MUMBAI: British Bhangra pop star Stereo Nation (aka Taz aka Tarsame Singh Saini) has been at the forefront of the evolution of the Indi-pop as he formed the Stereo Nation band way back in 1996. Now, the veteran of UK’s Indi-pop circuit is composing music for an upcoming Bollywood film- ‘The City That Never Sleeps’. Stereo Nation (SN) updates Radionandmusic.com’s Zuala Chhangte on the pop scene in the UK and his Bollywood project.
Excerpts:
What is your role in the film- ‘The City that Never Sleeps’? How did you bag the project?
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I was approached by the producer Satish Reddy through a mutual friend. I found the project extremely interesting and the challenge appealed to me. I am composing two promotional item songs for the film and will also feature in the movie.
Tell us about the Indi-pop scene in UK? Has the recession slowed down entertainment- especially among the Indian diaspora?
The UK music scene is thriving with new talent and has always made a huge impact on Bollywood. Musically, the urban ‘Bhangra hip- hop’ scene is where it’s at in terms of what people are listening to.
The big challenge is that the Internet and file sharing has destroyed the consumers appetite to buy original CDs’ and thus recording companies have faced very bad times and in most cases gone bankrupt.
How is the concert/ live performance circuit in the UK as compared to India?
The live scene in my opinion is not that big compared to India. There is more of a club culture amongst the youth as opposed to concerts. What we have in the UK that is popular across the country in the summers is the ‘Mela Season’ (outdoor cultural festivals) and this gives artists a good platform to strut their stuff.
How ingrained are Indian artists as performers or musicians in the UK music industry. Are they contributing to the overall Brit pop sound or are they marginalized?
Music is something that has no boundaries and is a universal language. I guess lot of the young talent is heavily influenced by American RnB and hip-hop artists who amalgamated with the Indian flavour and introduced new Asian urban sound. David Guetta’s thumping dance floor sound is also having an impact on young Asian artists in terms of influence. The problem we face in the UK is that a lot of the youngsters can’t really speak their mother tongue very well as sad as it sounds. Therefore this has a knock on effect in terms of becoming a barrier when it comes to voicing songs. Punjabi bhangra is the core sound that rocks even to this date in all functions and clubs and usually the vocals are acquired from India and remix producers do the rest. The Asian music scene is an individual movement and does not really have an impact of any sort on the British pop sound.
Is Stereo Nation planning any concerts in India soon?
Currently I am composing for a number of projects including ‘The Tale That Wags The Dog’. Apart from that, we are planning an all India tour – ‘A Live Stereo Nation Hits Tour’ tentatively for next year, which will coincide with the release of my next album.
You are one of the artistes to be inducted in the Coventry Music Wall of Fame. How does it feel?
It is an ecstatic feeling to be heralded and honoured for my contribution to the music industry worldwide. For any artist it has to be one of the accolades that will stay close to their hearts always. I also dedicate it to my fans who have stuck by me over the last 24 years. I must admit that it did come as a big surprise as I had no idea about it and I guess that kind of makes it that much more special. Since the nomination is on the basis of public voting, I owe this to my fans as I received an overwhelming number of votes.
