There was something hauntingly tranquil about watching American DJ Thomas Wesley Pentz, known more popularly as Diplo, play a set to a seemingly inanimate audience. Washed away pebbles, roughly-cut boulders, and the perennial flow of the Ganges River stood in for cheering fans. Amidst the earthy-green and aqua landscape, the pink-haired Diplo stood out instantly. Set against the serene backdrop of the holy city of Rishikesh, the video, which is a part of the DJ’s “Diplo Live Sets” series, amassed over 1.6 million views and also featured DJ Naveen Kumar’s “Pal Pal” remix, which left the Indian audience in a chokehold.
The livestream resists the obvious signifiers of spectacle. No hyper-curated sets, strobe lighting, overcrowded dance floors, or overplayed remixes. Nothing that could give you that instant rush of adrenaline. Instead, it’s an exercise in restraint. Playing with proximity and distance, the video intersperses music with the textural mysticism of Rishikesh. Grooving in solitude to his own transitions and musical cuts, Diplo becomes one with nature. It’s an audio-visual palate cleanser from the overbearing everyday overstimulation that invites you to both fixate and zone out.
For Diplo, this was beyond another “exotic” location. Years ago, a near-death encounter during a visit to the Ganges became a turning point in his life. When the enormity of the river swallowed him whole, it taught him the true meaning of complete and utter surrender. Paying homage to that very incident, the Rishikesh set embodies the true essence of what it means to have a “full circle moment.”
Behind The Making Of A Mammoth Project
Capturing the visual spectacle behind the camera was Cambron Lyles, the lead director and camera operator who’s also Diplo’s long-time collaborator. He understands the DJ’s visual tonality more than anyone else, like a silent accord. Joining him were Delhi-based photographer Kartik Kher, who aided as a camera operator, and Adeeb Raza, a DGCA-certified Drone Pilot.
The process was a meditative, larger-than-life experience for everyone involved. “The concept for the Rishikesh stream started to develop all the way back in 2023,” Lyles told Rolling Stone India. While the idea had been brewing for quite some time, narrowing down on the perfect location took some scouting and a whole lot of patience. Amidst the Cherry Blossom festival in Shillong and Motoverse in Goa, Lyles and Avery, Diplo’s tour manager, were on a quest to find the perfect backdrop. This is also where he was acquainted with Kher for the first time. “Our original idea was to do it in the Beatles Ashram, but there were a lot of permit issues; we couldn’t necessarily get things in order quickly enough to do it there,” Lyles admitted. Wading through logistical bottlenecks, however, they finally landed on the Ganges River in Rishikesh, a fateful encounter.
The set is probably the antithesis of any big-budget music video production. A humble blanket, a bar table, some JBL speakers, and an Alpha Tetha Omnis Duo. Just 4 people on set: Diplo, Raza, Kher, and Lyles. Seasoned players of the game, Lyles and his team had already done their homework. Locations were scouted way in advance. Even the tiniest of details, such as the sunrise and sunset timings, were factored into the making of this mammoth project.
A Cross-Border Collaboration
Kartik Kher recalls the day vividly. A six-hour drive, a 15-minute down-slope hike with tonnes of equipment. A sublime sunset. A two-hour shoot wrapped inside a twelve-hour journey. The real challenge came after, which was getting everything back up. “Watching an artist of Diplo’s scale play in such a setting was surreal, a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” he added. Locals barged into the set, creating moments of unplanned comedy, while rafters floated by in the background, unknowingly becoming part of the livestream.
Recounting the sourcing hassles and makeshift measures, Lyles added how he and Avery had to solve the biggest crisis of all: sourcing speakers. “Since we came from America, we weren’t able to bring normal speakers. I don’t really know a lot of people in India, but I know I wanted to use people who were local. ” Luckily, here’s where Kher came in clutch. Not only did he source two JBL speakers, but he also managed to drive down the other necessary gear (drones, tripods, cameras) all the way from Delhi, along with his team. “Kartik played such a crucial role in helping me out,” Lyles added. Other miscellaneous equipment was also sourced locally via markets in Shillong, India. “Avery and I went into the local market in Shillong. We picked up an RCA to 3.5 millimeter jacks to be able to plug in so that we could hear the music playing and Wes could play the set,” Lyles said.
Overcoming Nature’s Hurdles
Getting to the actual site was no joke either. A vertically steep hike down to the riverside meant dragging nearly 300 pounds of equipment by hand. “The hotel that we were staying at was probably a thousand steps up and down. Adib, Kartik, I, as well as Avery, all had to lug down probably 300 pounds of gear all the way, set it up, and then shoot this live stream.”
Nevertheless, the hotel staff graciously lent them a bar table for the shoot. Even the most humble items on set, such as the ornate Orange blanket thrown over the bar table, which stood in contrast to the azure and grey landscape, heightened the creative direction. “It kind of centers the frame on Diplo playing the set,” Lyles remarked.
Another issue came up after the shoot. Lyles noticed how the video lacked the vibrance of Rishikesh, B-rolls, and all. Once again, Kher and his team went back to shoot some more drone footage. “I couldn’t have asked for a better partner to be able to shoot this with. He saved my life ten times over.”
Going With The Flow
As topsy-turvy as the pre-production hurdles were, the actual shoot was easy-going. As the cameras rolled, local fishermen and rafters showed up in the frame right behind Diplo, completely unbothered by the allure of disrupting an MV shot. Lyles and his team chose to embrace these oddities instead of achieving the “perfect” money shot.
“We didn’t want to tell them to go away because it’s not our place or position to. We wanted it to be natural, that music and life can coincide together.” Not wanting to shake up the natural sanctity of the location, Lyles and his team truly went with the flow: “We wanted to keep the natural beauty and not disrupt anything. Only Wes (Diplo) could hear the music. If you listen to any of our camera microphones, all you can hear is the Ganges running.”
Lyles, who’s worked with Diplo for four years, describes their relationship as that of brothers. “Every single time he pushes me harder, just like a sibling would. He really put a lot of faith in me to be able to organize this team together, get the video edited in time for New Year’s, to get the color grading right, and really show off the beauty of Rishikesh,” he said.
In the end, the future of music lies beyond the stage, in stillness, outside muggy coop-like rooms and tiny boxed screens. Stepping away from hyper-accelerated visual stereotypes and tokenistic symbols of snake charmers, turban-clad men, and bearded saints, India is slowly becoming the most sought-after global backdrop for sonic world-building, not just for homegrown heavyweights like Hanumankind, but also for international renegades like Diplo. Remote. Offline. Onsite. That’s where it’s at.
