TIGERSTYLE - THE INTERVIEW - EXCLUSIVE - PART 1*****

[Amrikingh]

Kiddah Pops… Happy New Year and Happy Gurpurab, vadiayah tinoo!

Ok then…

1. Give us a brief introduction to the people out there who don’t know what Tigerstyle is about?

We are a music production outfit. We predominantly make Bhangra music, although we like to dable in other genres and try new things.

We feel we bring something very different to the table than other artists do, including the authenticity and unique quality of sound, political awareness, cultural weight and imagery.

2. Where did you learn the instrumental skills that you’ve now got, such as playing tabla, dhol, dhad, tumbi etc…?

Our main training has been in Tabla, which we learned classically at a young age from our Ustad, Vijay Kangutkar, who was originally from Bombay and settled in Glasgow some years ago. From that knowledge, I picked up dholki, dhad and tumbi myself. Dhol was taught to me firstly by Jojo, who used to play for the Glasgow based Bhangra band Bombay Talkie, and then later my good friend Sukhi set up and ran the official Dhol Foundation classes for Jonny Kalsi in Glasgow, where I learnt a lot.

3. Where did the idea of calling yourself Tigerstyle come from?

I think artists go through a lot of ideas when thinking of a name. We didn’t really think about it at all. At the time we were running a local roadshow sound system under the name “Desi Bombsquad Djsâ€, cheesey I know! We had a few shows on local radio, including one which was a 60 min continuous Drum n Bass mix with old skool Desi tracks dropped in over the top of them beats. The show was named “Enta tha Jungle….Tigerstyleâ€. We had touched base with Panjabi MC about getting into production and one time we linked him and passed him a tape recording of some tracks we had worked on. On the flip side was a recording of a mix I’d done for the radio show. The label read “Tigerstyleâ€, so he asked “is that what u guys call urself?â€. From then it jus kinda stuck with us.

I think with the traditional Sikh background we have and the views we push forth, the name jus fits. Tigerstyle is a form of Kung fu, it has a link to a martial tradition and Indian origin, and so does our Sikh background. We approach our work aggressively and work on our strategy, and we’re very conscious of what we are doing most of the time. So yeah, I think the name goes well. I think we were one of the first Bhangra acts to come out with a branding, in the form of a logo which the public could identify with. This logo has received a huge response from all over, so we most definitely feel the name and logo are an integral part of our success so far.

4. People portray you as ruffnecks “ I don’t give a f*** sort of attitudeâ€, how did you guys establish that sort of reputation?

I think people have preconceptions. I also think we are very simple people, we don’t like complications and this is somehow seen by some people as us being difficult or us having an attitude problem. We are from a totally different area than most Bhangra crews (being from Scotland), we have a different background, we have a totally different way of life, so you must appreciate that and I feel people should not judge others, without knowing them properly.

We haven’t had the smoothest or best experience with the Bhangra industry so far. Everything we’ve built in the last 4 years after leaving Kismet Records is our own hard work and a result of our determined approach. We are very protective of that, so in someways it might seem as though we are ruffnecks, and we might come across rude. But to be honest, we have every right to protect our intellectual property and go about our business the way we see fit.

I just hope the public can look past what they read on certain forums and websites and judge us by our music and how we carry ourselves in person.

5. What do your parents think of your music career, thumbs up?

Yeah, the folks have been supportive, I wouldn’t say from day one as there have been times when they have become disillusioned, but they do support. I think every parent wants their child to do well and not get into something which is gonna waste their “make or break†years. If it wasn’t for the push from our parents we wouldn’t have even got into music at all. We wouldn’t have a record collection if it wasn’t for them and they have supported us through our time building our business to what we have today

6. Who are your main influences in the music industry past and present?

There are so many influences. We listen to a lot of Punjabi folk music from 70s/80s. a lot of Charanjit Ahuja production, artists like Gurdas Maan, Kuldip Manak, Surinder Shinda, Chamkila, Mohd. Sadiq, Surinder Kaur and Narinder Biba etc etc.

