Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Speaker A: Hi, guys, once again, welcome to the Vij Call podcast. And as I always say, I do this podcast just to learn more about music and learn more about the music industry, the whole works. And today I've got a guest who's probably got so much experience in music from percussion, from playing with some of the greatest artists ever in from Punjab and beyond, and also one of the greatest studio engineers, producers that our industry has produced, really, and I would say is underrated even, because the amount of talent that my guest has got today is phenomenal. And also his links in the Pongar industry. So I'm really, really excited for this one. So I'm going to let him introduce himself. Buddy. That's so corn, Elsie.
[00:01:00] Speaker B: Okay, I'm Rod. Just so desi, dark child. And I just want to say it's nice being on this podcast, man. Been looking forward to having our little chats and stuff, you know, and finally we're here.
[00:01:13] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, this is the. I'm really excited about this one because I've had a shinpaji on there, right? And he was phenomenal. And tubbsy, they're my two favorite ones at the moment. And yourself, because they were like industry legends. And so, including yourself. So this is another big one for me personally, especially with your experience.
So we'll start off. Just tell me a bit about your.
Well, tell me how your office worked.
[00:01:42] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm good, you know, all blessed, to be honest.
You know, I lost my mom back in 2022 or August, and that took a big impact on me mentally as well. You know, like, stressed me out.
I think losing a parent really hits home. And when that hits home, it gets carried into your music as well, because your emotions and your way of thinking, everything changes, you know? And it changes quite instantly because that's when reality actually hits home. When you actually lose a mother or a father.
[00:02:20] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:02:21] Speaker B: In fact, any member close to you, you know, your family, when you start seeing them, like your older generation disappearing from this earth and going to the next chapter, it actually is a wake up call, man. And I really just sort of started to get my emotions back in track to continue. Hence why alcohol volume one is already out there, and alcohol volume two isn't released yet due to all the stress and anxiety and all the build up and all the stuff I've been going through. Emotions.
It's held the album back quite a lot, and I'll go back to it, and it gives me emotions again because legendary Omasingh Litura, who's actually on Vogue one and on Vogue, two.
He's no longer with us either. He died just before my mum. He passed away, sadly, with a heart attack outside the hospital as well. They rushed him, he got to the hospital, died outside the hospital, saying, you know, life is what it is. You know, you just gotta make the best of every day. You know?
[00:03:40] Speaker A: I don't think you ever recover from, from a parent passing. You. You never, you'll never be the same.
[00:03:45] Speaker B: I think a parent passing is one of the biggest loss on earth that any human being could face. I mean, I don't want to go too political, but if we look at Palestine, right, and look what's going on there, and parents are losing their children, I can't even imagine what they're going through. You know, I'm sorry for the. What they're going through, but I don't care about religion. Cast who you are, what your background is, but that kind of loss, I don't know how these people are coping with it because me losing my mom here in the UK, on genuine medical terms, is being difficult to cope with. But losing someone instantly, I can't even imagine it. No, to be honest.
[00:04:30] Speaker A: No, absolutely. Yeah. And I've actually seen, like, I follow you on social media and stuff in the past few years, I have seen a change in yourself as well. Um, and I think it's been, um. It's not a negative change, but I've seen you just, just, uh. I see a lot of positivity come out from yourself, bro. You know, in your social media, in your. In your lives and stuff.
[00:04:54] Speaker B: And, you know, when people, you know, people know me, that know me. Right. Um, I'm not a negative person anyway. No, in reality, yeah, regardless of social media, what I post and what I don't post is anything I post. I'll try and post the truth and how I feel. Now, a lot of people look on curry and they want to go to the toilet.
They're either a part of what I've said or it's not aimed at anyone specifically, if you notice. Yeah, but either General Bandana Kitaya Kisanu Karabja Kisana altar, Dalin Kitiya Kisana Toka Kitaya, then that will. That will hurt them and then they will make that into something is not. And it's. I've never, ever gone on my social media, mention someone's name unless they've got across my path in that manner. And I wish everyone well, there's plenty of room in the industry. You've just got to keep at it and show your determination and dedication. If you could show that in the industry, I think that speaks in volumes. And I've done that. I've worn the t shirt and done it, you know, and like yourself, I mean, you know, the struggles in the industry.
Whatever boat you're in, I'm in the same boat. So we're all.
So whatever our goods are, whatever gift cards give us is what, how you deal with it. My, mine is straightforward. No b's. Talk straight to the point. Keep it clean.
Simple as.
[00:06:52] Speaker A: So I wanted to start off, just tell me a bit about your background. Which. Which area you were you born in? I'm assuming you were born in Birmingham.
[00:07:00] Speaker B: I'm Coventry. Like pure Coventry.
[00:07:03] Speaker A: I don't know why I thought you were Birmingham, bro.
[00:07:05] Speaker B: No, no.
So, you know, when we. When my dad initially came to the UK to work, he was in Wolverhampton initially where it started. And my born a breading country man. Proud of it as well. Absolutely.
[00:07:52] Speaker A: Yeah. You don't work far from Coventry. I work in Warwick, so just down the road from there.
[00:07:57] Speaker B: Oh, you literally around the corner then. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:08:00] Speaker A: So if we have, like, any staff dues or stuff on it, we normally go to Cobb. We had a kick in there. You know, one of those panic rooms.
Oh, yeah, when they need panic rooms or you got a room and you have to solve the puzzles in there with your team and stuff. Yeah, we had one of those. There's one in Cobb got. It's called now. But we was there a few months back. So then we went to. And they got a Rhodesio there as well.
Rhodesia.
[00:08:26] Speaker B: Sorry?
[00:08:27] Speaker A: Rhodesia. Rico.
[00:08:29] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:08:30] Speaker A: The meat place. So they've got that there as. Also. I. We went there as well. For work, too. Yeah. Coff's good. Got some good memories in Cov.
[00:08:39] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:39] Speaker A: So, uh, tell me a bit about your background, about you growing up in Cobb.
[00:08:46] Speaker B: Well, like I said, my background started from my mummy, who were in Wolfhampton and my uncles used to sing.
And then on my dad's side of the family, we got Devrajas, who's a known lyrics. Tombi el Goye, you know, bad boy. Even. Even before he was known in the UK. I've got recordings. You know, the small quarter inch reel to reels, the piranha tapes.
[00:09:15] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:09:16] Speaker B: Recordings like my dad's kept. And, um, uh, you know, bless him, he's passed them down to us now. And I. I was listening to a couple earlier, a few months ago with my brother and, um, them recordings of when Dev Raj used to sing with his, um. Because he used to be ex military guy and he used to sing and they used to have a little jam every time my daddy go to the bend, they'd get the budget. His brother played dorky, you know, the instruments galore, like, you know, and it's good to know that kind of background. And so that side of it, on my dad's side of the family, that's always been there, then my mom may have encouraged it in the UK towards my brother and myself, where I didn't actually learn, you know, like, I didn't actually learn. I was there, like, people in Tom, I used to look in the keyhole in the front room while they're having a drinking, and my mom was smacking the door key up proper. And I used to love it, and they'd be singing qualities and so on, so on, you know, pongarao songs. They take care of me. Okay. And I'll be, I'll be listening and my dad will be clapping. Just, you know. A standard Saturday in my household was Monday. Coming down on a Saturday for about 1130. Charles Moses Pogore, smelling the whole street out. And, you know, you know, I lived in Hillfields and Saleh, they got it la go la Giza, you know what I mean? Yeah. And you can smell one of the cooking in the garden. And the kids will be. Us lot will be playing, you know, football in the back and, you know, on tricycles and all sorts of money. It was crazy life, you know, it's.
[00:10:57] Speaker A: Gone now, isn't it?
[00:10:58] Speaker B: That's, you know, like the phone business anymore. It brings about too many memories off the good times, you know, what we had. And then you got kids are stuck to it, you know, like, that's not life, is it? You got to go out there and experience making a go kart out of wood and all that, you know, and we did all of that. That was sort of like, I bring in gnali music and, you know, my mama leave is. Do you remember the Banksy's bitter at all? Like the big beer barrels? Yeah, yeah, it used to be big.
[00:11:32] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:33] Speaker B: At least about a foot and a half. Yeah, yeah, it did.
And they were like a dorky size, a medium.
[00:11:43] Speaker A: Yes, yes.
[00:11:43] Speaker B: And, um, like when my mama never bought his torquey down, he'd be jamming, just, you know, doing a shella thing, but the sound was pretty decent. And, um, I don't know how he done it. He used to, like, play, and then my brother used to sit there because he was the older one and we weren't allowed near the old alcohol when the old men used to drink it, so to speak. And my brother was the only one that was allowed in there, so it was like a private session. And then my mom would be like, you know, teaching him a few little moves there and there. And.
Yeah, it was crazy times, man. And I sort of remember them times because I picked up quite a lot on them times as well, you know. And we had.
We had, like, other people, members like Bachata, he lived across the road, and his brother in laws, my chatay chatte that lived around the area, they'd come down. You know, we, as a Jaso family, we got quite a lot of.
Quite a lot of talent within the family. He's not much. He's very close with the Huntsville dance, and he was the first one to bring him into the UK.
[00:12:56] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:12:56] Speaker B: Back in the days. Yeah. The first eighties era, it was my chatter that brought him into the UK. Yeah. He was just Paul Jasul. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:13:05] Speaker A: And he was. Hans Jones was like, one of the number one.
[00:13:08] Speaker B: He wasn't known. He wasn't known at the time he was getting up there.
That's what I'm talking about.
[00:13:15] Speaker A: When his first album came out, he.
[00:13:18] Speaker B: Had his first album come out when he went back to India with the white cover.
[00:13:24] Speaker A: Was his first album Jogi or the Kanovic, or was that his second?
[00:13:28] Speaker B: I can't remember. I think. I think it was his first yogi and the Kanaka. But there was one particular song I remember it was that it was something like that. And I remember that song because I had the opportunity to play with.
From a very small age. I was only about eight, nine years of age, and my first experience was with Hans Raj uncle Deep Marnik. But Hans Raj wasn't nothing major, because what he was. He wasn't known as what he's known as today. You know what I mean? So, yeah, I've had some major, major proud moments where I'll be playing and people have picked me up off the donkey and start dancing, and there'll be a whole percussion section missing while the guys are singing, and they'll be like.
You know what I mean? And it'd be like, funny. Pick me up and start dancing, and I'd be like, great. Okay. But I'm getting a few quid for this. It was fun, you know, there were fun times, Mandy. Good memories. Fun times. Yeah, man.
[00:14:38] Speaker A: So.
[00:14:39] Speaker B: I love it.
[00:14:40] Speaker A: How did you. How did your mamaji start.
Learn to look?
[00:14:45] Speaker B: My mama actually learned from a guy, a pakistani guy, I can't remember his name. That's like, you're going back really deep into. And it will need a different time for that, that story, because I'd have to research that myself. Like, you know how my mom was, like, busted his hands on them levels. But what was.
To be quite honest, my mama wasn't the best, best percussionist, but he just had a few connects and he started playing, and when he started playing, he got into it that much that he started picking up techniques from the pakistani ustad he had. And, yeah, then they started a few bands, local Pongara bands. My mama's last band, the last, last band was Chandagru in Wolverhampton, but he was with the new style. New style group. I don't know whether you remember it.
[00:15:43] Speaker A: No, I don't remember new stuff. Remember Orient?
[00:15:45] Speaker B: There's a guy called Bakshi's Jamal.
He was a part of the band and my mama knew that singer and he. You know what it was?
The gigs were more important than rehearsals. Does that make sense?
[00:16:04] Speaker A: Absolutely. Yeah.
[00:16:05] Speaker B: Back in them days, it was like four mics, off you go, Bob's your uncle.
Straight raw folk, you get me? And, you know, like, it was in songs that anari sang. Heini, mirrorless, cardi, hunger. Them songs were wedding mangas, you know, I mean, back in them days, um, today's market, you got a big selection on what you want to play or what you want to sing. So, you know, it's a bigger. It's a totally different industry now. Yeah, yeah.
[00:16:44] Speaker A: To be fair, like any parties, I go, right, like, the same. Got the same songs. Like the delusional scar diag is still played at the end.
[00:16:53] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, like I said, I remember. See, now, this is what I'm talking about when we talk about songs. I've done a quality in my alcohol album and it's called Painkiller. And basically that quality, I made it so that we could play that at the end of a gig. Like they used to play nitik among us or.
[00:17:17] Speaker A: Yes, yes.
[00:17:18] Speaker B: Also.
[00:17:19] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:17:21] Speaker B: And people dance to it.
[00:17:22] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:24] Speaker B: If you listen to Gurdas was original. Shalah is. Is sung with depth and it sung with a bit of motion.
