“Portland electronic music luminary DJ Anjali”
Willamette Week 8/27/24
Anjali and The Kid on OPB Music 2/4/2022
DJ Anjali and The Incredible Kid interviewed by DJ Isuru Perera for London’s SOAS Radio 10/14/2021
“One of Portland’s favorite dance nights is making its return. Hosted by stalwart DJs Anjali and the Incredible Kid, Tropitaal mixes club music from India and South America—everything from urban desi to trap and reggaeton.” Willamette Week 8/11/2021
The Incredible Kid interviewed by Garland Pepper Presents 7/7/21
Anjali and The Kid on OPB’s Think Out Loud 5/17/2021
“For seven years now, DJ Anjali & The Kid have been commandeering the Tropitaal Desi-Latino Soundclash to the delight of knowing Portland audiences.” Portland Mercury 5/16/2020
“Known for fusing heart-quaking electronic with bhangra—a genre with roots in the traditional folk music of the northern Indian state of Punjab—and the soundtracks of Bollywood films, DJ Anjali and the Incredible Kid’s dance floor sites are sweaty, glorious chaos.” Portland Mercury 4/18/20
Anjali is the guest speaker at Creative Mornings: Global Theme is Roots 1/31/20
“Their long-standing Andaz party has become legendary” Willamette Week 6/5/19
“DJ Anjali & the Incredible Kid set the Goodfoot floor on fire with a night of Tropitaal, blending the hottest sounds of India and Latin America together into one epic dance party.” Portland Mercury 6/19
DJ Anjali Cover story “Whether it’s the Desi-Latino Soundclash: Tropitaal, the Bhangra Bollywood dance party: ANDAZ, or her annual NYE rager, Anjali is the premier Portland dance DJ.” ElevenPdx 4/8/19
Life of the Party “For nearly 20 years, the musical makings and dance lessons of Gitanjali Hursh, aka DJ Anjali, have brought the rhythms of India and the South Asian diaspora to Portland.” Suite 12/18
“DJ Anjali & The Kid have been a staple of Portland, Oregon’s club scene for almost two decades, creating spaces for DJs and dancers to enjoy an international mélange of music ranging from bhangra to reggaeton.”
Remezcla 12/26/18
DJ Anjali And The 18-Year Party “It’s hard to imagine Portland nightlife without the raucous Bhangra-beat dance parties thrown by DJ Anjali and the Incredible Kid. But as beloved as their events have become, Anjali had an uphill climb, making space for herself in the DJ booth. We talked to her for an October show focusing on women of color in Portland’s music scene. In this expanded interview, Anjali tells about her formative years and how she came to understand what she had to offer as a artist.” State of Wonder, OPB Radio 12/12/18
DJ Anjali and The Kid Bring Diaspora to the Dance Floor East Bay Express 11/7/18
Women of Color in Music
“One of the godmothers of Portland’s club scene, Anjali Hursh, aka DJ Anjali, has been throwing exhilarating Bhangra dance parties with her partner, The Incredible Kid, for more than 15 years. They get booked all over the world, but this is their home base. Years before Portland’s institutions were talking about diversity, equity, and inclusion, Anjali was doing the hard work of creating events, toting her own gear, and bringing the Bollywood sound to a mostly white audience.” State of Wonder, OPB Radio 10/20/18
“After 18 years as a duo, DJ Anjali & the Incredible Kid are a Portland institution. It’s difficult to think of a local dance night with a more lovingly crafted mix of Bollywood, urban desi and Indian dance pop.” Willamette Week 9/19/18
ANDAZ 16th Anniversary Celebration Portland Mercury 7/25/18
“the legendary DJ Anjali” Portland Mercury 1/24/18
Needle Exchange: A Year-End DJ Questionnaire Willamette Week 12/29/17
“One of Portland’s most revered record-spinning duos” Portland Mercury 12/31/17
HOORAY FOR BOLLYWOOD: DANCE PARTY TURNS 15 Portland Tribune 7/19/17
The Amazing Story of How Desi Parties Are Keeping Portland Weird GQ India 5/19/17
Needle Exchange: A DJ Questionaire w Anjali and the Incredible Kid
Willamette Week 9/13/16
“The West Coast’s king and queen of bhangra/global bass/Bollywood dance parties, DJ Anjali and the Incredible Kid.” Portland Mercury 8/17/16
A Conversation with DJ Anjali: Identity, Music, and the Desi Diaspora
Art for Ourselves 7/8/16
