including MANTRA's Schemes and Dreams EP, which links back to the early SYSTEM nights at The Dome.
By the late 2010s, V.I.V.E.K's catalogue began to loosen without losing its centre of gravity. Where Were You / Step FWD on Blacklist, 94' / Namaste on System Music and Different Sound / Galactic on his self-named imprint opened a broader emotional spectrum. Though its bass remained sculptural, the edges softened into groove and dubwise contemplation.
Colours EP in 2022 and Shapes EP in 2023 pushed 140-BPM language toward broken beat, garage, dub techno, ambient texture and melodic phrasing. Its tracklist moves from the Tailored Sound collaboration "Shapes" through "NOIR," "48," "HERE WE ARE", and "HER." U DUB EP, released in January 2024, returned to System Music with "U DUB," "VOICES", and "108," carrying the label's stated desire to push what 140 can sound like. His most recent release is the Reflections EP, released in June 2024 through V.I.V.E.K Music. Its four tracks, "Reflections," "Terminal 6," "i", and "23," continue the recent turn toward a more interior strain of bass music.
V.I.V.E.K's online mixography also clarifies his position. His FABRICLIVE 13th Birthday Mix, around a 2012 Room Two appearance, situates him among King Midas Sound, Mala, Kahn, Pinch, Roska, Goth-Trad, Commodo and his own productions. His Boiler Room mix for Bass Coast's Deep Medi showcase also folds his own productions into selections from Skream, DJ Madd, and Consequence. RA.879 presents the latter chapters of meditative, yet heavy dubstep, dub, and related low-end forms.
V.I.V.E.K's profile extends far beyond the UK and beyond mere online presence, though. His relationship with India's Magnetic Fields, for example, goes back to its early years. In 2024, he appeared in the Fieldlines live collaboration alongside a slew of Rajasthani folk musicians, placing Sharda's sound-system sensibility in direct conversation with local musicians, including Bhanwari Devi, Krishna Kumar, Alser Khan, Kambhra Khan, Kutla Khan, Mahmud Khan and Yusuf Khan.
V.I.V.E.K's career carries the sonically-existential force that records are made for systems, the label feeds the dances, and those dances test the records. It's a circular economy of sound that has made him one of the most trusted figures in bass music.