[00:17:31] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:17:32] Speaker B: And people get up and start dancing to shalom.
[00:17:35] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:35] Speaker B: So where do you draw the line with Bhagara? You know, where do you go? Where don't you go dance people?
[00:17:44] Speaker A: And those songs are always played at the end of Sajana. That's not a fungal song, but it's played at every. It was played at every party.
[00:17:52] Speaker B: That's right, yeah. And even that song, people start, you know, they've got the glossy in their hand and they're on there with the lads on the dance floor. You know, it's like an anthem now in it. So you know, them kind of songs always going to get played and they're evergreen songs. Um, at the same time, we got to move forward with the times as well, you know. I mean, what do you think was.
[00:18:14] Speaker A: Different about those particular songs? Like the songs you've just mentioned? Because, like, you don't get that same nostalgic feel with any. Either that or I'm getting old, you know.
[00:18:26] Speaker B: You know, we have a very strong heritage. Punjabi culture is a very strong heritage of family life as well. And with the family life. Yeah. It was bringing back a few home truths.
Satyagallah. Yeah.
It doesn't hide anything. So that kind of. I'm using that as an example is with Sajana, sha'allah, all of these things people related to personally.
And that's the same with the Hira, the opera, singhit people related. It had a community feel in the language that was used in the punjabi lyrics that was used. Yeah. Not the language. Sorry. It was more. So the lyrics that were used, everyone could mingle in.
[00:19:23] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:19:25] Speaker B: You know, everyone took apart from that song.
Everyone could act apart. It was easily done. Nowadays you can't even act a part. You could only sing and make a proxy reel and try and get lights and shares.
[00:19:39] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:19:40] Speaker B: You know, it's a totally different market.
Them days were family oriented songs, family oriented days. And even a man drinking with cushy could play a gummy song and he'll still feel a bit cushy.
[00:19:56] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:19:56] Speaker B: Because it's all related to upper Kitoya kit.
So, you know, there was a lot of prospects.
[00:20:05] Speaker A: Yeah. And India's changed so much. Like, that was a snapshot of when we were young. But if you go India now, they. Their Punjabi is totally different to us. Like, when you and I speaking, you know.
[00:20:15] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:20:16] Speaker A: It's. We've almost got a snapshot of. Of 70.
Yeah. Whereas if you go India swag art.
[00:20:25] Speaker B: We tend to put a bit of a slang in our Punjabi. And as Kerry said. No, he loves. And he say, nicole, there you get me and open yabi ball. They make sure they're on 100% to the point. It's like our English is probably better than a lot of countries and a lot of places. But that doesn't make us gory, does it?
[00:20:45] Speaker A: No.
[00:20:45] Speaker B: You know what I'm saying? Yeah. So, you know, we use the words, like, in it, that kind of thing.
Hello? So. And they've got their slang, you know.
You know, when I sat with Monic, he said one thing to me years ago, many, many times he said it. Sorry. Like, many, many years ago, he said it to me, and I was still a kid. He goes, you don't have to learn Punjabi to speak Punjabi really well.
He said, you just got to know how to speak Punjabi. Next minute, I turned around, we're at KFC. All guy like, I don't appear. He goes, oh, hey, you know this guy back in the eighties, bro, you get me. So, um, you know, I carry. I carry a lot of memories, you know, and I carry a lot of regrets, you know, it's like, only if I had that. Only if I could do this.
You can't turn the clock back. And I'll say this to everyone, whatever you're gonna do, just get up and do it, man. You know, I mean, yeah. Good or bad, just get up and do it one day. You're correcting?
[00:22:05] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. So how did you start learning to look?
[00:22:09] Speaker B: I didn't. Like I said, I used to just sneak around in the front room when my mommy used to play, and I just used to listen. And then my dad had a vinyl record player. I don't know whether you remember Ferguson, the company Ferguson. We had a.
It was a record player, a slim one with two speakers. And it had the record player and it. Cassette player on one side, all in one unit. And the radio was on the front fascia. So my dad, he used to. He used to blast that every now and again. We had the coffin one as well. We had the coffin record player as well. The one that was like a coffin with two speakers built in. We had one of them, I think. I think me or my brother broke it. I can't remember playing football inside the house. But yes, my dad used to play all the old songs, like Khalifa Legi, 1971, the record from 1971, the original record, the small vinyl. And I've got that here with me. I listen to that still to this day. And it's such a classic record. And it's very loose music as well. It's real, you know what I mean? It's actually like it's recorded in real time, off stage or something like that, the way it sounds. So, you know, I grew up playing donkey to that first. I only knew one. One child. That was it.
[00:23:47] Speaker A: You know, like, if you. You got told, did you watch your, uh, Mamaji playing or, you know, you like if I pick up a look, I'm not a percussionist. And I would think, okay, you know.
[00:23:57] Speaker B: When I got confident, yeah, was my dad kicked me up there, but yeah. And how I got confident was my daughter. When my dad was coming back from work in Hillfields, there was a meat shop, a butchers, and that butcher, I forgot his name. Now, he's a lovely guy, he's well known to in the asian community, in punjabi community, Punjabiyatla. And my dad was coming from work and I think the buses got delayed or something. And he used to work on the other side of country, right? And that's near the country airport. He used to work in a factory called mother's pride. So he used to get a bus from there into the town centre, from the town centre back home into oilfields. So what happened? That bus got delayed or some, something happened, I can't remember. And I was just like seven, eight years old and that bus got delayed and my dad started walking by foot back home into whole fields as he's walking. It was a Saturday, it was about like one half, one time. And normally my dad would grab some meat on the way home or, you know, stop off at the bus. However, anyway, he, he walked into the butcher and the butcher started talking and he goes, oh, me, Kosingara paramunde Labade musician and then my dad goes, well, you know, my oldest son's already in a band, which he was with, and he goes, my other lad, he's trying to play, if you want to try him, I'll bring him to one of your rehearsals, you know, he goes to the butcher guy, the butcher guys, um, das TK. Yeah, that was what they called my dad, das in it. His name was Ram Das and everyone used to call him Das. So he goes, dust.
My dad goes off, pick him up, I'll be ready with him because I was underage and my dad didn't let me go on my own, which is quite a blessing. So, um, we've, we've gone to this rehearsal, right, and there's a vaja player, he stunk off this oil that they use in India. That's all I remember. He stonk bro. You know, when he walked in, all I could smell was his oil. I think it was mustard oil.
I'm not lying, I didn't even know what it was back then. And my dad's like looking at me, I'm looking at my dad, and then suddenly the skinny guy walks in with a big turban, massive turban, yeah, skinny guy for a couple of years yet, bless him. He walked in and he goes, and he. And he put his hand on my shoulder and he really squeezed my shoulder. I was like, man, what are you doing? You know, I'm an english guy at this stage, I'm a bored of minded guy. I don't know about this bendu, you know, touching and all this. Yeah.
And he was a strong guy, the skinny guy. And when he did that next, but he pulls out this one string instrument. Didn't even know what that was then.
[00:27:13] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:27:15] Speaker B: And he started tuning it up to the guy with the vajae, the mustard guy. I'll call him the mustard guy now. Yeah.
He started tuning the thumby to the mustard guy and off they went. I didn't have a clue where to start. I didn't have a clue. Then he goes, that's how he spoke to me. Broken punjabi. And I understood straight. Okay. Everything was okay. Ggd. Yeah. I was a polite lad, you know what I mean, back in them days. And, uh, well, I was only a kid, so, you know, my mom would have given me manners like that, you know what I mean? So anyway, he's tuned up this instrument and I pulled out my bongos. I didn't have a dolkie. He thought, I'm gonna have a dolkie. I pulled out these bongos which were tuned up like a donkey. Yeah, the base was really heavy. The top end was like a double out. Like plastic double. Our skin yellow, proper ringing. And he goes, this is all I got. Also, tomorrow my dad goes, my dad was more like, you know, with the butcher guy they were having and driving under the table. You get me? So my dad goes, don't worry, don't worry.
And behold, I did not know this guy's famous.
He was already famous in India. And I tell you, he is now Monuma stunner.
[00:28:55] Speaker A: Okay. Wow.
[00:28:56] Speaker B: And he sang the song Jogi and they can never Kataniya Mundara. Right? And then he sang, it was a lp done by with the female singer. I can't even remember their names. And if you look him up on YouTube. More mustang now hits. Just what? More Mustang now hits. All his songs come up and check this out. The muscle boy started playing. The tombie was all in key. Off we went. He started singing his opening song.
Like I said, I didn't know where to start, where to begin. So anyway, I just blended in. And when I started playing, the guy couldn't believe what he was hearing.
He thought, he's in heaven at that stage. Because the precaution is they had really knew one Torah, a couple of straight slammers. I was only eight, nine years of age. I've actually posted a picture of the punjabi paper in Coventry that advertised that show. And I'm sitting like a little kid on a massive donkey. That was the muster guy. They bought their instruments, their vodges on that, because you couldn't get that. Yeah, right. So, um, the Tolkien player they had, they sacked him off and they put me on a historically. And next minute I'm in the papers. Like I'm performing with this guy for 3 hours, mate. Mom, I don't know how I survived. I can't even tell you whether it was just the hype or I had too much Coca cola. I don't know, mate. You know, I did them shows and we didn't do one shows, we did thousands. I'm not even gonna lie. Show after show, you know, I was wagging school.
I had my teachers, they listened. I was skipping school, man, to do these gigs.
[00:30:43] Speaker A: Wow, man.
[00:30:44] Speaker B: You know, my dad even told me to calm me down, like, you know, don't go. Tell them. I'll tell him not to go. I'll go. No, dad. You give your word. Let's get it done. He's not here for that long. He's only here for another. A couple of weeks. Let's just get them done. And then I found out afterwards, he stayed here six months. And I regretted it. I regretted it as well, you know what I mean? And then, uh.
That was one story. And then I got the marnic one where I didn't even know who Marnick was either.
[00:31:11] Speaker A: So how old were you there when you did the, um. Uh. The first experience with. With moon Mustanna mourn Mustanga, brah.
[00:31:20] Speaker B: I was only about seven, eight years old. I was a little bit younger with Monica. I was only about seven, eight years old. If that. Look at the picture. If you've seen it.
[00:31:29] Speaker A: That's crazy. I think I've seen a different picture then I've seen one when you're a teenager.
[00:31:34] Speaker B: No, the teenager ones were later, you know.
[00:31:37] Speaker A: Yeah, I haven't seen the other one. I've seen your teenager one.
[00:31:39] Speaker B: But you know, this picture. Yeah, I had a lot of messages, bro. Is that you? Is that you? Yeah, that's me. And I don't even feel embarrassed about it, you know, I mean, because it was enjoyable. It was great. And the thing was, right, I gained a lot of stamina. You know, people say rehearsal makes you better. It was that kind of thing going on. And, you know, I learned a lot about runs. I learned a lot about singers. I learned a lot about tuning.
You know, you bounce off one another in a band. That's how it was. So they were teaching me a lot of techniques. He was teaching me a lot of pendul stuff back then. And by the time Marnick reached a landed air in the eighties, he was in the comic pub. Like I said, in my other stories, memorabilia and stuff, you know. And even that situation was like, I didn't know much about the folk music. I didn't even know who monic was.
You know, he was already a superhero. Like, you know, he was already Superman in front of me. But I didn't know that because I wasn't following that music.
[00:32:55] Speaker A: What were you listening to at that time, bro?
[00:32:58] Speaker B: Reggae, hip hop. Uh, they're the only two genres I could, like, top of my head, I could remember. Um, the rave music came in then, like, uh, we had a bit of funk and soul. Didn't know much about them, elements of music. But then I started in a school steel band in the senior school. I started in the school steel band and we had the opportunity to play along with phase one. And I was given the opportunity to play with Philip in phase one. And, uh, basically I've done like, full congo tumbala percussion, full set. And one of the lads that filled in for one of their drummers, Michael, he's still on my facebook and he was the drummer. And I used to play the bongos and congos and stuff like that. And, yeah, it was quite enjoyable because, again, there was nothing rehearsed. It was just jam along. And then that jam along became semi permanent and then we'd use that element and carry on. So, yeah, that was, like, amazing, like, you know, to have them kind of opportunities, you know. We played at the symphony hall. That was the first time I ever played there when I was a kid. And unfortunately, I don't have no pictures, so you're gonna have to take my word on it because I remember it. And it was a still band competition and I was with Sydney Schwinger School. I was in their bandaid. And the time we had was amazing. Unbelievable.
Yeah, amazing times. And teachers in music, there weren't like graded music teachers. They were like freelance teachers, if you get what I mean. The half of them were. Half of them had their own little local bands and stuff like that.
