Jalebee Cartel has challenged the notion that dance music is a Western domain, by single-handedly putting India on the international EDM map.
Composed of four members, Arjun Vagale (laptop, mixing and scratching), Ashvin Mani Sharma (laptop and synths), Ash Roy (vocals and percussions) and G-force Arjun (backing vocals and bass), Jalebee has been taking India by storm for over three years – apart from India, Jalebee Cartel also has significant number of international fan base. The group has had original releases and more than 20 remixes on various international labels and support from various artistes like Tiesto and Hernan Cattaneo. Besides this, the group is also endorsing brands like Gibson and Adidas.
The past year has been Jalebee Cartel’s most massive year with live performances at festivals like Perrier Chill Out Festival (Dubai) 2008, C/O Pop Festival 2008 (Germany) and gigs around Korea, Indonesia and Bahrain. Jalebee Cartel’s ‘Destiny’ too was voted Best Sunset Soundtrack on BBC this year.
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With a first official music video release of ‘Tough cookie’ and a long awaited full length album in the pipeline, the buzz around Jalebee Cartel is on the rise.
Excerpts of a conversation the band members had with Chirag Sutar –
What was the idea behind the ‘Tough Cookie’ video? It has lot of graphics, so any message there?
The video, in many ways, showcases us – Jalebee Cartel as a band and also us (and everybody associated with the band) as individuals. Everybody has his own crazy self and that is quite evident in the video. As far as messages in the video are concerned, well, it’s open for each person to interpret the video for themselves.
The graphical content is similar to that used by electronic music producers / DJs during their concerts.
One of the main reasons the video is the way it looks is the fact that we love technology, we love innovation… well, simply put; we want to push the limits with everything we do. The idea of having this video is not because “Hey, it’s cool because other guys have videos”, but because of the process involved – Cutting edge innovation, extreme creativity, crazy gaming sessions which led to certain scenes in the video… all so etched in our heads.
I believe this is Jalebee Cartel’s first official video. Why did it take you so long? Were you waiting for the right track to make a video?
We’ve been working on the video with Bharat Sikka for nearly two years now. Yeah, sure it’s been long… but I guess it’s totally been worth the wait…. hasn’t it?
How did the collaboration with Bharat Sikka happen?
Bharat is a dear friend and an absolute genius. He has made this happen almost single- handedly. He wanted to do something mad, and we jumped onto it. I guess we always knew that the outcome was going to be something extraordinary with him at the helm.
‘Tough Cookie’ has also been chosen as a theme for Nokia Navigator, How does Jalebee Cartel view this collaboration with Nokia?
We were working on the TV commercial with Nokia for the Navigator ad, it was around the same time when the track was produced. The track seemed to fit really well with the commercial, one thing led to another, and there it was, on TV sitting behind a Navigator handset!
Which record label has the rights for the track?
Tough Cookie is signed with Mak.Tub Music. In fact, the EP (Smartminds vs Jalebee Cartel EP) is all set to hit online stores globally soon.
When can the Jalebee Cartel fans expect it to watch it on television?
The video has been playing on VH1 since Sunday, we’re all really excited!
Jalebee Cartel has certainly made dance music bigger and better. What do you think really makes Jalebee Cartel’s music stand out?
You are only as good as your last gig! For us, it’s more about having a good time. I mean, if we don’t have a good time producing/playing/performing a track, how can the people have a good time? Right? To top it all, we love playing with our sound… I guess, it can be safely said that we don’t like anything that’s a constant.
Your future projects…
We’ve been working on our album of late. Getting in some good material. Apart from that, just been gigging like crazy in different parts of the country and the world. We’re heading to Amsterdam on 29 November 2008 to play at the Amsterdam India Festival!!
