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Exclusive 'Fusing Naked Beats' Interview

 

"Fusing Naked Beats." How did you come up with the name and how does it best describe your sound?

Fusing Naked Beats derives from "fusing" as in the fusion of different musical styles and "Naked" as in raw and original, essentially a fusion of raw and original musical styles.

Our sound is a mixture of styles because we are constantly experimenting. At the moment its dance music fused with Asian/Arabic beats. Depending on who we collaborate with it could go in the direction of RnB, reggae, chill out, who knows? We’re quite fluid, and I’m influenced by music all over the world.

The latest serving off the Fusing Naked Beats entitled- Witness Of The World, a rather bold caption, what the history behind this?

The album represents a melting pot of cultures and ideas from all over the world. It incorporates musical styles from Asia, Arabia, the Caribbean (reggae), dance, hip-hop and RnB.  Hence the title ‘Witness of the World’, as it confirms again what we represent i.e. a fusion of global beats from around the world.

Looking into the cd cover, A vast range off collaborations have been secured from the likes of Mehi,Sandhaya Sanjana, Houria which appears on the album numerous times,General Levy and etc. What kinda flavours and musical arrangements can the listeners expect from this 15 track album?

With 16 tracks Witness of the World has a unique electronic landscape which blends many diverse elements into one cohesive and unifying experience. From eastern electronica to uplifting global house, reggae, Arabic and Indian beats fused with hip-hop, D&B rhythms and funky dance baselines.  All the artists who collaborated on the project brought their own ideas to the album and we therefore created a very inspirational album. I was lucky in that many of the guest artists that I worked with were just as motivated as us to create great music. They loved the production and then layed down their own stamp on the music.

Fusing Naked Beats may seem to be a just another duo producers try to establish themselves in the Asian Music Industry,but in the West this genre off music is much appreciated,have you guys been offered any mainstream level work till date?

We would like our music to be heard by as many people as possible, not just in the U.K or Asian Music Industry, but all over the world. That is also what our music represents and we feel that we have a unique sound that has the potential to cross over to the mainstream which has been happening slowly over the years. This was recently demonstrated when Pete Tong played ‘Ishq’ on his Radio 1 show.

Whilst touring in Europe, the response from our audiences was brilliant and our mission is to be heard and remembered for our music hopefully in years to come.

Going back to the early age of 16, how did you get into producing and creating tracks? Would you say it took away something from your childhood?

Music has always been a constant in my family. My mum was an aspiring vocalist and she instilled her love of music in me.

I started as a guitar player. From the age of 14 I learnt how to play and by 17 I toured with Fun-da-mental as a guitarist.

It inspired me to create music of my own and so 1997 I created my own punk rock band called ‘All You Can Eat’ and we had moderate success with appearances on Network East and touring around the UK.

I then toured with a band called ‘Charged’ around Europe, but by that time I was tired of playing/touring with other bands and had definite ideas of creating my own brand of music.

I decided to form Fusing Naked Beats- and set up my own label ‘Just Play records’. The idea was that MRT and I would be the core music producers but that we would also work with other musicians, songwriters and vocalists to create music which was different

I would say music has always enriched my life and not taken anything away from my childhood.

The sort off music that represents Fusing Naked Beats is rarely ventured into by aspiring new ‘music producers’ ,what made you guys branch out from the usual formula ( dhol,tudd,tumbi and 3 note bassline) ??

 

We chose to make music that inspired us and not with any specific formula so it does sound different and not the recycled sound you hear from the Asian music scene in general. We have always loved to hear music from all over the world and then experimented to create music that we are passionate about. People now recognize our distinctive productions and sound and this is why our albums have such different musical styles on them.

I would say we are still evolving and go with the flow so you never know what the next album will be like.

 

 

Can we expect a full bhangra album from you guys in the coming years??