[00:34:56] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:34:58] Speaker B: Then I started learning a little about the drums.
I had a few major lessons in my senior school on drums and it just got bigger and bigger from them.
[00:35:09] Speaker A: That's great.
[00:35:10] Speaker B: So, you know, thanks to none of the drummers that I'm seeing in the Bhangra bands nowadays, they're just playing. They're just playing happy drums. I call over, like, it's not real grooming, if you ask me.
Half of these beats these guys are playing, you could play with one hand, you know what I mean? Now, I'm being straight with you, bro, and no offense, like I said to no one, but if people are happy with that, if people are happy paying a drummer 200 pound or whatever their fees are to just play a simple 16 or a full four beat, then that's fair enough. But to me, it's not appealing. You know what I mean? If you're a groomer and you're sitting behind a pearl export or, you know, a master's kit that's made for you to drum with and it's to do with professionalism, then you should play that professionally and you should take your teachings on stage with you to be a professional.
[00:36:07] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:36:07] Speaker B: Otherwise, what's the point? Your teachings.
[00:36:11] Speaker A: So if you go back to the Kaldeep monarch story, you were saying, so how did you meet Kuldeep monarch?
[00:36:17] Speaker B: So, bro, my dad was working in an indian factory back before, and there was a jamming. It was a Saturday, Christmas Eve kind of thing. I can't even remember what exactly what it was. And Monica was coming, and my dad was so excited, he goes, oh, man, it's coming. Anyway, he went to the factory, but they didn't do a jam sing song there. So they all ended up in this pub, a local little street in between houses is a pub.
It was called the bricklayers arms.
And they. From the factory, they shut the factory and they moved over to the pub.
So they used to do like, a few curries or whatever, and we rendered up in this pub, like, my dad's phone, me. And he goes to ready Ola shatter Pentapuni manuka metal chakala. Guys. I'm like, what for? He goes up, whatever you can grab. All get hold of it. I said, why? He goes, he didn't tell me who? What? And I've been jumping at home on these records, you know what I mean? So I was familiar with the voice, but not familiar with any names or anything because I didn't take note of it. My dad had put the vinyls on. We weren't allowed to. To touch the vinyls in case we smash them or crack them, you know, I mean, so, you know, my dad had a strict rule like that. And because I think a couple of them were my mama's albums as well, you know what I mean? So anyway, don't forget there was a lot of sharing back in them days as well, between households. Yeah. Especially music. Right. Um. So I'm at home, my mom's picked up the phone. Next minute she's running around getting me ready. I'm only a kid, a bit lazy, playing with my cars and my stuff. And next minute I'm doing this gig on a Saturday at 09:00 in a pub with some crazy singer. And I'm looking at him, I'm thinking, where's your instruments? He pulls up the tumbi again.
Little bit familiar with what it was at that time, a little bit. Not a great deal, because I never. I never touched the instrument, you know, never, never, ever hunted anyone else's instrument. And it was my dad, maybe he was a bit of a.
He'd have anxiety over the fact that don't break someone's instrument, you know, he was one of them. Yeah, but where do I start? If you break in, what do I do? So anyway, Marik, singing duty road, all of that money going crazy, loads of money. You're flying around, pound notes, the old, you know, british pound notes flying everywhere. And I'm thinking, boy, this is great. All I'm seeing is money getting thrown at me. And I'm sitting on this snooker table, bro. They put flyboard on these two tables, snooker table thing, and made him into a stage. I'm sitting on the floor with just some bongos, no mics.
And Mario just singing it out, like, raw singing out. No mics. No mics on the percussion, no mics on the tumbi. And next minute, when he. When he sang duty road and the money was getting thrown, that's when I realized who he was. And then my dad's like all that, you know, my dad's having his beer with his mates and he's like, all this to me and I'm thinking, boy, you know, I'm going to be famous after this. And then, you know, the struggles carry on after that sort of thing.
[00:39:58] Speaker A: Absolutely. You know, one thing that I've got to say, your dad sounds absolutely amazing.
[00:40:02] Speaker B: My dad was into music, so he sounds phenomenal.
I'm telling you now, a lot of fathers in dead days were discouraging children to get music. My dad was pushing us all the time.
[00:40:14] Speaker A: He sounds amazing.
[00:40:15] Speaker B: My mom as well. My mom. My mum was like, and, you know, any earnings we got, any money or anything, we got. My dad never used to say, oh, give it me or my mom. My mom would actually say, oh, stick it somewhere safe, you know, that kind of thing. So that kind of thing stuck with us. And like, you know, eventually I didn't see music being my first subject in my life, if that makes sense, because I was into the motor trade as well. I was a car fanatic, you know. So I've done all the mechanical side, all the bodywork side, you know, as I got older. Older, I set up a couple of my own businesses.
One didn't work, one did work as you do. And then I, as I got older, I wanted to lay off the painting and stuff because there was a lot of problems with paints and stuff like that, you know, breathing it. Yeah, materials was quite bad. So then they changed it to, from cellulose paint, they put it to two pack paint which is, you know, more quality and lasts longer.
[00:41:28] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:41:28] Speaker B: And a bit more sturdy on the vehicle. So all of that kind of stuff, I've done it, you know, right up to, like, I'd say late nineties. I was painting cars and some I was doing from the back of my garage where my mum and dad's place was, some I was doing from my own place, somewhat had a shared unit with a couple of guys. So, you know, my hustle continued, man. And then suddenly one day I had another wake up call. You know when you just have a dream and you want to follow that dream through? And I wouldn't even say it was a dream, it was reality for me because music's always been real.
A singer came and my brother was in contact with him and we were already gigging and so was my brother. And he came in a factory by Sola, the famous lyrics and his name's Deepa. They called him Deepa in them days. He came and he wanted to start a band. So my brother joined a few times and then I, I said to myself, you know what, I'm going to join as well. I'm going to join my brother on this one.
And Deepak came into Coventry and we tried setting up a band but musicians were scared. In them days there weren't many musicians.
[00:42:53] Speaker A: When was this time? Nineties.
[00:42:56] Speaker B: This is nineties? Yeah. And Dipa came, he came towards the end of eighties, going into the nineties, like 91, Deepak came, we tried setting up a band and then Dipa moved from Coventry, found himself another job in the factory and he started singing in Birmingham and that became deeper Satrana. Really well, yeah. I still speak to the phone now and again.
Keep in touch with him. I think he's doing cabbing now in Wolverhampton or something. You know, he's got his head down, he's done his time. He ain't one of these guys to keep on crying over Tola, we're told 50 videos over the one thing. And, you know, class himself as a legend. He's. He's a pure. He's a pure kind of eye, humble guy. Where he knows where he stands, he knows his quality. He could deliver the quality the same as what he did back in them days, you know, in the satiran times. So I take my hat off and I salute the guy for sticking to them and not, you know, getting to the age of, like, 60 and still trying to claim fame off his old tracks. He's not into none of that, you know, he's a straight, humble guy. That's it. What you see with him is what you get. And if he's at a wedding and he gets dragged on stage, he'll humbly go on. He won't go on with an ego, you know, he'd humbly go on and just do it. And again, he wasn't a trained singer. He couldn't play no instruments. I don't know if he could play instruments now, but back then, he couldn't even play an instrument. He just had the natural key in his voice, you know, when someone's just got it, he was one of them.
So, you know, I had the pleasure of dealing with that situation back in country.
Then I joined after Moon Mastana. I joined my first official band, which was Anjana and Jannah group from Levy to the start.
And boy, did we gig. We didn't stop gigging. They gig started on a Thursday or the way to a Sunday night.
That's how busy they were.
[00:45:09] Speaker A: So who was in there, Brooke, in that group?
[00:45:12] Speaker B: Oh, there was a, there was a guy called Sati mourn.
I can't remember the other guy's name.
There was a few of them and about five of them.
And we did plenty of gigs there as well. And there were fun gigs that were your boring gigs, you know, there were proper fun gigs. Like, they already knew the crowd or the genetic. Yeah, get me, they. When they used to get gigs, they were like very family oriented gigs.
[00:45:45] Speaker A: Gotcha.
[00:45:45] Speaker B: I don't even think they charged in some of the gigs. Whatever they made on stage was theirs. Yeah, tips. And I think tips were like, back in them days, 7800, you know, I mean, lot of money, that is. And, um, that's what it was. And uh, they used to have a big mercedes van.
I remember it was like a sky blue color and they used to pack now with the gear speakers. Remember PA systems only started round about I think the professional PA system started about mid eighties you know when Gory were coming into our genre of music and doing pas and trying to get used to the sounds. And, and the only, the only reason why I feel gory started doing it was because they weren't getting many gory gigs that needed a stat system or a Pa system, you know what I mean, for a band. And if they did they were only doing local pub gigs with one speaker and a basement and that was it. Whereas our weddings were now catering for like 6700 people.
To make them deaf you needed a good rig, you know, I mean.
[00:46:57] Speaker A: Absolutely. Yeah.
[00:46:58] Speaker B: So that's what was going on then. Um, drums were introduced, um, introduced Emperor one and they were looking for a drum out. So my brother goes why don't you join us instead of pondering around with all these other bands? And we got a lot of gigs. I said I'm not bothering about the gigs. Gigs are gigs. And then Prawanda Sage had their first album. They were working on the second, what the first one was called Mundiadi Toli and that was done by one of the commentary producers. And then we had the other one done by another guy and then the third one hold to the background ep was done by Steve Ajit from. He used to drum for DC's and play guitars. A very talented guy I must say. He taught me a lot of percussion in the van when we used to travel. He'd pull out the donkey and I'll pull out another donkey and we'd be sitting there jamming. We used to get them guys going crazy in the van with just percussion sounds and me and him used to just jam and sing and mess around. And then Steve's brother was in our band as well and like he, he used to sing a lot of shin stuff and he sounded like shin as well.
We had that mottoes you know and he's like I said if you got it, you got it. And then the band started realizing yo, this is a good settle. Let's bring this on stage. So then they started bringing it on stage and in between that I already knew Punjabi MC from oncology days.
Hey WMC. I'll tell you how I met WMC officially once through college. I was playing on a bathtub, the door on a bathtub just banging it away and these other guys were doing bully and dancing in a hall. And PMC walked in and he's seen it all. And he was like. And he just used to come in there, sit there, have a little jam, you know, and then walk out. And that's how I got to know him, like, properly. And then he'll tell you himself, like, when it comes to music, I inspired him all the way with music, you know, his inspirations already was hip hop. He's listening to a lot of hip hop, but when it came to the pangra thing and then, like, having all of that collaborations, he's seen me with Khaldeep Monarch. First time on stage. He's wearing this rupert a bear, big collared. I laugh at him. Yeah, he's wearing this big checkered sheep coat kind of thing with big collars on it. And he was. His head was stuck in. And that was the first time I seen him. The second time I seen him, he's wearing one of them Parker Easter little kids coatden with all the fur around it. He was. He's nearly not one of the speakers like this. And looking at Monica thinking, wow. You know, and I don't even think he knew Marnick that one day he'll be working with him. I don't think none of these things were ever in anyone's heads that they're going to be able to do that. Because these people were supposed to be untouchable, if that makes sense, you know. You know, when you're at a certain level and you're down there, you know, you look up, you look at people and think, I want to be there, but I want to work with this guy.
So, you know, dreams do come true if you follow them, you know, if you follow through, dreams do come true, man. The dreams are most important that if you've got the right dreams, then keep Guy, and they will come. Truman.
[00:50:44] Speaker A: So would you say that, like, from what you're telling me, looks like a lot of it. You lay on the road, you didn't have to look on the road. Just get.
[00:50:52] Speaker B: Yeah, I admit that openly. A lot of my percussion, a lot of things I've learned are practically while I was on the job.
[00:51:01] Speaker A: Yeah, but you sound phenomenal, bro, honestly.
[00:51:03] Speaker B: And I've done. I've done a lot of rehearsals ever since, like when I joined and they introduced the drunken into the band, whereas all the other bands already jumping on stage with drum kids, we. I don't even think we were that quick to get on it, you know what I mean? I think we were pretty slow compared to what the other bands were doing. It was only after they released their first album Monday, Adi Tolly, which didn't even have a snare drum in it. Forget the drums. It was just pure folky tumbi whaja keys and bodemostanas. Hundred keyboard sounds that were flying off everywhere, you know, a bit annoyance, know what I mean? But yeah, it was like that. And guess who played the percussion on that?
What, yourself or Sukshinda?
[00:51:47] Speaker A: Succindesinda.
