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A Lion's Song

by MANPREET KAUR SINGH

 

As Bhangra and Bollywood music become more and more commonplace in Australia, some Australian Sikhs and Punjabis are hitting the airwaves with even greater effect.  While there are those who churn out nostalgic songs, ghazals and folk tunes with perfect finesse, some are making a splash in the Bollywood film industry and still others are pursuing completely different genres of music.  Here's a sample of some unique Australian Punjabi singers, all carving a separate niche for themselves for very different audiences.

 

L-FRESH

There is 19-year-old Sukhdeep Singh Bhogal, or L-Fresh as he is called, who is writing and singing music for his generation in a genre that they can easily relate to  -  rap! 

Born and brought up in Sydney, Sukhdeep writes deep, meaningful lyrics in English,  best described by his stage name, L-Fresh, which actually is an acronym for "Forever Rising Exceeding Sudden Hardships". 

In case you're wondering where the "L" came from, it stands for "Lion", which is another word for "Singh".

That, in a nutshell, is what L-Fresh's music is all about  -  to inspire and give a message of hope to all the youth, especially the Sikh youth, to stand up for their rights and to achieve their potential.  His recent music video for "Just 2 Live Another Day" was the only Australian entry in the SikhNet Youth Online Film Festival and has attracted a great deal of interest worldwide.

"Many people have sent me messages of support, quite a few people from India, too, have said to me that they really appreciate the core message.  And that really was the idea behind the video  -  to reach out and touch as many people as possible", says L-Fresh. 

Ask him about his music and this mild-mannered, soft-spoken and humble youngster says, "I can't pretend to be sending a message to the youth, since I don't think I'm the ideal person everyone should follow, but I want to remind the youth, especially young Sikhs, that we have a very proud heritage.  Our Gurus and forefathers made huge sacrifices for everyone to have religious freedom -  we should be aware of it, and be worthy of it".

Although the vision of a teenage rapper evokes images of brashness, loudness and even profanity, L-Fresh is the complete antithesis of that stereotype. In fact, these are the stereotypes he tries to dispel through his music, while also trying to inspire youngsters to be proud of who they are.

"I'm not one for glamour or fashion or trends", L-Fresh continues,"but I believe in the universal values of love, peace, friendship and coexistence. That is what I try to present in my music.  Also, I believe in stating clearly what the younger generation should stand for.  Many adults think that youth are too inexperienced, their views don't matter; but I think our views should be taken into account and that's what I'm trying to present". 

And his views come out clearly and strongly in his lyrics.  For example:

"Let our souls speak, let our people believe, let the unfortunate succeed and let them achieve ... it's a necessity to be, the best we can be, together we achieve, intertwined in moments of need". 

And then, a song "dedicated to those in the rat race and trying to change their ways", has the lyrics, "The time has come for you to unite, for you to fight, for the truth to ignite, flames spark changes", and so on.

Studying for his Bachelor of Laws at the University of West Sydney, music is a passion for L-Fresh, not a career pursuit. He learnt to play tabla as a child and still confidently plays it on stage; he learnt to play the guitar too, but for the moment is happy to concentrate on his studies and only turns to music for creative release. 

But he does admit that "L-Fresh without music is like a corpse.....lifeless". 

As for the future, he says, "I haven't looked too far ahead.  I hope that whatever avenue I choose, I do well, continue to reach people and do something that's personally fulfilling".

 

GURMIT SINGH SAHNI

If one were to close one's eyes and not know who is singing on stage, many musical connoisseurs would swear that the legendary Mohammed Rafi was back from the grave.  Such is the voice of Gurmit Singh Sahni, the Veterinary Science graduate from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, now living in Melbourne. 

A favourite for stage performances all over Australia, Gurmit is known to sing nostalgic hits from the 50's and 60's, with as much ease and finesse as he sings Punjabi folk songs and the modern toe-tapping Bollywood hits. 

But his crowning glory was in 1997, while he was still living in India, when he reached the semi-final of Zee TV's popular talent quest Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. It so happened that Gurmit was a regular at annual "Yaadgaar-e-Rafi" nights held in Chandigarh, throughout the 1990's.  In 1996, they had a major competition in which 440 singers participated from all around India and Gurmit was adjudged the winner. 

"I clearly remember Rajendar Kumar, who sang many Rafi songs on screen, giving me the Rafi Award.  It was wonderful!  Incidentally, a crew from Zee TV was filming that competition and I was given a chance to enter Sa Re Ga Ma Pa right away.".

In the same year (1996), he went through most rounds of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and made it to the penultimate round. "I sang Waris Shah's Heer in one of the rounds and each and every judge applauded it. For me, that was enough  -  to be felicitated by the best singers and musicians of India", says Gurmit, who has never studied ragas or had any formal vocal training. 

Soon thereafter, Gurmit was offered to sing a song in the Punjabi film Mein Maa Punjab di, which, he says, "was probably not very popular at the box office, but went on to win a national award".  This could easily have led to bigger and better opportunities for him, but destiny had charted another course  -  he migrated to Australia with a young family in 1998, which meant he had to leave his budding musical career on the back-burner, to cope with the reality of relocating to a new country.

But he kept his talent alive in Australia and, whenever he had a chance, he did perform on stage in Melbourne and other cities.  Not so long ago, he was the main singer for a concert in Sydney called Ek Raat Shiv ke Naam  -  a night in honour of Shiv Kumar Batalvi. The concert was so successful that it was restaged in Melbourne to an equally appreciative audience. 