At the same time we listen to a lot of western music, Hiphop music like Dre, Cube, Snoop, Timbaland, Missy, Neptunes, and some experimental music too like Gorillaz, The Prodigy, Leftfield, some Ninja Tunes material, and some Drum and Bass. Right now we’ve been listenin to a lot of Damian Marley. I have a bit of a Bob Marley collection and I bought Damian’s first album and this latest Jamrock album is amazing.

We’re also feeling the latest material coming out of India. Stuff like Nachhatar Gill, Amrinder Gill, Manmohan Waris, Kamal Heer, Hans Raj Hans and Debi Maksoospuri.

It’s good to see you have sealed the deal with the makers of Project Gotham Racing 3 on the Xbox 360.

7. Which songs are featured on the game?

The songs from our forthcoming album featured on the game are:

“Maan doabe da†featuring vocals by an up and coming singer from Punjab called Amrik Babbal. The track is about the people from the region of Doaba, which infact is the region we originally come from. So it’s a very personal track for us.

“Akh mastani†which features Labh Janjua, and “Bol bol bol [boliyan]†which is a traditional track sung by a female vocalist called Rimpi from Punjab.

The forthcoming album will have revised versions of these tracks. We’re working hard to make sure what we present in the album is completely fresh.

8. What can we expect from your forthcoming album?

I think the public expectations are very high to begin with. And I can’t knock that! We have a strong body of material in the form of Mixtapes, White Labels and Remixes for big name acts like Raghav, Ms Dynamite and Lisa Maffia in circulation since we left Kismet back in 2002. The amount of media support has been totally awesome. I cant and wouldn’t know where to start in thanking the likes of Adil Ray, Bobby Friction and Nihal, and Markie Mark for their continued support on the BBC. And also all the presenters of the regional stations like Club Asia, Kiss, Raaj and Sabras Radio.

Since Bhangra came into the limelight of British Urban Music back in 2003, we have been on this journey to take the next step forward. Hopefully we’re nearing that moment, or at least working towards it in some way with the support of the Bhangra buying public.

The album features a lot of creative people. We can’t thank them enough. We have managed to tie up features with the most sought after Bhangra vocalists. The likes of Kaka Bhainiwala, Labh Janjua and Lembher Hussainpuri are on the album. We have worked with our very own first signed artist under Soldier Sound Recordings, Bikram Singh, who’s own album “American Jugni†has made a mark as his chart busting debut. Also, we have worked with our good friends Asian Empire, UK Apache and Gunjan.

No doubt in the coming weeks we will be tying up some more features as the label, Nachural Records, liases with companies in different territories, completing our package. So stay tuned……….

9. What is the album going to be called?

We never name an album before its completion, it just doesn’t make sense to us. So the name will manifest once we have a finished product.

10. So is Lembher Hussanpuri on the new album?

He is!!! We have a recording from Lembher which is from when he first started gaining appeal in the UK, we just never released it. There was a small low quality clip of the track in its unfinished state which some sad b*stard recorded off a radio station when we played a small section of it in a live mix we done. But yeh, he is an amazing artist and he has so much capability, but I think he has been over exposed in the UK now by below average producers. Our track with him is something very different from what he has done with other producers and is well suited to our outlook.

11. The Bikram Singh album has been a real success and good feedback from the web users. The duet with Gunjan Singh and Bikram Singh was just an amazing on the track “Kawaâ€, who’s idea was that?

The track is Bikram’s own concept. He wrote the lyrics and melody to the track. We recorded his parts back in 2003 I think, when he came over to Glasgow to record his album. At the time we didn’t have a female singer so the tune was put on hold.

We then revisited the song once we got hold of Gunjan and recorded some tracks with her in a studio in London.