[00:51:48] Speaker B: Yeah, he was doing. He used to grab the train from Birmingham and the band will pick him up and take him to Cabin studio on Lunda Road. And they used to record there. Yeah, and then he played on our second album, which was nothing. Breathon played on the second one and that was called Teddy at the Midi.
[00:52:08] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:52:09] Speaker B: And that had drums in. And I played on one track, live drums. And that's where I got the experience of recording. But initially I was involved with sampling a lot of stuff with my friend Jason. He used to. He was a rock guitar player and he used to teach me how to use the Akoi samplers and I. Stuff like that. So I learned quite a bit of old school sampling, which obviously has now changed to computers and so on, so on. You know, there's a lot of different elements to sample now and, like, that's where I picked up that kind of technique kind of thing.
[00:52:50] Speaker A: Yeah, I wanted to get into that, so. Because I wouldn't get into the transition from you as a percussionist to a producer. So that's probably the beginning of it.
[00:53:00] Speaker B: Yeah, so that. Yeah, that was. Like I said, he was a rock guitarist. He used to teach me quite a lot. They had a band called Headspace or something like that and basically were signed to a major label, mainstream label. I don't know what happened, but he won the lottery, or his girlfriend did. And he was based in Leamington, then moved out and I. They didn't win it once, I won it twice. He won it and then she won it, luckily, you know. So they won lot release and then I don't think he ever picked up the guitar again.
I think he just jams around the house. But he taught me a lot and so did Steve Adjick.
Steve Ajit, I would say Steve Ajit is one of my many studs.
Is he around?
Yeah, yeah. Steve's in Oxford, man. He used to play drums for DC's and guitars for DC's.
And, um. I learned a hell of a lot from that guy and he's not a kind of guy to just keep things to himself. If you ask him, he'll show you. Not just show you, he'll actually sit down with you, you know, I mean, and I've had the opportunity of having many, many years with him and he's a great inspiration, inspirational guy with. When it comes to music, you know, his inspirations are crazy and he could produce like good music.
When I used to listen to him play and then I heard pundit, the niche, you wouldn't know the difference. That's how good Steve is. He used to play all the pundit, the Nash styles and everything. And when, when he did our album, he actually used them styles. Hold to the Bangra is the name of the album and he actually used them styles. You know, bandit, the nurse, styles on the donkey, tabla. And he made it sound phenomenal. But, you know, mixing and mastering, doing written by non asian influence guys is very difficult.
I think the only person you could ever highly rate that commits a masterpongara is probably Tom.
[00:55:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:55:11] Speaker B: Planet Studios.
[00:55:12] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:55:13] Speaker B: He's the only one that could get that. That. Humph. You know, I mean, for me, even dying enough, you know, um, I believe in like, if you desi and you got folk music, then you should have the folk leading instruments like vaja, tombi, torque, tabla.
They undertall there should be your main instruments.
The area I'm from, it was only talking and stuff like that was the main instrument.
You know, when I got into music, everything was based around that.
If you look at how lucky we are, as asian producers and asian banger artists, say live banger artists, once that dorky groove goes in with the drums, it gives it a beautiful, beautiful. It creates a beautiful sound, it creates a beautiful environment, you know, like for the rest of the band to play to. And keeping that in mind is all about individual people bringing it on the table. And that's what's missing in that industry today, that the bands that were originally gay like this is so all the other bands, DC's, they had the original musicians that brought something to the table, you know, and you put it in your mouth, you're going to feel a little different than your wife's cooking or your mum's cooking.
[00:56:42] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:56:43] Speaker B: You know, I mean, that's automatic because it's come from me. It is my way of cooking. Then it's not the wrong way, it's my way. You understand?
When everybody brings their flavors into a band, it becomes amazing, you know?
[00:56:59] Speaker A: Yeah. You know what's really interesting so, uh, about yourself is that how much credit you give other people, not many people do that, bro. You don't like this is what people.
[00:57:11] Speaker B: Don'T know about me. They think that, oh, he's against someone or he said something about something. I'm an. An Iraq, you get me? When it comes to music, I'm a lander at. I'm not the train spotters. I spot the good and the bad.
You know, I'm saying people don't like that. They just want to hear good, good, good for crap work. And I'm sorry, they're not going to get that from me. Yeah, what you're going to get is the truth, and I expect that back. I don't expect anything different. If you don't like my song, tell me what you don't like about it. Let's go into detail. That's the kind of person I am.
Don't just tell me, oh, you know. You know, there's another thing that's annoyance to me. Yeah. Is when people say, oh, old school, it sounds a bit old school. What is new school?
Did you know half of the songs out there all copied from Chamkilla, amarzul, ramallah, Sadiq, they're all copied melodies that are twisted with their own little version. Like I said, when, when people bring things to the table, right, they, everyone's got a different element of music. Catalog or inspiration or who they follow, who they listen to. When you got a band, a band should work together and each individual person, now you haven't even got that. What you got is a set of group of people that hired the singers and mimic what was originally done by the band, but it's not the original band.
[00:58:45] Speaker A: Why do you think that is? Why do you think we've got such a, such a scarcity of musicians here.
[00:58:51] Speaker B: And bands now we haven't got a scarcity of.
There's not scares of musicians. There's plenty of musicians, okay?
It's just, I think, I think it's got to that stage where the time, you know, I'm saying the time. What sense in rehearsals, getting the guys.
[00:59:17] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:59:17] Speaker B: You need one leader, right? So what you got here now you got the legends band, then you got the live band.
[00:59:24] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:59:25] Speaker B: And you got leaders like Tubsy and Harry, is it Matari won keys. I think he leads the legend. Now, that kind of people, they're, they're determined, they do their job and, and they do it correctly. I'm not saying anything bad about them. And they lead and what they do. The artists used to, the singers used to hide the musicians or the band. But now what you got, you got the one leader of a band hiring the singers. The tables are turned. Yeah, and think what it is as well. I think musicians have got fed up, are being robbed by singers.
[01:00:03] Speaker A: Gotcha. 100%. You know what, Tubbs? He was saying that basically, he was saying back in the day, singers, that singers charged as much as the musicians. That's it. We're now a single. Would charge like ten times the amount of a musician would get paid.
[01:00:19] Speaker B: Yeah, but what it was as well, you had a leader, like I said, the leader. What they were doing, they were charging what they wanted, but telling the musicians, oh, you got a thousand pound to my name. Here's 50 quid for you, here's 100. Now it's tables to turn where the musicians are getting paid proper money, which it should be, because the musicians are what carry the singer. I'm not saying the singer shouldn't be paid. I'm saying yes, but if you're going to work as. As a team and you want to create a band without politics, see, this is another thing. We got too much politics in the business.
You know, it's like going to your uncle's shop and saying, I'm going. Your uncle's gonna say, I'm giving you money back.
You're never gonna give your money back.
[01:01:04] Speaker A: No, no.
[01:01:06] Speaker B: That's what's going on in the industry. It's a very flawed and screwed up industry, if you ask me. And I feel sorry for the new singers out there, and I will put it out like this as well. A lot of musicians and producers charging a lot of money and their productions crap. I'll say blatantly to the face as I see it, right. I read some real appalling vocals that have not been auto tuned. I've heard some real, real poor quality production. Right? I'm not saying I'm the best. I've never said that.
But I will give good quality out there, what I believe is good and freshen. I believe in what I do. I don't believe in what the other person's done, because if he's got a bad vocal and he believes that's the best, then he needs to look in the mirror again and maybe get a new mic or buy a proper auto tuner that's practically going to work for him. I'll be straight with you, bro. I mean. Oh, don't get me wrong, no one's perfect.
Yeah, but at least try to make it good, bro. I've heard some real appalling stuff lately. I can't even name them people because they embarrassing.
And that's why the industry isn't moving. That's why people are going back to the eighties and the nineties bungalow, you know, because that's.
[01:02:37] Speaker A: That's having a revival now, isn't it? Like all the old, older bro.
[01:02:41] Speaker B: I'm not going to say the man's name yet.
I approached a UK artist, three of them.
One didn't answer his phone.
The other one spoke to me and said, yeah, I'll be down, but I'm not well. This was like five years ago and the guy still ain't well because he's never called me, right? So he's at the picture.
The other guy didn't answer, but his phone rings all the time. He sees my calls that I've called him, I've even texted, but I never get a reply back, right?
This is cost free we're talking, right? These are guys that are already out there. One particular guy sticks in my head. He goes, the song comes out. The biggest pile of shite I've heard in my life.
Now, if people are going to judge my music and say, oh, he's a bit old school, I'd rather be old school than no school.
[01:03:43] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:03:46] Speaker B: There's nothing wrong with really good, bro. What I'm saying is, if people are going to come back to me and say, I'd rather do Prana futta come kind of style, that if I do pick all the chapal, I'm. At least I could slap it in the bunda's face for what he's dropped.
That's the kind of anger that gets to me. Yeah. Is that these guys are ego filled guys. They never give to the public.
The public wants to hear them, but they never give. They want to take, take. How much can you take off the public?
I'll talk about all the Bangladesh artists in the UK. Every single one. All they've ever done is taken.
Only people like JK and the ladies guys, Jogi do all of these man's. They're bringing it on the table. They're putting music out. Even if it's not regular, it's an occurrence. They're sticking to the vibe and they're bringing that quality.
They're bringing that quality, not quantity. And this is where you've got to get the balance right. Do you remember Puja back in the day? She threw that many songs out, people didn't even want to hear it.
Now she's realized only lately, since she's moved to Canada and started putting makeup on, she's realized, yeah. That.
That putting makeup on and acting it and only releasing songs now and again will work. And they are working for her.
[01:05:14] Speaker A: Yeah, this is. They do really well.
[01:05:16] Speaker B: I'm not fan of pulling.
[01:05:18] Speaker A: Yeah, I know. You're just messing about.
[01:05:22] Speaker B: Don't keep on coming with your makeup and throwing tracks out just because you want to be famous. That's not how it works. You don't see beyonce and Mariah Carey and all these other people, you know, putting out tracks every day. It's great if you've got a hit and you can live off that one hit. Like Gurdas. Mandy is known for a few of his hits, but lately he's put out songs. They've been crap.
How can you relate to them?
Youngsters listen to Chamkillah. The new generation of youngsters still listen to Kaldi, Imani, you know, Chamkilla and Kaldimani. They're not with us on this earth yet. And why are people still listening to them? Why are they the most talked about? Even the films being done by the. A Bollywood film of Chomp.
That's the question I ask everyone. I'll tell you why, is because the music is basic. It's fun, is clean, is good quality vocals. The singers are using good quality producers.
Brilliant. I speak to him on a regular basis.
He's going through a few motions at the moment, you know, with his health. He's very old now. And he called me up, he messaged me first, bless him, and then he called me and he introduced his harmonium to me. He's done a beautiful harmonium.
It sounds like how he used to on his albums. I don't know whether you've had the opportunity to listen to it. And he goes, he goes, mega mel doriki.
[01:07:02] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:07:03] Speaker B: I said to start you. I want to, because why?
Our minds engraved in signature dating and I want a video and photographs. I want a whole record of this vaja. I don't just want the vaja. That's the baby. You know why he's done that? He's tagged every vaja with his name on it. And I gave him the idea when the plates were being made. Yeah, he was actually in the factory when he called me.
And he goes after I did. And he's made a little plate. If you look carefully, he's got a small one and a half, two inch plate on the vaja. And he's got his name on there and his photo on there, embedded on the plate, engraved. And I gave him ideas about people on me or fanatics, you know, we're anoraks when it comes to you and other people. I said to him, sergei, to see, I'm not interested. I gotta take the vaja. Cost me two luck.
I'm not interested. All I'm interested in is the history that comes with it. And if I'm not getting the history that comes with it, then the vaja is worthless to me.
I want the one you touch I'm not coming to India to pick up the one from the factory. I got nothing going to happen.
I want the one that you touch, physically, play.
And he started laughing. He goes, because I was really anal, you know, to the point I might not be straight. I don't mess around with my.
[01:08:46] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:08:47] Speaker B: And even true schools like that as well, you know, like when you go to school, you know, I've sat with true school, you know, working with. On his album represent. I did the engineering of folklore folk, you know, they've credited me, you know, bless them. The guy who could, you know, back in them days when they're working on them projects specialists as a Coventry laden. And, you know, I got to know them all, you know, and they've done some great work, you know. And true school sort of is an inspiration.
[01:09:20] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[01:09:20] Speaker B: Even though. Even though I started a little bit before him as a kartate industry of it and launching it, meaning he was with the label and I was doing my own thing and I was with natural records at the time. And basically my first album, Curfew, was released by natural and the industry was getting lazy in 2007 and eight. It started getting lazy, bro.
Musically as well. He started getting lazy.
