Shaanti Celebrates 20 Year’s Of The Asian Undeground!
Shaanti Celebrates 20 Years of the Asian Underground Scene with Farook Shamsher from Joi Sound System, Osmani Soundz, Ges-E from Nasha Collective, DJ Ritu (Outcaste Records/Sister India), Hami from Transglobal Underground Live, Aki from Fun-Da-Mental and guest Ministry of Dhol + more.
To celebrate 20 Years of the Asian Underground scene, Shaanti are hosting a special event in London. On Saturday 28th May, the multi-winning team will take over the Bedroom Bar, with three music pioneers who changed music history!
During the ’90s and the early 2000s, the Asian Underground scene ignited in the UK. Second generation Asian British youth, fighting for a sense of community and identity, created their own nightlife movement. Combining classic Indian music with modern dance beats and later, electro, drum & bass, these pioneers created an underground culture that both paid homage to their Southeast Asian heritage.
This unique blend of traditional Indian and Pakistani music with modern electronic synths was captured by Joi Bangla, Blackstar Liner, Fun-Da-Mental, State of Bengal, Earthtribe, Osmani Soundz, Ges-E, DJ Ritu (Outcaste Records/ Sister India), ADF and many more as well as Talvin Singh’s seminal 1997 compilation Anokha – Soundz of the Asian Underground.
To mark this iconic occasion, Shaanti are proud to present:
Farook Shamsher from Joi Soundsystem
Joi, the pioneering outfit formed by Haroon and Farook Shamsher,Joi Bangla Sound System in the mid- Eighties, spinning records in local youth clubs around the Brick Lane area of London.
In the early Nineties, Joi’s Deep Asian Vibes sessions at the Bass Clef in London sometimes featured their fellow DJs Andy Weatherall and Alex Patterson of The Orb and spread the vibe further. A legendary appearance at the Astoria in London even featured the future Ginger Spice Geri Halliwell as a dancer.
By 1998, Joi had done over 1,500 gigs as a sound system. They made the transition from featuring their own dat tapes to gigging as a fully-fledged band with the addition of the vocalist Susheela Raman, the guitarist Vik Sharma and the percussionist Bongo Paul. Having played Womad and Tribal Gathering and supported Spiritualized on tour Sessions on Radio One, XFM, GLR and Kiss FM helped the debut album, One and One is One with Real World Records, earn great critical acclaim
DJ Ritu (Outcaste Records/Sister India)
DJ Ritu began her career as a ‘pop’ music DJ in 1986. She attracted the attention of new ‘global beats’ club ‘ASIA’ in Islington and this propelled her into the ‘world music’ scene. Gaining in reputation as an ‘Asian music’ expert she began touring abroad, frequently becoming the first DJ to introduce Asian sounds in many countries, while guesting at legendary clubs in the UK such as The Mambo Inn.
In 1994, she co-founded Outcaste Records, and signed Nitin Sawhney and Badmarsh (&Shri). She instigated ‘Club Outcaste’ and compiled the label’s first two compilation CDs. Ritu became resident at the UK’s first ever weekly Asian club – Bombay Jungle.
After performing at world music conferences like WOMEX in the 90s, Ritu was commissioned to create her first band, The Asian Equation. Sister India – Ritu’s 2nd band was born out of The Asian Equation, but with a stronger female focus, and gained a cult following worldwide.
With solo DJ bookings and intense band activity Ritu has toured from Istanbul to Cape Town, and performed at venues from the Royal Festival Hall to WOMAD festival. She has compiled numerous albums for The Rough Guides and contributes to various publications – Songlines, Eastern Eye, Rough Guide To World Music books, etc.. Her career has been one of many firsts. She remains a pioneer in every respect.
Aki from Fun-Da-Mental
Back in the 1980s, Bradford born Aki Nawaz was known as the mysterious drummer in a gothic punk band called Southern Death Cult. After the end of Southern Death Cult in the mid-80s, Nawaz moved to London and set up Nation Records, a label to house multicultural music with a focus on a youth audience, and consequently formed the rap group Fun-Da-Mental. They were dubbed “the Asian Public Enemy” by the British press, and forged a sound from a mixture of Pakistani, South African and Siberian influences to make politically charged tracks that blended rap, punk, fusion and bhangra, targeted at a youth audience. Throughout the 90s, he became an early champion of fusion acts like Transglobal Underground and Asian Dub Foundation.
Whether you’re into 90’s ragga, hip-hop, rare groove and R&B, or fancy a bit of drum-and-bass and Eastern breaks with Indian instruments or a bit of Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’ remixed into a banging Dhol drumming beat? Shaanti will take you back into time to celebrate a legacy that deserves to have its volume pumped up. With culture’s ever-reliable 20-year cycle, it now seems as good a time as any to take a look back and celebrate the original pioneers that did it first.
Osmani Soundz & Ges-E from Nasha Records
Hami from Transglobal Underground
This ever-changing maverick London collective has been fearlessly internationalist ever since they first popped up on the London dance scene two decades ago. Their early records fused elements of Asian, African and oriental music with contemporary Western electronica.
The core duo of Hamilton Lee and Tim Whelan have won both world- and dance-music awards. Their last album, A Gathering of Strangers, featured artists from Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Ireland, Denmark, France and the Czech Republic – good experience for the task of assembling a cast of musicians from each of the Gulf states.
The night will also be supported by Ministry of Dhol live and special guests.
Shaanti is one of UKs premier music company, hosting weekly line-ups of the foremost names in British Asian dance music. Sharnita K Athwal and Manga are known for producing the Eastern Electronic Festival – their not-for-profit music development festival supported by the Arts Council – and the infamous Holi Rave Festival in Birmingham. Shaanti also produced a pop-up online TV Music Channel, Shaanti.TV, home to live music shows and highly-respected mix DJ mix series. www.shaanti.co.uk
Bedroom Bar, www.bedroom-bar.co.uk, 10pm-3.oopm. Tickets £5 Advance can be brought here.
