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the-south-asian.com March 2003 |
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MARCH
2003 Murphy's
Law &
Films Serialisation
of 'Knock at every alien Events
Lehngas - a limited collection Books
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TALVIN SINGH - a hi-tech futuristic package by Rajdeep Datta
Talvin Singh, the London-based musician who introduced the world to Asian sounds in a hi-tech futuristic package, is today counted among the ten best global musicians….
What will music sound like in the 21st Century? Ask Talvin Singh. He lives there already. That’s how a music critic in the UK answered a query about futuristic music. Not surprising considering the fact that London-based Talvin Singh is today in the forefront of world fusion music and counted among the ten best global musicians. Read what the British press had
to say about his 1999 Mercury Prize winning album OK. The Guardian wrote…"A
staggeringly ambitious work recorded across four continents, which fused
Indian classical music with cutting-edge Western dance in a glorious coming
together of ancient and modern." Added The Times "The album OK is
like listening to the present, past and future sound of Asian music." And they were not the only publications. Hundreds of other newspapers and magazines around the world showered glowing tributes to a musician who is unusually media shy. But Talvin Singh, the DJ who introduced the world to Asian sounds in a hi-tech futuristic package, refutes that he ducks the media. " I am not media shy or anything. It is just that I don’t want the interview to be in a hurry. I don’t want my music to be misunderstood. I want to sit patiently and explain all the nuances." But then where does he have the time to sit patiently and answer your queries? Singh is apologetic. "My India visit is often packed with work. I am working with various Indian musicians, and I want to do full justice to them," says the 32 year old musician. Of course, one of his top priorities during all his India visits is to meet his guru, Ustad Laxman Singh of the Punjab gharana. It was under him that Singh learnt the tabla when he was 15. "Though I have been learning since I was five, I came to Jalandhar much later to be initiated," he says. Singh never tires talking about his Guruji. "Strangely all his life he has refused to travel abroad to perform, but now that he is 75 he has been touring with me in the US and Canada. He even sings in these concerts," says the DJ who has gold rings studded on his ears. His guru never complained about his experimenting with electronic sounds, but at the same time he warned, " Never bring western influence to classical Indian music." A philosophy Singh has always lived by. Asian Underground For the uninitiated, Singh is the founder of the sound that came to be famously known as The Asian Underground. His Anokha collective – a compilation of tracks by various Asian DJs – made the western world sit up and listen to the unique brand of sound. But it was his debut solo album OK that established him as the undisputed lord of the genre. " OK was created in the blur of travel --- Okinawa, Kerala, Mumbai, Chennai --- yet it was recorded in London. The album took nine months to make, involving Okinawa and Indian singers and a string section from Chennai. Why was it called 0K? " Because it's the most common word in the world," he says. "You go anywhere in the world and people know what OK is. Music shouldn't have boundaries. That's the way I've always seen music. That’s the reason why Indian classical music is getting to be so popular all over the world!" Growing up in Leytonstone, Singh moved between different worlds: break dancing to Electro with other young Asians, listening to avant garde groups like Secret Affair and The Jam; learning to play tabla within the exclusive, conservative world of Indian classical music. When Britain’s Indian classical promoters rejected him, deriding him as a punk who dared question them, Talvin decided to go his own way. He worked with Courtney Pine, Cleveland Watkiss, Bjork Little Axe, Future Sound of London, Bim Sherman, Sun Ra, finally releasing his own work as Drum + Space which had sounds of the Asian underground. Talvin’s India visits certainly bring him new insights. " This time I discovered that Rave music and techno is really very big in India now. Sometimes I get the feeling Indians know a lot more about western music than westerners. They are somewhat less interested in Indian classical music. That's the way the world is," he shrugs. Asian Underground of course is no longer underground music. "Many hip hop and R & B musicians are listening to my music, enjoying it and incorporating it in theirs. And ever since I have started releasing albums I am totally overground," says the DJ. For those who are unaware, underground music is that which is created by DJs but is never released by any record labels. It can be listened to only in dance clubs. Despite the digital assistance that his music has got, Singh still plays the tabla. But he is now moving to different grounds. "I am doing a lot of narrative work," he says. Which means, he is composing music for films and documentaries. One of his important projects includes Deepa Mehta’s forthcoming film Republic of Love. Would it be typical Talvin Singh that viewers would hear? No, he says, the music is dictated by the film’s storyline: It is a universal love story. "But certainly there will be an element of my style in it." One of the setbacks was his 2002 album Ha. It didn’t do as well as a Talvin Singh work is expected to do. Perhaps too much build-up was created and the expectations had skyrocketed. Though the album sold, most music critics were disappointed. One wrote, "His album OK was fantastic, but Ha is just okay!" The quiet musician promises to live up to the hype his name creates. " Watch out for the master mixer this year and also Deepa Mehta’s film," says Talvin as he gears up for the most momentous year of his life. *****
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