[01:09:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:09:52] Speaker B: And it's sad for me.
[01:09:57] Speaker A: What I noticed, Raj, is that at that time, there was a lot of sampling, but in a negative way, being used by the UK pog. So you'd have a loop. And that loop was found in every single song like that.
[01:10:15] Speaker B: You're on about the running loop?
[01:10:17] Speaker A: No, that's a toluck loop. I'm on about in general, the door loops and. And, you know, the percussion loops. It was just.
[01:10:24] Speaker B: Well, let me tell you who's to blame for that. India. India is to blame for that because I released a lot of catalogs of samples. Now, I'm not boasting, but it's not about the sample. It's how you use the sample and how you enhance the sample. I've used samples to this day of use samples. I'm not denying it.
[01:10:42] Speaker A: No.
[01:10:42] Speaker B: Do I look like a flute and a citadel player? Look at me.
[01:10:45] Speaker A: No.
[01:10:45] Speaker B: No.
Do I look like a mandarin player? No.
You understand what I mean?
[01:10:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:10:55] Speaker B: So instead of me going to a musician, which I've got hundreds of musicians on my phone, in my catalog, bro, I got classic players. I got Pakistani Zaheeb and all of them guys, you know, they got a studio. I've got all of them. Man's proper, proper Hyundai Monday, you get me one day that wouldn't just send me a sample. They'll teach me about the sample.
[01:11:17] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:11:18] Speaker B: They'll tell me the elements. They'll tell me the rag, you know, whether it's Bilu Dabari, you know, Pedvi. They'll tell me what it is. I'm from there. I learned by earth.
[01:11:27] Speaker A: Hmm?
[01:11:29] Speaker B: I learned by talking to people. And this is what we've got missing in our industry. All people want to do is get on the mic and sing like a bunch of clowns. And they think they're in a circus, that they're going to get away with it. Trust me, bro, you don't get away with it when you got people like me listening in. The one day you're going to cross my path where I'm going to be peed off and I'm going to tell you straight. Aki Gandhi.
[01:11:53] Speaker A: Yeah.
What I want to ask you, bro, is that, you know, sora body.
[01:11:57] Speaker B: Very sorry. Enough, Jerry. Sorry. It's like reaching out to God.
It's a gift.
Like I said, if you got it, you've got it. But if you ain't got it and you want to get it, put in the time and the effort and sit on the budget. If you're a singer, bro, you. I'm not even a singer. I'll tell you now, I know all my scales.
I'm not a singer. I don't want to be a singer.
In the years that I've accumulated behind our music. In the years I've accumulated, yeah. And I've sat down, I've actually learned the surah. I could. And I don't even have to do the, you know, the rehearsal because I'm not a singer. But I could get on my piano and I can hit the notes straight away first Bangdan. And I can hit the note.
And what bothers me is when people come to me and then I'll tell them straight, bro, you ain't really good. Leave it. Go and spend your money buying some polish for your car and stuff, you know, get some chicken or lamb curry on the go in a barbecue. But don't become a professional singer.
[01:13:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:13:12] Speaker B: And people are that greedy in this business. Yeah. They will work with any Tom, Dick and Harry that they think that they could bring out and charge them five, 6000 pound a song. Brown. I'll put it out on this pod. Any artist that can sing and they're looking for music, come and speak to me and I'll give you my price and you'll be speechless what I put on the table. And I say that with chess, bro.
[01:13:38] Speaker A: Don't I believe that, bro, 100% believe that. I just want to go back to, uh, back to, uh, we just mentioned about true school. So I say something about it. My wife's in contact with him. My wife manages my music and stuff as she does some other projects. You know, one thing I've got to say about him, don't matter what people say about him, he's always got time for my wife. He's, he'll take time out if he wants to buy, he'll give advice and stuff. No one knows that about true school. You know.
[01:14:05] Speaker B: When I was doing alcohol, yeah. And I played him a couple of tracks and I said, what did you think, bro?
He told me straight. He goes, the bangers, you know, he goes, you've got your. Because you've got the desi doctor child stamp on it. And that's important. You know, he told me detail what he heard. He told me about it in detail. And then I had the pleasure of meeting him not long ago and I gave him a know, like the links to all my other stuff. And he goes, yeah, I've heard some good stuff coming out of your studio. And, uh, you know, and I go, well, I'm trying, you know, even in front of him, I feel like it's a little bit of an embarrassment if you're calling yourself a singer or a producer and you've not even put in the effort.
Because again, he's a hundi. Abundant, you get me?
[01:14:57] Speaker A: Yeah, 100%, bro.
[01:14:58] Speaker B: He's, he's, you know, he's like going to a chef and saying, yeah, you know, I'm talking about Michelin style chefs there. And it's like you complaining. Yeah, you might complain about what your taste buds are felt or what you actually feel, but you can't say the food is crap.
You understand what I mean?
[01:15:17] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[01:15:18] Speaker B: And, you know, again, I think, you know, who does that, bro?
[01:15:22] Speaker A: But who does that? Look, look, there's bigger artists that, you know, right?
Big in quotations, but who takes the time out these days to say, okay, you know, my wife wanted something for music. She asked to school and he gave her the advice. He told her where to go. Who does that these days?
[01:15:53] Speaker B: Menu. Salah told diabetes.
Yeah, honeycomb.
You know. You know one thing Monic said to me? Yeah. He goes, never get high on your own. On your own, masala. Yeah, right. But he said in a different way, like they say, yeah, I don't want to say it now, but he goes, never get hyped on stage. You're on stage, perform the track and he's loving it. Or he does a barn over you, because that is a billion times valuable.
There's someone giving you no credits at all because it might be worthless once you come off stage, if that guy approaches you on stage while you're performing and he's doing all of this blowing your kisses and clapping, which I've, you know, humbly, I've had loads of that done to me when I was a kid. You know, we always support youngsters that we want to see them do good. But if you're putting that crap music out, they're going to do crap, aren't they? It's an influence. And a lot of the UK Bangkok artists have put out so much baguars that they've now turned to Siddhul, Musawallah and all these other dosanges listening to them, because they found out that, hang on a minute, you can't giving us nothing. And that's really bad.
That's how the tables are turned. That's really bad for people at Mossad, because one, as me, as a guy, putting that music and running a label is a lot of work. A lot of work, especially albums, right?
You know, day and night, you're working on projects and it's a lot of work to release that project. But if you can't get the audience because of someone else's fault, who do you blame? You don't blame yourself. You're going to go and think about that person's movement on the chessboard and these people are caused a tomato in the industry. And I do not blame half of the people going to other sources to find music and listen to me. I don't blame them.
[01:18:08] Speaker A: Well, you can't, can you?
[01:18:10] Speaker B: Because we haven't. We, as a UK bang industry, I don't trust myself as a part of the banger industry because there's all tuggy in the industry. I'm not a part of the tuggy. I don't do, you know, lick, lick and, you know, brown nose and only. Nah, mate, I'm not interested.
If I phone topsy, anyone else.
[01:18:36] Speaker A: If.
[01:18:37] Speaker B: I can't afford you. I just slammed the phone. I'd say, buddy, I can't afford you. If I'm too embarrassed to say, I'll text you a little lol message, you know what I mean?
The guy got the budget. I'll think about it.
There's no way that I'm gonna put myself in debt in an industry that ain't paying well.
[01:18:57] Speaker A: Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.
[01:18:59] Speaker B: You know, I survive. Every day is a hustle. Yeah. There's a lot of people that want to be my position. True school's position, PMC's position.
Many of the artists that I could think of, they want to be in that position as producers, but they can't do the hustle because, one, they thought they need the business and they don't. They're working at the airport as baggage handlers or singers that were there. You know, I'm not saying no one name. I'm just giving you an example of how life is. When they realize how deep the hustle is. They walk and you only hear a track here and there. There's no consistency.
Buddy. I'm not lying to, you know, how many songs I've probably done?
I've probably done about 400 ghost productions.
[01:19:43] Speaker A: Wow. It's crazy, man.
[01:19:46] Speaker B: This year I've done about 27 already.
On top of what I'm releasing right now, I'm sitting on another album with Omar Singh Litra. I'm sitting on a folk album, which I'm sort of dwelling into off and on deciding things. I'm working on several different singles, not just for myself, adding other people on top. I'm also working on a dub regout vault. And, you know, even with the reggae stuff, I released reggae feast. No one was doing reggae other than Sahota's. All of a sudden, everyone's a reggae artist.
Everybody's. Now, I'm not saying they copy me. I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is a forgotten genre. Since it was faded out, it became a forgotten genre. It shouldn't be a forgotten genre. If you've started something, continue it.
You know, I'm not doing it because I, you know, I've just jumped onto it because ain't doing it. No, what I'm saying is they were doing it. They were having elements of reggae in their songs, right? And then after that, there was no reggae in the industry. It became a gap apache. He's a cool guy. I've worked with him. He's a proper bread in mind. Same with Cheshire Cat. Lovely guys to work with. And they're very easily approachable. And why people think they can't approach them is beyond me to get advice or to get music, reggae advice. I'm approachable. If people message me on my messenger, I'm sitting here with you.
[01:21:29] Speaker A: I'm approachable 100%, bro.
[01:21:35] Speaker B: Gave that person hour of my time, nothing. But at least have those say that you're trying to put people on the right track, nurture people on the right track. People on myself are lucky because we have been nurtured to a certain point. You get me?
I think you have been nurtured to a certain point.
Nobody was born professional.
[01:21:59] Speaker A: No.
[01:22:00] Speaker B: Nobody was born with, you know, a goal around the neck.
Nobody. Nobody, bro. Nobody. And what gets me is yet that the communication and the cheekiness of people in this industry and the nerve of the people in this industry is a pure annoyance.
I'm telling you blatantly, truthfully, frankly, I have stopped supporting uk artists when they release a song because they're not supporting me.
[01:22:39] Speaker A: Yeah, fair enough, bro.
[01:22:52] Speaker B: I don't care what the people.
I don't care, bro. I'm a straight talking guy. I do not care if people don't share my music. I don't care. But they don't have the audacity to chat me on my buckets.
[01:23:16] Speaker A: And the worst thing is, bro, is that some people message you, share my song, please. And they'll WhatsApp message you. Like, you know, like, not even personally. They'll blank message everyone. You know, how you broadcast them.
[01:23:43] Speaker B: I'll be straight with you, bro. Everyone's doing it. There's no problem. There's plenty of room in the industry. People need to understand one thing. It's not a challenge to be in the industry.
Make your own challenges for yourself, a better yourself, for God's sake. How long does it take to sit on the vaja for half an hour in the morning and learn your.
You got people on Nusra that are on YouTube. Yeah. And the legends are on YouTube telling you about music through music.
They're telling you through music what music is.
[01:24:20] Speaker A: What do you think it is that's missing in people to do that? Because, like, as you're saying, so everyone can take half an hour here or there, like, you've learned on the road, you've learned by yourself. What? Why do people not have the confidence or not have the abilities to do that?
[01:24:36] Speaker B: Brother, they've been knocked around. They haven't got the money. They thought they had the money. When their first song hasn't done well, they've given up the toweling. And then they start going to this cheap tacky stuff in India for rs400 or rs5000 which is about 55 quid per song. And they sound whack to better our skills.
[01:25:16] Speaker A: Yeah, I know that bro. I follow you.
[01:25:20] Speaker B: Why is it an embarrassment for people to admit that? Why is it all this big ego?
[01:25:26] Speaker A: I am.
[01:25:27] Speaker B: I am, bro. Did you know I could tell you all the fake artists.
There's a website that anyone could go on. You have to register on it and it tells you your views, your topic views. Did you know we all as artists have got a word called topic. So if you went into YouTube upon desi doctor topic, all my original songs that are out and published that are out on cd, baby, everywhere. Ditto. Wherever they're from, distributed on iTunes, the YouTube. Just so everyone knows YouTube and itunes all together. Okay, whatever iTunes that YouTube shows you, they're your original views. You know when people. I've said, but then you took a couple of months here and there, right?
And I'm sitting there thinking okay, let's go and have a look at research. I guess while you go into their topic they've only got like 600 views on the original track.
[01:26:25] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:26:26] Speaker B: That actually monetized.
[01:26:28] Speaker A: Yeah. And the rest are paid for adverts.
[01:26:31] Speaker B: The rest is on a fake video buying Autopilando India.
Yeah, bro. Did you know? I bet you didn't even know.
Khaldi money duty road by myself. 1.3 million crore crossed on topic. Desi Dutch on topic, my alcohol album. It went in the top 20 mainstream charts for three and a half weeks. And not even the bibs who played more songs.
[01:27:10] Speaker A: Don't talk about the BBC, bro.