“For more than 15 years, DJ Anjali and the Incredible Kid have been an inimitable force in the Portland dance scene.” The Portland DJ/Dance Night Mega List! Portland Mercury 6/22/16
Bollywood Calling A primer in Indian film from DJ Anjali and the Incredible Kid
Willamette Week 1/5/16
Temperate Rain Forest: Tropical Portland Travel Portland 12/15
“Anjali and The Incredible Kid, Portland’s resident top Bollywood and bhangra deejays.” Portland Tribune 3/12/15
“DJ Anjali & the Incredible Kid have been Portland’s leading world music DJs since the turn of the millennium.” Willamette Week 12/31/14
Quick Picks Portland’s Dance Missionary & DJ Anjali The Aerogram 10/2/14
“Portland’s finest purveyors of Bollywood, bhangra and global bass music.” Vortex Music Magazine 10/13/14
“Known for bringing cutting-edge music to virgin ears, they are guaranteed to throw you a good time” Eleven PDX Magazine 12/13
Non Stop Bhangra Highlights Anjali and The Incredible Kid NSB 10/17/13
PDX Pick interviews Anjali and The Kid August, 31st, 2013
Brown Girl of the Month Brown Girl Magazine 6/3/13
U.S. bhangra DJ credits family for allowing her to pursue music Vancouver Desi 5/31/13
DJ Anjali hits Chicago for Memorial Day Weekend Chicago Now 5/21/13
Anjali talks about Portland’s HerHRC & her love for the queer community
PQ Monthly 2/6/13
“Maybe the Portland area’s most well-known deejays.” Aao Na Natch Karen
Portland Tribune 1/26/12
The Duo Celebrate Their 9th Year of ANDAZ This Saturday bePortland 6/29/11
9 years of ANDAZ with DJ Anjali & The Incredible Kid Oregon Music News 6/23/11
“The Portland duo was the must-not-miss Bollywood/bhangra dance party makers of the weekend.” (Sasquatch! Festival 2011) Oregon Music News 5/31/11
“Celebrate our local heroes as they hold down the biggest rock fest in the Northwest” (Sasquatch! Festival 2011) Portland Mercury 5/26/11
Finish the Year Right Portland Mercury 12/30/10
Bhangra music — and dancing — is getting big in Portland The Oregonian 7/31/10
Andaz dance party (interview with Anjali) Portland Examiner 5/13/10
DJ Anjali & The Incredible Kid introduce children to Bhangra music Asian Reporter 3/9/10
Bhangra Bash! The Vanguard 1/13/10
2009 NYE Guide talks to Anjali Portland Mercury 12/29/09
“DJ Anjali and the Incredible Kid sets are one of Portland’s great recurring dance parties.” Willamette Week 12/16/09
ANDAZ: DJ ANJALI, THE INCREDIBLE KID
(Fez Ballroom, 316 SW 11th) Bhangra music made its way from the Punjab region to the rest of the world via Britain’s Indian immigrants about 30 years ago. It was conceived by a culture of people that really really like to dance. As such, it’s nearly impossible to hear the combination of a traditional dhol drum beat and that defining repetitive string hook and not get the fuck down. So enticing is the sound, that Andaz, the monthly bhangra/Bollywood party hosted by DJ Anjali and the Incredible Kid, is celebrating its seventh anniversary—placing it way out front as Portland’s longest-running modern dance night. Part of what has boosted bhangra’s popularity worldwide is that it is perfectly suitable for run-of the-mill ass shaking, with no special routines or costumes required. Those who do want to learn some legit moves can show up early for a bhangra dance lesson complete with a live dhol drummer. Portland Mercury Ava Hegedus Nov. 26th, 2009
Tracks Stars Just Out Cover Story
Dancing Around Bollywood The Asian Reporter 9/22/09
“Portland’s favorite boy/girl DJ pair” The Oregonian 6/19/09
Urban Desi: Resisting Sonic Monoculture Oregon Voice (page 20) Spring 2009
Foreign exchange A world of music awaits adventurous shoppers at ethnic markets
The Oregonian 11/28/08
On Deck XLR8R (page 37) 10/08
25 Most Creative Thinkers Ultimate Northwest Magazine 10/08
Hang the DJ : DJ Anjali Willamette Week 8/22/08
Just in time for the weekend, it’s my favorite Portland bhangra/Bollywood party! Okay, okay, that sounds like faint praise, considering how many bhangra/Bollywood parties there aren’t in this town, but seriously, it’s a super fun time, a great combination of music, dancing and community, all held down by residents Anjali and the Incredible Kid.
