MUMBAI: Composer and music producer Biddu, who is considered one of the pioneers of the indie-pop music was conferred the 5th Jack Daniels Lifetime Achievement Award on Friday evening in Mumbai.
The 60 plus musician shuttles between London and Spain and is currently in India to promote his autobiographical work ‘Made in India’
After scoring for Bollywood, pioneering the indie pop scene in the early 1990s and also making a name for himself in the west for the popular song Kung Fu Fighting, Biddu has turned to writing. Incidentally, the veteran music producer will be touring with his band in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore to promote his new book.
On being asked what made him turn to writing after years of music practice, Biddu says, “I needed to do something different – after all, I have been making music for the last five decades.”
‘Made in India’, which was published recently gives an account of Biddu’s journey as an ambitious musician who wished to break in the western music world in the times when it was considered an impossible task
“There were many people who advised me against leaving India because travelling itself was a big concern – it was almost impossible – I had hitchhiked and travelled through the Middle East – which was a complete desert,” recalls the musician
Biddu struck gold when he signed the unknown singer Carl Douglas and produced the nine million selling â€?Kung Fu Fighting’. It went on to become no.1 in every country in the world. This was followed by a series of hits for himself as the Biddu Orchestra, with songs like â€?Summer of 42′ and â€?Rainforest’. He also wrote and produced a string of hits for Tina Charles and soul legend Jimmy James with â€?I Love to Love’, â€?Dance Little Lady’, â€?I’ll Go Where The Music Takes Me’ and â€?Now Is The Time’ among others
With the times changing, Biddu says, “Now breaking into the western music scene is relatively easier – but the competition remains strong as ever- you compete with the best from the world once you are out there,” he accentuates.
Besides collaborating in the west, Biddu also gave some notable hits like ‘Aap Jaisa Koi’ for the Hindi film Qurbani, and of course galvanizing the pop music scene by breaking artistes like Alisha Chinai and Shaan.
So does the experienced music producer feel that the current set of independent artistes have it in them to break into the west? Not yet, he says, “Indian bands and artistes are good, but they still need to improve. They need to spend more time in some good songwriting.” However, he also admits that many times, shortage of funds comes in the way of musicians wanting to cut a good album.
But music is not just about artistes – the vision of music labels and the music industry in totality matters. “Sadly, there’s no music ‘industry’ here – labels always do their own thing – rules and regulations are never followed,” he points out
With his new found love of writing, Biddu quips, “I have divorced music for while.” His next written work, a novel, will be released in September 2010.