[01:27:19] Speaker B: To see the hegemon artist.
[01:27:22] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:27:24] Speaker B: Now when you got that kind of thing and you're asking me what is the problem? These are your problems.
People are faking it. They thought they made it. They thought they're raking it. And guess what? They're actually going to BMX on the chopper bike they've got that they've still got from back in the eighties to get to work on.
You know this industry is so fake, right?
It's so fake. It's unbelievable.
That's how much experience we got.
And you know the sad thing about it is the youngsters are no longer interested in anything the UK market is throwing out.
[01:28:14] Speaker A: No.
[01:28:16] Speaker B: Who do we blame for that?
[01:28:19] Speaker A: I don't know. I've been asking the question. So as you were saying now who do we blame?
[01:28:25] Speaker B: We should be blaming ourselves as individuals that why we not better our skills. Why are we not merging as teamwork? Show me anywhere in England, from a to z, in all of England, where there's teamwork. No, sorry. Kutta love.
[01:28:44] Speaker A: I mean, what I find is, like, there's a lot of.
Not only singers, musicians themselves, they don't actually put the work in. You know, you ask, you know, when.
[01:28:56] Speaker B: It comes to work. Yeah.
Work doesn't mean you sit in a studio day or work comes from a nighttime when you're lying in your bed and you want to listen to some music, listen to the quality. Listen to people like Nusram Ali. Listen to all of these alumni. Listen to what they're doing with their voices. You will learn a lot.
Did you know there's not been one singer that could sing in d sharp on the scale called demonic Sanghi?
[01:29:27] Speaker A: Crazy?
[01:29:29] Speaker B: And I'm asking the question. D sharp, yeah. To other people is probably somewhere in the mid range keys. Now let's go and talk about manic and alum. Lahar, go listen to Jaime. What key he goes on.
[01:29:43] Speaker A: I went to see his son a few times, Arif Lahar. And he sings.
Yeah.
[01:29:57] Speaker B: It'S not about.
It's not about that.
You could be singing on low keys and bringing the nice toning. Yeah. Setting a trend. Like Gary Sandu. He doesn't sing. Hi. He sings with Mataz. Yeah. I've sat with Gary Sandhu and I've sat with Umid vehicle. All of these guys, I've had a one to one with them. And, um, we were in paddock BMC's house and, uh, I turned around and started tuning and they both looked at me like, what's this girl talking about?
And that's no disrespect to them.
[01:30:32] Speaker A: No, no.
[01:30:33] Speaker B: Because they've made it. But what I'm saying is, they've made it in a different element of.
They had the contacts they've got out there. They've done it. Right.
That's fine. If you want to stick to one key singing, that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. At least they sound good quality singers.
That's my point.
You don't have to be a graded singer to become a singer. You don't have to be a top musician to become a good musician.
At least come on the good levels. And we've got that missing throughout the industry where the youngsters are now seeing the difference of sample music.
We've got an odula and then you got the UK.
[01:31:19] Speaker A: I mean, you can make a whole track just using splice.
[01:31:24] Speaker B: There you go.
[01:31:25] Speaker A: Without even putting no effort. And you put the key in, say, I want this type of beat.
[01:31:29] Speaker B: But to me, that's not production. That's someone else's stuff.
[01:31:32] Speaker A: It isn't.
[01:31:32] Speaker B: And that's what people are listening to.
[01:31:34] Speaker A: Exactly.
[01:31:35] Speaker B: They think, oh, you know that song, half of the beats are spliced. I'll say it blatantly.
[01:31:42] Speaker A: Exactly.
[01:31:44] Speaker B: The bass lines, the riffs, all from splice. I know that for a fact. I've probably got them on my system.
[01:31:52] Speaker A: Have you seen splice? Now, what it does, buddy. So what it does now, you can put the key track and it does the actual layers for you. So all you have to do is say you've got, like, the bass track, the rhythm, the percussion, and it's got them all for you. I know if you do export bang, straight into your door trackstone.
[01:32:15] Speaker B: But to me, you know, that's like.
[01:32:19] Speaker A: What people are doing.
[01:32:20] Speaker B: That's why you met there. They brought you without the meta in there and they call it a meteor, you know, I mean, and it's quite embarrassing. But, you know, if you're going to use samples, create them. Use them, but create them for yourself so they become yours. And they got a unique feel to them that you've actually worked with, you know, the biggest.
Jeevan. Yeah. From Bristol. Tolkie tabla player. You ask him, I have one. Tolkien, he has the other. When we're sitting here, if he's not happy with something, then I play and show him, then I'll record him. It's very. It's very difficult and true school's witness to this. It's very difficult to record your own percussion when you're also running a door and a system of a studio because you can't run off two things. I've sat on my system and I've run the computer for like an hour and I'm sat there playing loops, you know, sat there recording loops. And I'm thinking to myself, because then eventually you start running out of ideas on the spot. It's not putting us. It's not putting yourself on the spot.
But don't forget, you're playing to a click. You're trying to do very, very difficult and unique techniques.
[01:33:42] Speaker A: Do you find. Because I. I found, buddy, is that, you know, say I'm recording. I record at home now, but the issue I have say I've recorded in vocal now, Hunter, I checked it. Everything seems fine.
[01:33:53] Speaker B: I.
[01:33:54] Speaker A: And I listened to a few days later, it's absolutely rubbish.
[01:33:59] Speaker B: You know, because you know why that is. I tell you this. There's two reasons. When you're using headphones, you're hearing a totally different aspect of what you're putting on the mic.
[01:34:08] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:34:09] Speaker B: Right. If you're in a compact environment, it gives you a totally different EQ, totally different hearing. Your method is doing a circulation. It's like a cycle. Yeah. So what you're recording here and saying there is. It's now split. You understand? So what you're putting on the mic is split to what you're hearing in the headphones.
But now slip one headphone off.
Yeah.
[01:34:34] Speaker A: Then do it.
[01:34:35] Speaker B: Yeah. Tuck it off one ear.
[01:34:37] Speaker A: And someone told me that before as well.
[01:34:39] Speaker B: And then the difference. You'll see the difference.
[01:34:42] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:34:43] Speaker B: You'll actually hear the difference that now you're wearing. Working with the song, not off the song.
[01:34:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:34:48] Speaker B: And I've recorded with Marnick Sarinda, Shinda Lal Chandra, just Dave Jamla. I've recorded with Ranjit Rana, Sabur Kotti. And they all slipped the mic off on one side, bro.
[01:35:06] Speaker A: Do you mind if I ask you about Saburgoti? He's one of my favorite singers. What was the experience like? Him? What was experience was with him in the studio. This is just for myself because I'm a big salad.
[01:35:18] Speaker B: Okay. You know, we saw. I'll tell you straight. Yeah.
He's a Hyundai album on another level.
Another level altogether, right?
He don't like talking too much. He's more of man of action.
Okay. And I tell you how I came across my wife's mama's son. I think Raj's name is he. He found out that Sabur quoti was having trouble in Wolfhampton and Birmingham, finding the right producer, people like Zeus. Everyone was involved. I think a lot of these guys were contacting him, or he was contacting them and what his intentions were. He wanted to do a solar album in the UK, produced in the UK.
And my wife's or my ex partner, should I say her mom, my son contacted me and he goes, you know, sabre, according to looking for a producer, and you might even know him now, I've known Sabre Corte for last 2030 years, I'd say even before he started singing. My brother met him in India before he even had an album out.
[01:36:36] Speaker A: Wow.
[01:36:36] Speaker B: No albums were out. When he was standing on stage in our pendant in India, my brother was standing with him. My brother's got pictures. Skinny young little kid. He looks like. Yeah. Anyway, so I got hold of Sabur Kurti's number through my relay. And when I called him sabre Couttigo, is men.
That was his first words where I try to explain who I am, and he goes, Mac went, I didn't believe it. I thought, he's another one of them, you know, fob off. So he's saying he's going to link, but you're going to link me. I wasn't convinced. I wasn't convinced that he's gonna link me. So you know what happened? Yeah, I just put it under the carpet. Another one of them once. Yeah.
And, um, two, three days later, I'll get a phone call at lunchtime.
And I'm halfway through recording.
And, um, the phone call was simply, I'll be with you in the next, uh, probably 2030 minutes. He was on the m six.
He didn't phone me before he came. He phoned me all the way down, if that makes sense. So I'm in this session. I shut the session down. I said, look, I've got cyberquarti coming, blah, blah, blah. It was someone else's session I was doing. And this is at my old studio. And so we knocked down the head. And then next minute, about 03:00 the doorbell rings and he saw Brucotti standing there with his big, long hair. And, you know, his presence. You could tell the man's presence. As soon as he walked in, he pointed at him. He goes, I thought, I only called you once. Yeah. I mean, anyway, we started laughing, introduced him. We had some later, you know, some.
We sat down, you know, and then he goes, like, yo, this is sick. I got the legend. Yeah. I mean, I got the legend. Say Apollo to me. Yeah, yeah. I got bit excited, I gotta admit.
And I thought, you know, maybe he's the wrong guy, because I'd love ladders. Not a fucking boy. So he goes, nala, naika, manu. Anyway, we've got up and there's about three, four of them, and this is the stage. I didn't know who the other guys were. Well, it was basically Sonnu was a tabla player that played with him. We had Kaka. Yeah. Who was the vaja player, and we had his two sons, guitarist Alex. And the other one, I've forgotten his name now.
And, bro, I'm not gonna lie yet. They're all piled up in the room, plus two promoters. The whole screen got rammed and already had a lot of gear in there. And he goes, and it looked like a little bathroom in the. In the loft. Yeah. And he goes, so I prayed him a few stuff. Yeah. And when I played it him, he. He fell off like, yo, get the vaja.
Yo, get this, get that. Let's go. Next minute, he finds off someone in Birmingham and he goes, Sadiq landlord.
[01:40:34] Speaker A: Wow.
[01:40:35] Speaker B: And I'm now freaking out. The king even asked me he's gonna be staying here. That's what I'm thinking, because I ain't got the room. Yeah. And then he goes, just so, Matthew Golia. No, when he said mayor, he never said a se. I thought, okay, I gotta read into this now. Yeah. He's on about himself. So I said, no problem. But what he meant was they had relatives that live around the corner from where off where I live.
[01:41:03] Speaker A: Watch it.
[01:41:04] Speaker B: And they had a big house, right. Never go, I've got two kids, wife.
[01:41:09] Speaker A: Yeah. It's hard.
[01:41:10] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:41:11] Speaker A: Just bring someone down.
[01:41:12] Speaker B: Yeah. And I can't just have Randall staying there, you know?
[01:41:15] Speaker A: Exactly. Yeah.
[01:41:16] Speaker B: I wouldn't do it to someone else. I'll be straight with you. I just thought, oh, no, it's going to be one of them. So anyway, I would know. He stayed with me as well. Don't get me wrong.
[01:41:24] Speaker A: Yeah. But once you got to know each.
[01:41:25] Speaker B: Other, he stayed Manavi there.
Mattresses out. We were on it, you know. I mean, I thought, we'll just do it, you know, and because for me, it was the experience as well. Don't forget that. The biggest thing for me was I'm inspired by this guy for many years, and now I'm sitting with him, and he was like, I was pinching myself on the first day. That is this guy for really sitting in my lab right now. Yeah. Anyway, I met him before that, back in the mid nineties. I met him all.
And then as we started talking and I mentioned a couple of people's names in the studio, he was hugging and kissing me, bro. No word of a lie. He gave me so much love on the first day. There was no way I could have refused that. I'm not going to work or I'm not going to do this or nothing. He goes, because I'll give you full permission.
You could do whatever you want, bro. We went Scotland. We were everywhere. Me and sabre cookie in my car, and then the lads in the other car, in the van, wherever he had a gig, bro. We were all over the place. The laughs and the jokes and the videos they've taken back to India. I'll be begging them for the video. They're just gonna crack it. If I put them up in this industry, they're gonna show the real sabre cookie. What a nice, humble guy, no ego. What a family oriented guy. He was.
I can't say no louder than that. The man was on another level. The jokes, it was giggles after giggles, you know, we had a little session here, there. Little glossy, glossy and there. We had, you know, takeaways. We had everything going off. Yeah. It was the craziest three months of my life.
[01:43:20] Speaker A: Wow.
[01:43:21] Speaker B: Then he stayed for an extra two weeks. He sat a couple of the other lads, he stayed for an extra two weeks. And that was the two weeks he stayed with me in my place.
[01:43:32] Speaker A: Wow.
[01:43:32] Speaker B: Then I drove him around. We went out and about and, um, we had a crazy time, you know, like, the recording sessions. Right. Was unbelievable.