The Oregonian Luciana Lopez August 29, 2008
Hang the DJ : The Incredible Kid Willamette Week 4/18/08
Employee of The Week Portland Mercury 10/18/07
All Hail the Mighty Atlas Source Weekly
Geography of Dance Willamette Week 11/8/06
“The pair have been keeping Portland dancing for so long in various incarnations, imagining the local music scene without their bhangra and Bollywood rhythms is unthinkable.” The Oregonian 5/26/06
Our friends at Willie Week enjoyed our food but chided us on our selection of background music. So, we rushed right out to Portland DJ legend Anjali. Tops in spinning at local clubs like The Fez, she custom built a 4 CD set for Vindalho of Bollywood, Electronica, and Bhangra adding the sounds of life to our environs. WW where should we send your bonus CD set? Vindalho’s newsletter April 6th, 2006
First DJ’s Featured on OPB’s Oregon Art Beat 1/26/06
Anjali’s Top Ten Ultra : Arts Portland 9/1/05
Bring your ears & your dancing shoes Portland Tribune 6/10/05
Bhangra heats up like a Bombay day Portland Tribune 3/25/05
BEAT THE DHOL DRUMS
DJ Anjali’s arms reach for the ceiling, hands happily twisting, a dance floor maneuver that “Anju” (to her friends) calls the “screw in the light bulb.” Anju’s taking a break from her own time behind Fez’s upstairs turntables, arms, body and bare feet bouncing and contorting to the double-time Bolly-hop beats of fellow spinner The Incredible Kid (Stephen Strausbaugh). After forming their sonic partnership four years ago and introducing Bhangra and Bollywood into Portland’s house party circuit, Anju and The Kid fired-up Andaz at Fez, playing what Anju calls “the cream of the crop” of Indian crunk and hip-hop. For two years, the pair’s Punjabi- and Hindi-laced, dohl-driven public gig has been grooving-room-only, a feat for a town of nightcrawlers whose fickle feet make theme-nights in clubland turn over at a high rate. (Let two years in clubland equal a decade in daylight time.) “In the first year we definitely had a corps of people,” Anju says, “but now it’s new people all the time, and it’s really not a ‘scene’ at all — people come here to dance!” The draw? “It’s the music,” Anju says. “You don’t have to understand the words, the beats of the dohl, the drum, are so powerful, you can’t help but dance.” This is not the slow sitar-strummed sounds of India’s sonic history. Andaz fills Fez with a variety of noise to move to from the country’s recent past and present, and the aural flow is erratic, surprising and fun — though time-shifts often freeze newbie-groovers midstep. A few simple drum and bass-like dohl-claps can double in a millibeat, and a lingering Hindi or Punjabi vocal speeds into a driving chant (often male, a nice change from typically female-sung house/trance). “I knew the music was amazing and would bring people out,” The Kid says. “The city had nothing like it, and people were tiring of house. Maybe the closest played around was Jungle, which is one of the more recent sounds, but even that dates to the ’90s.” According to Anju, The Kid’s flavor is “more adventuresome,” favoring Canadian, U.S. and British remixed versions of songs from world-popular Bollywood films, mixes created by what The Kid himself calls “bedroom producers.” Per The Kid, Anju “will stick more with the Bhangra producers, and basic Bollywood tracks. I don’t mind playing Indian pop, but she’ll often play more Punjabi and Hindu tracks.” In a nifty twist for future Portland club-lore, the pair is being flown to New York City to play at legendary SoHo club S.O.B.’s Bhangra Basement, this eve of New Year’s Eve, four years and a night from when they first dropped their dohl-driven sound here. “This is amazing,” The Kid says. “This is like the highest honor you can get for DJ’ing this type of music.” Andaz is at 10 p.m. the last Saturday of each month beginning in the Fez Ballroom. Lee Williams Special to The Oregonian December 24, 2004