 

Yes, at the moment I am working with a very talented Punjabi singer called Mehi who is signed to our label Just Play Records. We will be releasing Mehi’s album in October titled 'The Rebirth'

The album will feature 9 tracks and some very special guest artists and you can expect traditional Punjabi vocals along side some great production from Fusing Naked Beats and Mehi. Look out for the promos which will hit Radio in September 2007.

Going back to “Charged” days, would you say and why has your style changed?  How? Do you see that we would return to them days or there is now a new dimension of music?

 

When I was touring with Charged, the music they represented was hard electro beats.

My music although it has an electronic theme to it also represents dance, hip-hop, RnB etc and is entirely different.

I eventually grew tired of touring with other bands and was very motivated to create my own musical identity.

We are currently working on a live show for Fusing Naked Beats with myself as the guitarist/vocalist and we will also have tabla, keyboards, singers etc

We have initially concentrated on creating our music and running our label and now feel ready to start playing.

The Asian scene is kind of evolving at the present time. We’ve had a few mainstream tracks but I believe we still have to breakthrough. At the moment there’s a lot of good music being made out there, lots of good nights, I think the sound is going to become more global and multicultural, reflecting the society we are living in at present in the UK.

 

What do you think/feel that has helped you musically being in the UK, since it has such a diverse culture, especially since Indian sounds have become more mainstream here?

I think I am lucky that I live in such a diverse and cosmopolitan city. People are genuinely interested in something original and unique and we are therefore inspired to experiment and create original productions and beats.

The artists that we work with are also diverse and multicultural and bring their own thoughts and ideas to the music.

Being a regular at Shaanti, what was your best and worst experience playing there?

The best bit was the crowd at the gigs who were really fantastic and appreciated the music and the venue was always packed.

The worst bit was having to travel to Birmingham and back every month.

Shaanti has been recognized as one of the best club nights in the UK, what do you think is the key indgreidnet that has made it so popular over the years?

I would say it is the DJ’s and artists who perform at Shaanti and the promotion of the event which is very good. The music is not all bhangra but is a nice mix of different styles and is urban and edgy.

 

Touring around Europe and spreading your sound, has made you big in Europe.  What do you think helped towards this?

 

Our music has been successful all over Europe because of the productions and our particular sound which is multicultural. We always wanted to appeal to people from all over the world and therefore the asian/arabic influences are quite subtle. The dance tracks in particular have a big following.


What does it mean for you to be a musician?  For the listener - do you want to transport a kind of philosophy?

Music is the food of love as they say but music for me represents a fusion of multiculturism and brings people from all over the world together so that we all appreciate each other and celebrate our differences

 


 

What about Indian tradition - how much do you feel as a representative for it

I grew up listening to various styles of Asian music from Indian classical to Qawali and Bhangra/Bollywood. I always appreciated the rhythms of the tabla and the sounds of the sitar and melodic flutes and I have always tried to incorporate various aspects of Indian classical music into my productions but as a subtle/underlying theme in virtually all my productions.


Men still vastly outnumber the women in this industry, why do you think that is.

I actually think the situation is slowly changing in the last five years.  I am working with many more female artists and the balance is changing which is good.

 

RAPID FIRE ROUND: Choose 1 answer


Melas or Coordinated Tours – co-ordinated tours

 

Studio Production or Live Circuit- studio production

 

CDJ Mixer or TurnTables- CDJ Mixer

 

Keyboard or Guitar-  Guitar

 

Tabla Or Dholki- Tabla

 

Malkit Singh or A.S Kang- Malkit Singh

 

Shakira or Amy Winehouse- Shakira

Manchester United or Arsenal- Manchester United

 

Simplybhangra.com or Shaadi.com- Simplybhangra

 

 Last few words to the loyal Simplybhangra.com surfers.


Thanks to all our fans who have supported us and to any new readers who haven’t heard our sound, you can get the new album Witness of the World from our website www.fusingnakedbeats.co.uk. I hope you enjoy!