The song is significant because first of all it’s written by the artist himself, it’s his own creativity and thought process which has lead to such a big song. Secondly it’s the type of track, a duet, which has disappeared in some ways from the fabric of Bhangra music in recent years. We see artists like Nachhatar Gill & Jaspinder Narula in India trying to revive it in their own form, but in general the whole duet concept has been lost in Bhangra for quite some time.

12. It’s good to see duets, which are properly done…many more to come perhaps?

Bikram Singh is now working on some further material of this sort for his forthcoming project aswell as a feature on Gunjan’s forthcoming album which we are also involved in.

13. I heard Bikram Singh actually produced most of the written material for the album?

True or False?

Read the album credits on the CD sleeve. A break down of who wrote, composed and performed on the tracks is there. Bikram did infact write a lot of his own material, and it is that aspect of his talent that lead us to make the decision to sign him as a recording artist and work with him in a larger capacity.

14. Did you work along side Ravi Bal when producing the album?

No. Ravi Bal was working in his own studio on the 3 tracks which he has completed for the album. Bikram recorded for Ravi and worked with him in Birmingham. We did not have any influence over his work. I think he has done a phenomenal job on the album. However we did supply the lyrics to “Kei katal hongay†for Bikram to record with Ravi, which is written by Aman, a good friend of ours from Glasgow.

15. Will we see more Gunjan on your albums to come or maybe a Gunjan album?

Gunjan has recorded for our forthcoming album as I mentioned earlier. We are now in talks with her to produce on her forthcoming album alongside some other big-name producers from the UK Asian Music scene.

She has also agreed to feature on Bikram’s next album and Blitzkrieg’s Asian Empire album which is in the making.

16. The two mixtapes were also successful, I especially liked the dhol vajda 2004 mix, and will we see another mixtape 3 (final)?

Im not sure. Our efforts right now are focussed on completing the official album. Also, with BPI stepping in and investigation the scene I think we should really be focussing on tryna take things forward with original music. The remixes and stuff is all good for live DJ sets, its something exciting to play out, but in terms of releases, I’m not so sure that they are positive for the scene.

We might do some sort of promotional campeign from our website at some point, giving away free copies of the third mixtape with every sale from the online store or something. Nothing is decided yet tho.

17. Will some of the bootlegs like Punjabi Lean Back be featured in a future releases or you can’t because of the BPI stamping out people using another persons material?

Like I said these mixes were predominantly for our DJ set and radio play. We have no intention of clearing the sample and releasing the track.

18. Do you think its good they can’t use other people samples because now it shows which artists show their true improvisations in bhangra. Its something, which we as Punjabi’s can call a proper Punjabi bhangra song rather then relying on a dr dre beat with abit of dhol and tumbi & lembher on vocals… do you agree?

Yeh I do agree to an extent. I think they are harmless remixes if treated that way. The Asian labels need to stop trying to make a fast buck out of the most fashionable beat. Instead, it is a good idea to utilise the mixes for promotional purposes like how artists do in other genres.

19. What are your views on piracy? Most of the listener views are supporting it is because artists think they can get away with selling a CD for £10 when they’ve only put there efforts into one main track?

I think this is an excuse!! There is no reason whatsoever to pirate someone elses work. If u don’t feel its worth the cash, don’t touch it, don’t buy it, don’t download it either!! Once the crap albums stop selling people will stop making them. But if all albums are ripped and shared then the scene will continue to get run down as the good artists wont be able to afford to continue their work.

Support the artists u respect in sales!! Request their songs on radio, go see them at gigs. It’s the only way an artist can be sustained in this field.

It’s good to see you have recently put a remix of Kawa (drum and bass style) free for the listeners, which is a first.

Track is available for free full quality download from www.tigerstyleonline.co.uk

20. Another thing is videos…. Do you think bhangra videos should be cut out completely? because all they ever show is a cheap budget video with a guy and girl in a club everytime, you think that’s about to change?

