Anish Kumar

Little Miss Dynamite and the Radio 1 boost

A Brenda Lee sample, pitched up and turned into summer house, changed the course for Anish Kumar. In May 2021, Annie Mac chose Little Miss Dynamite as the Hottest Record on BBC Radio 1. He grew up in Washington, in the northeast of England, producing on GarageBand since he was eleven: first copying Eminem beats and, later with Logic, the EDM of Avicii. Lockdown opened him up to disco, northern soul, and uninhibited sampling. From there, a unique language emerged: soulful, intentionally gritty, and designed to light up the dancefloor instantly.

Hindi superhits for the British club

Bollywood Super Hits! (2022) places Hindi film classics—Nazia, Sadhana, Asha, Ananda, Lata—over house and disco grooves. This isn't window-dressing folklore: it is the soundtrack of his British-Indian childhood repositioned in the DJ booth, the wedding hook that the diaspora recognizes instantly. The EP Postcards, on Patta Collective, showcased another display: the piano of Hummingbird, the euphoric punch of Steamroller, and house with echoes of Daft Punk. With Barry Can't Swim, he signed Blackpool Boulevard for Technicolour, the Ninja Tune label; Pete Tong marked it as an Essential New Tune. Four Tet played his music at Glastonbury, Bonobo and Daphni added their support, and Pitchfork highlighted his set of Hindi soundtracks and classic house at the Paris festival afterparty.

From veterinary school to Panorama Bar

While studying Veterinary Medicine at Cambridge—he graduated in 2024—he jumped from Dialled In and Four Tet's all-dayer in Finsbury Park to Primavera Sound, Hideout, and Boomtown. The Guardian chose him as a One to Watch and Crack Magazine commissioned a Sunday Mix. He debuted at Panorama Bar, packed out Village Underground, passed through Printworks and The Warehouse Project, and at Glastonbury 2025 he played back-to-back sets at Crow's Nest, Azaadi, and Greenpeace, plus an improvised b2b with Baalti. In November 2024, BBC Radio 1 premiered his Essential Mix. He has also played at Lost Village, Good Room (New York), and The Lot Radio in Brooklyn.

AK Cuts, Sunday Sessions and four Fridays at Phonox

Based in London, he presents Sunday Sessions every month, and in October 2026 he signs for a four-Friday residency at Phonox with Baalti, Wallace, Dar Disku, and DJ Subaru. The AK Cuts series (2025-2026)—New York house, Indian samples, Italo disco, jazz, and spaghetti westerns—finally unites the producer and the DJ: twenty tracks designed for the dancefloor and a Greatest Hits vinyl. He collaborates with Hagop Tchaparian (Kino) and Baalti (Stunt Doubles). The 2023 mixtape, A Mixtape by Anish Kumar, had already mixed Daft Punk-style house, breakbeats, and gloomy hip hop. Today, he treats the sample as a narrative and the club as a party, without any catalog posturing.