Yeah. And the way he recorded, there were one tech recordings.
Gosh, like, he'll do one verse and say, let me hear it. He'll hear it. And he goes, delete that one. I'm dropping it again.
All in one go, man. Even if he was a little bit on the haruka, in the. In the mokra, if he was a little bit out, little bit out on the key, you'll be like, no, chop it, get rid of it. I do no droppings. I'm taking the whole lot.
One song took us. Even though there were a one takes, they took the one song, sitting with him. He'd warm up, do his riyadh, then sing. Then he'll sit down, have a cup of tea. Hot, hot drink, even. It was summertime and he was drinking hot, hot tea, you know, vali adud, proper hot tea. And then he would come again and he'd be like, okay, let's get the next one done. We were laying about three tracks a day over. Over a two and a half night period.
The two weeks he stayed, no music was done. We just had jokes, barbecues gone out, met people, took him to his relatives, took him to a couple of marathons, openings, that kind of thing. And we didn't rank him.
[01:45:01] Speaker A: Sorry. After you.
[01:45:03] Speaker B: You know what? Yeah. Um.
The day I found out what's going on with him and the day I found out he's passed away, I probably cried more than his family.
That's how hurt I was, because we were planning on doing a video together as well.
If you look at one of the albums I released, it's a song called Hover Song is. And, um, he sang that.
And, um, he sent me a video of him doing a shout out.
And if you look at him, look it up on YouTube. If you look at him, he's all skeleton. And, you know, he lost a lot of weight.
Lost a lot of weight. And to be honest people are chatting rubbish about him. He had this, he had that. He was just poorly, bro. He had the bit of kidney infections. He's just really poorly. After he left England, even with Dev Rod, you know, in 2010, we were in India together.
We were there at a wedding. He found out that I'm coming next minute. We were jamming in my mom and dad's, my baba's and my daddy's house that we've got. We were jamming in there, there. Walked in and he goes, that was it, bro. The party started soon as he.
Soon as he knew I was there, he knew I'm a wild cat. Anyway, that was it. Me and him on the scooter. We met his brothers that were singers as well. They were one of his electrical shop and his son. I think his grandsons just released a song on Jasso records. They called and always had a car that year. And.
Well, I think. I think he's my grandson as well, you know.
[01:46:54] Speaker A: Just send it me afterwards, bro.
Listen to it.
[01:46:57] Speaker B: Yeah, bro is shocking, you know, like, the way things have gone, it is shocking. And the sad thing that, you know what? I shouldn't say this, because I look back and I think I'm. I jinxed these singers or something. Every single sang with the top legend guys. They've all passed away and I'm the last one to work with them.
Surrender Shinda. I've done his vocals. Will PMC. I've done a vocal with him passed away. Goldit Manek. I've done the last song with him. There was another song I had that's gone to frenzy. I think Frenzy's going to release that. It was about Yari, Yara and Yari. That one.
After I recorded that, I've done about, I think about 20 vocals with Khalid Manuk, 20 to 30 vocals. I'm not sure I've got that many vocals of him. And basically after Khaldi Manic, he passed away in 2012, I was going to give music altogether.
That's why I released duty road as one of my last songs.
And then Khaldi Manek died in November of that year. Then I thought, if this song doesn't blow up or it doesn't go anywhere, I'm gonna knock it on the. The end. Because you can't just go any further. Once you've hit the big singles and nothing works, then you can't go further. And luckily it worked.
[01:48:24] Speaker A: They're like the best, aren't they? They're not the best of the best.
[01:48:28] Speaker B: Of the best, ain't working. I'm not even getting the hint. Looking and I'm not getting a look. And then there's something seriously wrong with our industry.
[01:48:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:48:38] Speaker B: You know. And then now, one more thing. Literally, he passed away outside the hospital. Like I said, he had a heart attack. And he's another singer I've worked with and I was the last one to work with him. 27 vocals on top of the albums. I had him in the studio every single day in Chandigarh and it got to a stage where he didn't have that energy left.
And I do feel guilty sometimes because I think Manipuri Doctor, she's on my reggae album.
The Shah doctor's sister.
[01:49:17] Speaker A: Yeah, no, no, she. She sang that famous Bollywood song as well.
[01:49:22] Speaker B: I know about four songs of her. And after the four songs, she passed away.
That's the kind of look of that true school stuff. And then basically, you done b two stuff. And then I recorded three vocals and then next minute I found out in India, he's fallen in and he's passed away.
I've had this run with people and I think that's why some, I think the UK, you know, everybody. I can't even say touch wood enough to touch my mix of.
Yeah. Even when the day he was ill, he found you, paniga, come and look at the yard.
He's cracking these kind of jokes to me.
[01:50:26] Speaker A: Oh.
[01:50:27] Speaker B: Not realizing he's going to pass away.
[01:50:30] Speaker A: That is so sad, bro.
[01:50:31] Speaker B: It's like, brought and he used, you know, on stage. There's a video of him on YouTube and he's using my words. They're all my words.
He used that wording on stage and he's giggling.
[01:50:52] Speaker A: Wow.
[01:50:53] Speaker B: He's having a conversation with the audience.
He goes, manuka Senegal. That was me that said he to him.
[01:51:01] Speaker A: Wow.
[01:51:12] Speaker B: And he used the whole scenario, the same wording I used. He used it on stage. You know, I've got a video yet. I am going to post that soon, but I've got to dig it out. I've actually got a video of sabura, Kotty, Surinder, Shinda, Muhammad, Siddiq, all of the guys. Yeah. In one room. And then on the Coventry gig. Yeah, I got late. I dropped Surinder, Shindar and Terseimov, who's used to manage Shinda in the UK, used to look after him as well. There were, like, family like. And I've been blessed by all these people around me and because I've known them since I was in abandoned, they've known me and we've got them kind of family oriented links. Yeah. So basically, I ain't gonna lie to bruv Surinder Shindar. Yeah. I walked into the hall and he seen me walking in. He stopped the whole show Goshenkhd. And it's all on camera, all on video. And he goes, drag me on stage, bro. And he said my name.
Imagine that being said about you in front of an audience packed out. That's paid tickets and people are talking about. And I don't even see that as an ego. It's a factual thing. I've got all of these records, even with Kaka Penny of on a true school and vouch for this.
We're sitting in my yard and Kaka's turned up. We've done his vocal. We just recorded his vocal on true school's album represent.
And we didn't think, I can come true school.
Me and Truscool's gone down the local chippy and got some chip chips and donor kebabs and drink share. Come back to my yard and we're waiting for Kaka. Kaka doesn't turn up until about 04:00. It's around about August time, August hot summers day. And he turns up with his cap on and he goes, yarmish.
And we said, it's the copy. True school guys. Next minute, I've got my camcorder up, the v eight, you know, tapes in there. I've got my camera, and I'm just randomly messing around with interview Kanye, just for us. Got through school sitting there.
I'm sitting there and another guy sitting next to me, and the cameras going like this, you know, like an interview. And I'm interviewing Kaka. The jokes the man said right through school, even remembers, you know, what true school goes. He goes, get that video transferred and sent over to me. We got undercover stuff that if we put it out in public. Yeah, well, I'm not even joking, bro. The world, I think, will go crazy because it shows reality of what artists are really like and how humble they are.
[01:54:32] Speaker A: Yeah. You got a digital?
Yeah, bro. You gotta digitize it. So get the video. I'm gonna get. I'm gonna get the equipment soon. So get the video and we get the video, and we turn it into like a.
[01:54:43] Speaker B: That's right. Yeah, that's. That's what I'm going to do. And I've really stored that, them tapes really carefully. I've got them really stored, like in a dry place, no magnetic field next to it, like speakers or anything. And I've kept them right. And I'll tell you what, if people seen that stuff, they'll realize he wasn't just a singer. He was a father. He was someone's husband. He was someone's son. And they got so much detail in there about his image, about his personality as a person. I met him that same week I met him. I radio himself. I've posted that video of me standing with him. And it was a winter's day. I met him. No, actually, he went back to India, then came back, and it was a winter's time. He was right about.
I think it was out a few weeks after Rokria, starting into winter, and he was feeling cold. And he's standing there with the scarf and a big coat on, and he bought skinny.
That's how much fight he had in him to the last day. He was singing.
Even when he was ill and told not to sing, he was in the UK recording, singing. I think he was ill on b two's, um, recording as well.
[01:56:07] Speaker A: Wow.
[01:56:08] Speaker B: Where he's wearing the white tracksuit.
You know, like. You know, like when I met Kaldeek, Monica. I met him after many years. About ten years later, I met him. He was a totally different person.
And that when it. When I went to shake hands and touch his feet like you do, you know, put an arm goody there, and he touched me and he looked at me, you know, touched me on my head and he looked at me and he goes.
And I got a picture of him randomly put my arm around him. And some guys taking a picture randomly or under.
[01:56:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:56:48] Speaker B: And. And these are the exciting times of being with these people. And I share it all the time with people because I think it's very important that, you know, when I see all these master sleems and all these other marshallese singing on stage, and they're walking around with 1520 bodyguards. Yeah. I'm thinking to myself, no one's gonna give a shit about you. No one's attacking you. You're just trying to make this personality think out that you need security. You're not Beyonce, you know? I mean, what are you doing? I'm looking at this. Then they're throwing all these bears in these temples of doom or whatever. Okay. You got that much money, why are you not feeling the green bumble?
It's all a show, bro. And it's all a wrong show. It's misleading. The public is misleading. The youngsters is telling a different story in India today, in the street. So they've got their political crap going on. And here we haven't even got a data where you can throw money here. You got to pick the money up.
And the problem is, none of the singers in the UK have ever. The only singer I could think of that's always given back to the public, to this day's Malikit Singh.
He's the only one I could think of that's always given back to the public. As in, he's put his hand in his pocket, gone to India, done a decent video, released a decent song, put it out there.
[01:58:20] Speaker A: What an artist. Mukhi.
Great artist.
[01:58:25] Speaker B: You know that? You know that, Kaliyya Nikola? I've heard that bully on someone's YouTube channel before he put it out there. These women in India, they make, you know, the brownie bazaar and, you know, the ladies, and they make out all these kidda bully up.
[01:58:39] Speaker A: Yes, yes, yes.
[01:58:41] Speaker B: And they make him so sick, right? Um, and he must have heard that hook line and gone along with it.
[01:58:49] Speaker A: There's so much, isn't there, like that.
[01:58:51] Speaker B: Every time YouTube has got information that people need to look at and they don't.
[01:58:56] Speaker A: Yeah. Do. Do you listen to, uh, uh, Sanctara's podcast?
[01:59:02] Speaker B: Who?
[01:59:03] Speaker A: Sanktar. You know, Moonwaric's his brother.
[01:59:06] Speaker B: No.
[01:59:12] Speaker A: But if you listen to his podcast is called the punjabi podcast.
[01:59:15] Speaker B: Okay.
[01:59:16] Speaker A: And on there, he's got this guy comes on there and he talks about the origins of each song. So you know the origin of certain song because we don't know where they come from. Like, you know, they've become for hundreds of years or we don't know where this bullies come from. He researches that. I'll send you afterwards. It's really interesting.
[01:59:35] Speaker B: See, but I don't. You know what it is with them guys? Yeah, they keep on coming here with like, oh, Punjab versa, 110. I think they're on now.
[01:59:44] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:59:45] Speaker B: And I'm bored with it. I'm sorry, but it's become boring. He reminds me of that. What's the other one's name? The one that dances.
[01:59:55] Speaker A: What? The one is come alive, bro.
[01:59:59] Speaker B: He reminds me of Robin.
[02:00:01] Speaker A: Who?
[02:00:03] Speaker B: Rotten Robin.
[02:00:04] Speaker A: Robin.
[02:00:05] Speaker B: Do you remember the kids program you used to have with the guy's hair all sticking up at the front with the long face?
Bro. I sent it to dummy and we couldn't stop laughing. He was like, bro, you cracked me up. I go, bro. He reminds me of that guy when he dances and pulls that face. That's how he looks, bro. You know, they're good or whatever, but they're not. They're not. They don't work here, you know, they don't, I don't know how to put this here because they're a bit complicated. They're not artists that I would go and pay a ticket for.
They just seem like three brothers that just thought, one day let's become artists. Well, mourn worries was, okay, yeah, back in the days, you know, on his own he was. And then they made this very sad thing. He's got so boring. I think they're on about 165 or some shit like that now, you know, and it's so boring, bro, because how many times can you go and see the same thing?