I cannot comment on what other people do. I cannot exactly speak, since our own Tigerstyle videos years ago were not given a good budget and resulted in us making 2 very stupid looking videos. What I am proud of, is the Bikram Singh “American jugni†video. I feel the label spent a fair budget and we were able to express our creativity and visualise the songs in a simple and effective way. It’s a video you can watch with your family. Its about the artist, its about the lyrics in the song, it showcases the music, job done!

I think low budgets are not to blame entirely. Technology is so advanced now that you can make a video with a very low budget, what you need is a creative mind, and someone who knows what they are doin to shoot and edit it.

The scantily clad chicks dancing to Bhangra music in the videos we see these days is degrading. It’s a shame really. And its worse that these types of videos are coming from India more than the UK, but the UK gets all the blame.

21. Majority of them you can’t even watch infront of your parents because they put filth together. You probably agree the likes of ramta and yamlajat, they spoke more then just kuriyah soniyah lagdeeyah and getting pissed of sharab, but issues of everyday life, politics, family issues etc.. The only one still doing that is probably Gurdass Mann, do you think we’ll probably get more interesting bhangra videos in the future?, or will the same old videos eventually go out window?

I think Gurdas Maan is probably a saviour for Punjabi music. I think Manmohan Waris and Kamal Heer, and Harbhajan Maan are all following in his footsteps.

I think we as artists have a responsibility, and as Tigerstyle we are also trying our very best to address issues and reflect our way of life in our music. We work on concepts and encourage artists we work with to portray themselves in their work. I think music is all about being yourself, being genuine, hopefully the public can see this in our work and support what we do so that we can revive the essence of Punjabi music, or at least our reflection of it, for the next generation.

For the Sikhs over the UK really liked the Gurmat Sangeets from Immortality 2 and Defenders of the Faith. One in particular was Jhoolde Kersi Jande on IP records.

22. How did that all that project come about?

From the track “ Warcries†being released on our debut album “the rising†we were approached by the student organisation B.O.S.S. who had identified our efforts and wanted to take things further. We were introduced to a group of individuals by them, who wanted to put together a Sikhi / political orientated project and the Immotral Shaheedi series came into being.

23. Someone put forward is what message are you putting forward to the younger Sikh generation out there through the religious songs which you’ve produced?

The messages are evident. We are proud of our Sikh heritage & political stand point and want to express it and reflect it in our music.

24. Will we see more Sikh music production from Tigerstyle on IP records?

Definitely. We are currently working towards the next release which is scheduled as always for Vaisakhi time.

25. I was amazed at Bhupinder Singh’s voice in the track “jhoolde kersi jandeâ€, the heck in which he does in the beginning is mind blowing and more recent Punjabi tracks like Tarrak Thari, Mirza Boliyan… where did to you find this fantastic talent?

He appeared on Bally Sagoo’s previous Bhangra album with the track “Mundeyo agei oyeâ€. From then I don’t think he ever performed on anything. I managed to get hold of some recordings of him from Punjab which I supplied to Northern Lights and Saq, and at the same time we commissioned “Jhooldey kesri jhandeâ€. He is a very talented vocalist with a unique softness to his voice.

26. A Bhupinder Singh album…maybe?

We have a lot of projects underway right now so a Bhupinder Singh album is not really a priority. Maybe in the future. We are planning to make a trip to Punjab sometime this year, so maybe we’ll look him up

27. What did you think of the Sangra Vibes – Unleashed album?

Good album. They put their stuff together well. For a debut I think it was a very strong album.

28. Aman Hayers a current favourite, do you find his production appealing?

I don’t actually listen to a lot of Bhangra, although Amans work has mass appeal for the general Punjabi Bhangra fans. I respect Aman, he’s a very nice person, I’ve come into contact with him a few times, and he always makes a point of speaking to me. He is very knowledgable in this industry, hes eben here a while and he’s been dealing with all the major parites so and if I need advice I know I can call him up and he’ll gimme his honest opinion. I respect him as a fellow artist and wish him all the best.