ANDAZ: DJ Anjali and the Incredible Kid @ Fez Ballroom
Four years ago, DJ Anjali & The Incredible Kid introduced South Asian dance music, with its infectious dhol beats and tumbi melodies, to the Portland club scene. From house parties to Holocene, Lola’s Room to Machineworks and the opening night of PICA’s TBA Fest, DJ Anjali (Anju Hursh) and The Incredible Kid (Stephen Strausbaugh) have been spinning to packed dancefloors ever since. It’s no wonder. Their sets mix Bhangra (with its roots in Punjabi folk music) vintage Bollywood, Indipop and Hip Hop into a hyperanimating dance soundtrack that makes movement compulsory. Saturday marks the second anniversary of their popular last Saturday ANDAZ dance parties at the Fez. These parties regularly sell out. Lisa Radon for Strongweek November 2004
“The DJs responsible for making “bhangra” and “Asian garage” somewhat household words outside Portland’s Desi community” Portland Mercury 1/8/04
DJ ANJALI & THE INCREDIBLE KID
(Nocturnal) DJ Anjali and The Incredible Kid, the DJs responsible for making “bhangra” and “Asian garage” somewhat household words outside Portland’s Desi community, will soon embark on a two-month-long tour of India (hopefully purchasing lots of records for our listening pleasure upon their return). Before they go, there are only a couple more chances to hear their well researched and highly danceable South Asian sounds–a mix of traditional Punjabi vocals and percussion with stellar modern techno/hiphop/garridge etc. JS Portland Mercury January 2004
Punjabi Pulse Portland Tribune 1/17/03
Hunting the Wild Bhangra Willamette Week 6/5/02
THE INCREDIBLE KID & DJ ANJALI
(Blackbird) Now a Tuesday night staple at the Blackbird, DJ Anjali hopes to vitalize Portland’s landscape of Bhangra music lovers. Bhangra is beautiful, rhythmic dance music that had its beginnings in the Northwestern corner of India and quickly became the preferred music of Britain’s Asian population. Apparently, its popularity in America is strong enough for established scenes in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other large US cities, but it is something the Portland metro area hasn’t seen much of until now. In addition, the Incredible Kid will spin his regularly bumpin’, eclectic sets of everything from My Bloody Valentine and the Swirlies to Kool Keith, Grandmaster Flash, and the ever-lovable Miami Booty Bass, to which it is possible to execute a popular dance move called the “Florida Booty Bomb.” JS Portland Mercury November 2001
NEW YEAR’S EVE
THE INCREDIBLE KID AND THE HOUSE PARTY DJ POSSE STARRING DJ ANJALI, DJ PEREGRINE, AND MORE
(Medicine Hat) YES! This just in: The Incredible Kid, known to host some of the most elaborately kickin’ house parties in North Portland, gets his own New Year’s night! A man whose record collection rivals that of only one or two select Everyday Music employees, he’ll bust out a spizzity-spin of breakbeats, then throw on some obscure Latin record (his specialty), and maybe a couple Seana Carmody-era Swirlies tunes to get the blood pumpin’. The majority of New Year’s options were looking pretty pathetic ’til now, but now you’ve got reason to brave the streets, SO HELP ME JESUS! The Incredible Kid and his entourage of sexy-ass DJs are just the mambo-licious booty tickler you need to make 2001 a rump-shakin’ success. JS Portland Mercury December 2000