So the singer, who successfully launched many cassettes in India, including Mata di Bhent and one with Bhagwant Mann, is keeping his muse alive in Australia  -  and, as a result,  Australian Punjabis have a much richer tapestry of music to enjoy.

 

THE TINKU BAND

Although the band (comprising two Sikh and three non-Sikh Australians) came together nearly three years ago and has been performing at gigs all over Australia, its first album Full Circle was released in Sydney in November 2007.

Best described as a fusion between western rock, bhangra beats and Sikh ragas, the Tinku Band creates a unique blend for the new generation of multicultural Australia. 

Named after the lead singer and bass player Sukhbir Singh aka Tinku, it evokes the music of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Pearl Jam on the one hand, and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan on the other. 

"I've been performing ever since I turned thirteen", says Tinku, as he prefers to be called.  "I was born in Ludhiana, but moved to Sydney at the age of eleven and learnt to play the bass guitar soon thereafter.  I am heavily influenced by authentic rock music, but love fusing it with Punjabi beats and bhangra rhythms. It's a truly humbling experience to see how much the people appreciate it here". 

Tinku writes his own lyrics which are predominantly in English; these are sometimes embellished with Punjabi lines too, thanks to the other Punjabi in the band  -  Gurjit Singh.

Gurjit is an adept tabla player and a trained classical vocalist to boot  -  dressed in a typical Punjabi kurta-pyjama, complete with an impressive dastaar, he provides fine visual imagery, greatly enhancing the fusion theme.  Says Tinku: "Almost at every gig, the audience come up to Gurjit and just bow in front of him  -  he looks so regal as a 'dinkie-di Sikh' and his vocals have such a great exotic quality for western listeners". 

Then, there's also Rod Parry in the band, a jazz guitarist who has specially learnt to play the sarod; other accompanists are Larry Hoofs, who plays the cittern (Irish Bouzouki) and Gregg Kett on percussion and drums. 

So what are the future plans for this rainbow band? 

"Well", says Tinku, "I would love our band to tour away from Australia, especially in countries like Canada, U.K. and India, because I'm sure, just like the audiences here, they would relate well to the fusion of rock and Punjabi music".

 

AIYSHA

Meet Aiysha, the stunning Punjaban from Brisbane, who recently recorded a duet with Himesh Reshammiya for the soon-to-be-released Bollywood flick Mr. Fraud.  She has also recently released a full-fledged Punjabi album Aiysha Punjabi Pop, which was directed by Santokh Singh (of Channa Ve fame) and Jaidev Kumar (Dil Lai Gai Kuddi Gujrat Di fame).  And that is an astounding achievement for someone who was born in Fiji, grew up in Australia and only visited India for the first time three years ago!

"When I first traveled to India in 2004, I felt so much at home  -  it was an experience I had never had before. And it's so addictive.  I'm really lucky now that I can call three places home: Fiji, Australia and India", says Aiysha. 

Her mother is a Punjaban from Chandigarh, who married a Fijian, and Aiysha was born in Suva, Fiji's capital.  But when Aiysha was just seven months old, they migrated to Queensland, Australia's idyllic State, where Aiysha went to school and went on to complete three degrees: in accounting, finance and financial planning. 

She worked in the corporate world for a few years, but her heart always lay in singing.  "Music was a part of my life since childhood", recalls Aiysha, "and I think I was at the right place at the right time when an opportunity presented itself.  I had released a CD of old Hindi songs by Asha ji and Lata ji called Beyond India, and followed it up with my own composition, "Mundaya". The song was in English and I had added a few Punjabi lyrics to spice it up  -  it became really popular and I got an offer to sing it for a Bollywood movie, Dubai Return (by Aditya Battacharya).  So I followed my heart, left my financial planning career and embarked on a musical journey in 2005".

Her music was appreciated by Abbas Mastan and her next CD album was launched by them in India. "They were also instrumental in getting me to do this duet with Himesh Reshammiya for Mr Fraud, and that was a completely awesome experience for me. Although the movie release has been delayed, I notice the song, "Aarzoo", which I sang for the film, has found its way into the market already". 

But it's interesting that although Aiysha sings Punjabi and Hindi songs to perfection, she doesn't quite speak those languages. "I don't understand much of Punjabi, although I can follow Hindi", she admits. "I'm taking classes to speak the languages more fluently now, but before I sing, I make sure I understand the lyrics completely. You have to understand the song to put emotion into it and to do justice to it", says Aiysha. 

And hearing her, you know that she more than does justice to the language, since you can't detect the slightest accent in her songs. She has already toured extensively in the South Pacific region, including Fiji, New Zealand and Australia, going on to Singapore, Malaysia, Pakistan and Dubai.  But the highlight for her so far has been performing in Goa, at the International Film Festival in 2005. Says Aiysha, "Goa was simply mind-blowing  -  I wish all the audiences around the world were like that.  I'm looking forward to performing there again in December 2007".

So what about the future? "Well, there is another Bollywood film in which I'll do playback singing and will play one of the characters too.  Apart from that, I have tours planned for South Africa, U.K. and U.S.A., so I'm looking forward to a very exciting time".

She does add though,  "I think it's very important to get a good educational background  -  it gives you more options in life, makes you independent and broad-minded, which I think is really really important.  Right now, I'm just pursuing my dream, and so far, it has been an amazing experience. But anytime I choose to, I can change my career path and it's great to have something to fall back on".

December 2, 2007

[Courtesy: India Today]

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