Hari Shankar Kishore

Hari Shankar Kishore (b. 1985) is a Danish experimental audio-visual artist, electronic musician, producer, DJ, and sound engineer based in Copenhagen. He founded Kommunal Dubplate Service cutting/mastering studio (active since 2008) and two record labels, Syg Nok (2008–2014) and ULLLU (est. 2022). Working under various aliases, most notably DJ Hvad and Kid Kishore, Hari came to prominence for his idiosyncratic style, radical genre diversity, and brazen creative vision at the intersection of modern situationism and extreme sound art.

In the mid-2000s, Hari Kishore founded his notorious breakcore label Syg Nok, performing extensively solo and in duo with VJ Cancer as Albertslund Terror Korps. Two aspiring musicians befriended Danish/Faroese experimental artist Kristian Vester, best known as Goodiepal, their former teacher at the Danish Institute for Electronic Music (DIEM). They collaborated as Gæoudji Sygnok "band"/art group, participating in "Gentleman's war on the stupidity of modern computer music and media-based art" against the Royal Academy of Music. Inspired by Goodiepal's radical actionism, Hvad held a "social experiment" of his own, changing his MySpace profile name to Trentemøller to pose as a popular mainstream DJ from Denmark; this resulted in bookings at venues where, according to Kishore, he normally "wouldn't even be allowed in," and utter shock and disbelief of gullible event organizers and patrons as they heard Hvad's explosive blend of bhangra and breakcore mashups instead of expected Trentemøller's mellow DJ set.

In 2007, Kishore released his breakthrough track [r=1492260] (which roughly translates to "Paki bass drop") — a hardcore grime electro/hip-hop track with socially-conscious lyrics that were highly relevant amidst political tensions surrounding immigration in Denmark. Hvad eventually gained broader recognition, performing at notable events and stages worldwide, from Berghain and SXSW to Unsound Festival and Roskilde Festival. In 2015, he was nominated for the Nordic Council Music Prize. Three years later, in May–September 2018, Museet For Samtidskunst in Roskilde held an exhibition to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Hvad's career and his Kommunal Dubplate Service. Kishore received a grant from Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen's Foundation in 2021.