Even with good arsenal keys, all that now his time's over, bro, you know, he hasn't put out anything for the youngsters. Youngsters are not following his new stuff. Everything is put out as being a little bit politically engaged and, you know, I don't know, bro, I seen him live, you know, you could have seen half of his songs that he used to sing properly. And I thought to myself, what, you know, what's the point? You, you got a legacy. Live off your legacy, but don't wreck the legacy. And that's what a lot of these people are doing. They're wrecking it.
The wrecking it. Even with the UK artists coming out with these stupid songs, they're wrecking it. You know, they've got a good clean record. Leave it like that, man. Why, why do you need to do any more?
If you are going to do something, do something decent. That sounds expensive. Looks expensive.
The runoff to India, bro, for about a thousand rupees, right? They get music done for another thousand rupees. We're on about just under one lakh at the end of day after food and drink share and they come back with the video and a song and they think they made it and it sounds old school. That's the word.
And then they, they got the nerve to criticize people like myself.
Show me your new school year.
Everybody using their older, changing, converting them here and there using different words. Let me tell you, even with um, uh, siddhul Musa, allah bless his soul. Yeah, even his stuff. Yeah, some of the lyrics he used was very old school. Like they bear that pot and stuff like that. They've already been used. Them wordings are just forgotten.
They've already been used, bro. All that wording has already been used.
And you know, he's put it in a new fashionable way for the youngsters and people are latching on to that and understanding it, which is a great thing. And this is what I'm saying, that he put his work into it. The ethics of work was already there. He was doing a great job. Siddhu, siddhul muse wallah. Like I said, bless his soul. He started a new trend and that's what was missing. And that trend came into the UK. It went to Canada, everywhere. And unfortunately, he's had a, you know, he's not with us no longer and bless him, like, you know, he come up with some real, like, solid production, solid songs, solid melodies. Wording was accurate once more. Word explained. 50 gullah. Can you see what I mean?
And it changed the game.
[02:03:40] Speaker A: Didn't you change the environment?
[02:03:42] Speaker B: Yeah. And that's what's missing. Even with Karanodjula. Yeah. With this song, half of the people don't even know who Lalaria is.
Do you know what Lalaria is?
[02:03:55] Speaker A: It's a person that colors the clothes.
[02:03:58] Speaker B: Yeah. The copper. Yeah, yeah.
Is a very old punjabi folk world, because back in them days, the copper they used to make, it was print color, so it was, it was, it was dip culling.
And the lyrics are talking about that particular subject, which is great with the modernized twist to it.
And that's the kind of stuff that people want and that's what they listen to, which is fine. But at the end of the day, the UK people have. We have a versatile industry where we could drop tracks, and when we drop track share, it's all about you, you know, you as an artist or producer, how you put that stuff out there. But the problem we got, and the problem that remains and it sustains is we don't get the support.
Did you know 90% of the dealers that put songs out, they're not even existing anymore, because I realize that we're wasting our money.
So what's happened to the industry? The indie artists no longer release songs here, producers from here, whereas there was a company and they used to sell the locals from India to all the other producers and everyone was getting on it, whereas myself, I've never done that.
Anyone I work with is a one to one direct contact.
Like now I'm going to deal with the boogie and I'm going to be releasing a lot of this stuff, my next catalogs. There's be a lot of Sono stuff coming out of Dunvin Googie and I'm already working on some major, major stuff with him.
And he's a. He's a wicked singer, but forgotten about because he's not been able to get back in the industry because of finances and difficulties of where people left him. You know, he gave vocals to someone else. That agent took the vocals of solo to dj's and everyone else here. The contracts are all expired because he goes, I only signed five years. This is now going back 1516 years. And now I told him, songs are not going to work here, which means more work.
[02:06:17] Speaker A: Yeah.
[02:06:19] Speaker B: You know, bro, it's a very hard industry.
[02:06:22] Speaker A: It's almost been 2 hours. It's been absolutely amazing chatting with you.
[02:06:28] Speaker B: Time is nothing compared to experiences and what people need to know, because a lot of people make their own scenarios and stories up about people like myself. They don't know me. I'll tell you, nobody knows me the way true school and WMC knows me.
[02:06:44] Speaker A: I say bladely because it, in my.
[02:06:48] Speaker B: Opinion, med dala pani roti pani mahapra tibuna.
[02:06:59] Speaker A: Amazing.
[02:07:00] Speaker B: I'll stop the studio work, get straight into the kitchen, and I'll cook nice food, and the lads will tell you, I do it all the time for this is great.
[02:07:10] Speaker A: That's what I mean, it's gonna be.
[02:07:11] Speaker B: Because you know what I've always said? Yeah. You don't have to be a good chef to make a curry. What you need is the knowledge. The knowledge is where the matas and the swaddies. And what we got a problem with here is people don't want to use that knowledge anymore. They just want the quick box. Get out of here. Bang. I've seen artists coming over to me with real crap songs. Yeah. And then I've refused them. They've still gone away, done the same crap, done a video, and then they've come back and said, what do you think of that? You already heard what I think of it when I rejected it. What part of that don't you understand?
[02:07:47] Speaker A: Yeah, so, bro, we're just gonna wrap up now. So I normally ask, as I said, this is this podcast about musical excellence. So what advice would you give to any musician, any singer to pursue? Get excellent in music like yourself.
[02:08:05] Speaker B: It doesn't matter what you're doing. Learn a little bit. I'm only talking about a very small fraction to learn something. Yeah, learn on YouTube. There's so many different aspects of learning something about music. I'm gonna use the word something in a very wide scope. Yeah. There's something for everybody to learn, something to come into the game. Don't just become a singer just because your mum said you, you sound good in the bathroom. You know, you might have a song, but the dicky stuck somewhere. And, you know, you might sound good with that, but don't come up with that, you know, come up with good stuff, come up with new melodies, make your melodies. They don't have to be great. They could be great when they go to a producer, spend some money, spend the right money with the right producers. There's plenty out there. I'm not saying come to me, but if you want good stuff, come to me, you know, why not?
[02:08:59] Speaker A: Absolutely, bro.
[02:09:00] Speaker B: I wouldn't mess around. I'd give quality and I wouldn't give quantity, I'd give quality and that's where the big cue comes into it, you know, quantize the music, make it good. I've learned, I've learned a lot of skills from people at Punjab BMC, through language, through, through communication. Not even doing anything practical by asking the right questions, you learn a lot. You know, there's certain elements of music that not everyone knows. You might learn something and then if you ask the right, right question, you can learn that a bit more better what you thought you already learned because now you're working on it one step higher, you understand the steps for everybody. You might be a keyboard player but you might not be the best keyboard player, but you, you, there might be something that you might show me that I think is great. That skill needs to be expanded on and I've heard it. Let's expand on it, brother. I'm talking, you only need a small pinch to start progressing. And, and also encouragement is a big failure in our industry where people are not encouraged enough.
They don't get the right encouragement from the right people.
They look up to a lot of people, the ones that want to get in the gate but looking up to someone and then that somebody that's up there is not giving you that encouragement. It breaks your heart, bro. I'm sat in big meeting room, Jay, with big labels, I'm talking gora labels as well, where we've sat there for like 2 hours. Bukay nungi is the word I would use. Yeah. Waiting. A lot of dogs, you know that they're going to give us a deal. Let's see what, what offer we could get. Let's see what we can get. And then they come out of the office after they've had a refund, maybe even a shower and, you know, gone out for a hot chocolate and crap. Yeah. And they come back and tell us we rejected. That doesn't mean to say you're rejected because they said that just means they don't like your stuff. Okay? You take it somewhere else to another couple of guys and they're gonna love your stuff.
You know, people are very discouraged and they very quick to complain about omena.
How about doing it yourself then and realizing the steps? And if you are going to realize the steps, learn them as well.
Bro, it's not easy because I've never said the game's easy. I've never said anything after it's been easy. It's never easy. But at the end of the day, you gotta, you gotta be able to, you know, join a few things or join the missing link and start making a chain of productivity. And I believe I've done that. I'm a prime example of that alongside many of the artists.
What label was I with? Natural Records. After that, he never done Jack for me. After five years, I was sitting, waiting and waiting. I pulled out my next album, my next album, single after single, and I carried on. And now I'm at a stage where people that don't listen to that, my music, eventually they're finding they have to listen to my music because I've created an industry. Where is my industries, my circle? I've not got into no one else's circle, you understand? I've not dwelled into using someone's name to get my stuff out of there.
I've never used Punjab BMC or true school or any other artist I know. You know, anybody I know, loads of people have not used them as my headliners. For me to get on a ladder, they've always been beneath me.
[02:12:47] Speaker A: Bro, thank you so much. So, guys, that was my big brother, Rod Jasuldisi, dark child. And, bro, it's been an absolute pleasure. Honestly, I've enjoyed it because what we got to do next time I'm in Warwick Roy, I'm going to. I'm going to give you a ring and we're going to get some food. All right?
[02:13:04] Speaker B: Yeah, man, come down. Definitely.
[02:13:06] Speaker A: We'll. After work one day, we'll get some.
[02:13:09] Speaker B: Definitely something in it.
[02:13:12] Speaker A: Yeah, we'll have some food. Because you know what?
I personally feel like I've sat with my big brother, sat and he's told me about all his life stories. That's. That's the vibe I've got from you, bro.
[02:13:24] Speaker B: You know, I'm like, I'm getting old now. And the thing is, you know, the experience has been non stop. And every day I get up, there's something new. There's a new sort of hurdle I've got to come.
[02:13:36] Speaker A: Yeah.
[02:13:36] Speaker B: And go over. There's something new that I'm meeting. I'm making contact with that many singers directly.
Some are good, some are poor. And some when I mean, you, when I use the word poor, I mean, financially, they can't even get money in their phone because they've been that hard. Done, bye. And then I'm there helping oman. I'm thinking to myself, in a way, I'll be blessed to help these people.
And I do do my hardest, you know, I work my hardest to make sure everyone's, like, getting a chance. Even with umar, he wasn't a rich guy. He was just the average household and his hustle was music. And nobody ever promised him an album, not even one album. So I said, I'll do the album. You come up with the goods, I'll come up with the melodies. We work together.
That's now ended up as two albums plus singles I got. And, you know, unfortunately, he's not here with us to see this, but his family is there. They're always like, messaging me, his daughters, his son, his wife, and they're always messaging me, keeping in touch, which is a nice thing. And because a lot of people, once they go, nobody keeps in touch with them. So, you know, I've had that link with them and basically I've kept them up to date and they've heard the album and stuff like that and they're very proud and pleased that, you know, I've carried their dad's wishes and I'm still carrying on with that. So I feel great doing that, you know? Yeah, man.
[02:15:15] Speaker A: Absolutely. So, guys, where can we catch you, bro, on social media?
What?
[02:15:22] Speaker B: Can you just look out for the posters? Look out for the new album singles. The new album is called Alcohol volume two.
If you haven't got volume one, you could go on iTunes and look it up under Desi Dodge, our records.
It's all them. And so please spot good music like myself.
[02:15:41] Speaker A: And where can people follow you on social media?
[02:15:45] Speaker B: Yeah. Followers on Roger Slash facebook.com 731 follow me on the there. Follow me on TikTok, desi.com. follow me wherever you want to follow me because make sure if you want any questions answering, make sure you inbox me and I'll try and, you know, answer and reply to you as soon as I can. And everyone, you know, support, support good music. That's all I'm saying. And any new artists that are struggling, please get in touch. I'm happy to help you.
I'm happy to produce something for you if we could work on it. If we can't, I'll tell you straight. So, yeah, man, just keep it all locked, keep it freshen.
[02:16:31] Speaker A: And guys and that's absolutely legit because every time I've chatted to Buddy, he's messaged me straight away. There's never been any, any, like, you know, oh, I'm too big for this person. That's not how Buddy is. Great. Yeah. So, guys, also, if you leave a review, if you. If, as Budgie said, just follow him on his socials and check out the new album coming out as well. And if you leave a review, if it's. If it's bad, leave it for me. If it's good, leave it for buddy, right?
[02:17:06] Speaker B: It should be all good, man. Should be all good. Everyone just support everyone. Life's too short, you know, just get out good music and enjoy what we got. Unless, uh, you know, at the end of the day, with what's going on around the world, we're not living in a. In a steady world. We're living in a very fragile times. And for our children and for our punjabi culture, the last thing we want to do is be challenging one another, whereas we've got enough challenges in life as it is financially burdens people that need your help. Go out there and help them. The way I look at it, I've heard a lot of hidden talent in the UK and I'm pressing for that talent that if you're not getting the support, please contact me and I'm happy to help you as much as I can. I will try and I hope you just get in touch.
[02:17:53] Speaker A: Absolutely, guys. So thank you so much. I'm going to stop the record button and keep the conversation going, but thank you so much for listening and as always, I'll see you in two weeks time. Bless you, guys.