29. In bhangra songs, do you favour the rap and mcing in them?

I think it depends how its done. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Whats important is that the singer and rapper are good at what they do and they gel together on the track. This is not the case for most Rap/Bhangra tracks. A lot of mc’s in Bhangra can’t rap, they have no flow and their lyrics suck!

I think the successful examples are maybe Jinn & Juggy D on “Dil di raniâ€, they worked well together, and also Bikram Singh and Blitzkrieg on “Chaklo gandasayâ€.

I think you can tell when a concept is forced together rather than it coming together naturally.

30. Probably different fusion elements rather then the normal rap in the future?

Yeah, I feel everyone goes for the obvious choice of tryna get a rapper on everything, when rap music is not necessarily or always the best option. We are fusing Bhangra with Dancehall, Drum n Bass, Rock elements, Hiphop and Breakbeat, aswell as Arabic & Middle Eastern influences. There’s a big world out there and if we want Bhangra to be taken seriously and we want it to reach every corner of the world, we need to start embracing music from other cultures ourselves.

31. What’s the future of Bhangra music in your eyes?

I think the future for Bhangra music is bright. Bhangra tracks being taken up by games consoles, Bhangra taken on by TV adverts, even more radio play and more club spins. We want to see Bhangra revived and hitting huge sales from distribution throughout the world, more than it has ever hit before. Slowly but surely we are determined and are working towards making it happen.

Another thought put forward was people who grew up listening to Malkit, Safri, DCS, Apna Sangeet, B21, A.S Kang, Jazzy B etc…. feel kind of alienated by the bulls**t stuff coming by acts such as hardkaur, metx n trix, panjabi hit squad etc. These people use bhangra as it gives them the best medium through which to promote their own style of music.

32. Your style of music seems to sit in the middle of these two styles – which direction do you see your future works going in?

I don’t think its fair to call these particular artists bullsh*t artists for starters. It’s a very ignorant view. You mention names like Hard kaur and Panjabi Hit Squad. Hard Kaur has been in the Asian music scene ever since we got into it, and I respect her for her determination and hard work. She represents females in a very male dominated industry, so the odds are always stacked against her. I don’t think the public have seen her full capability yet.

Panjabi Hit Squad represent British Ssian music on the Black music station, Radio 1xtra, and they do it well. I think the persons that are chosen for these jobs, representing Asian music to the masses, are chosen because they are open minded people and they know how to interact with the public and present the music in a up-to-date fashion. As of yet I haven’t seen or heard a “strictly bhangra†individual operate at the same level of professionalism that these guys work on. Markie Mark is respected within and outwith the scene.

Even though I don’t particularly listen to music by Metz n Trix, I feel they gave birth to a huge underground movement within Bhangra influenced by UK Garage music which took over the scene completely for a couple of years. They might not be the best at what they do in terms of being Garage MC’s, but they are probably the best Garage MC’s Bhangra has seen.

None of these above mentioned artists are Bhangra artists. None of them make Bhangra music. They make Brit-Asian urban music. I think you need to clarify in your own mind where these artists stand, or are pigeonholed, rather than complain that they are using Bhangra to further themselves. They help take Bhangra music to a wider audience and that is their significance.

We take it as a compliment that you think we fit in the middle of the two styles. We think the more people we can reach with our music the better. Maybe that is what makes us different, maybe that’s what makes us relevant to the average second generation Asian / Sikh / Punjabi / Music lover, or whatever……

[ComeGetSome]

Tigerstyle: The messages are evident. We are proud of our Sikh heritage & political stand point and want to express it and reflect it in our music.

They do this then relaese filthy tracks like Kama Sutra.

[ComeGetSome]

& I think the Kirpan as a logo is totally disrespectful, especially when producing material of this kind.

[Amrikingh]

that comment you quoted, it is related to the shaheedi releases they took part in