Boychana - in his own words

“I’m proud to have represented Bhangra music over this time and thrilled to be able to show you some of the incredible people who persevered to make Bhangra the music that we now know.  For so many people, Bhangra has become music for the people of the world, a unifying, creative, musical force.   I started to deejay in the late 80’s, and first played out at family functions in 1987.  Soon after that I helped out a friend at a Birthday party at the legendary Birmingham club, The Hummingbird, a birthday party for 50 people.  Once word got out, it turned into a daytimer, with hundreds of people, this became the first of many events where I dj’d.   I’ve never stopped collecting music as well as insisting that family and friends listen to the latest sounds, the oldest tunes and the best melodies!   This collection shows just a small fraction of the photographs and memorabilia that have been collected from the 70’s right up until today.  I hope that you can experience the passion that Bhangra inspired from people right from the 70’s through into the 80’s, as well as the impact it made on mainstream music in the 90’s.   This exhibition also hopes to remember many of the people who were invisible in mainstream music, yet consistently worked to profile bhangra, the people, the culture, but most importantly the sounds.  I’m delighted that the routes of bhangra, as well as the roots of bhangra, have grown stronger with every Bhangra Top Ten chart hit, because of this I very much hope that this exhibition goes some way to ensuring that we never forget those roots, or the routes that musical pioneers took to plant the seeds.” The ‘Boy Chana’ writes My journalism career started by a chance meeting with an old school friend at the first Nottingham mela and I became the first ever male to celebrate British made Bhangra music in 1988.   Prior to that I was slowly moving up the ladder as a local dee-jay with my own roadshow. This had an amazing impact on my life as I was living the dream that I thought couldn’t be lived. Playing music for people and promoting music for people in a land that had recently been rocked by the worst ‘race’ riots it had ever seen.   I stayed at home because the Midlands were booming, with new talent and innovations. Soon London based bands started to travel up the M6 as the Midlands claimed bhangra supremacy.  Whilst London was the start of Punjabi Pop, Bhangra music established itself from the roots of Punjabi folk being played out in the many pubs of Birmingham.   One of the most lasting memories I have is turning up with a bag of cassettes – as cassettes it was in those days - to play music for a friend’s Birthday party in the Hummingbird.  At midnight it was a birthday party for 50 people, by 1pm there was no room on the dance floor as the club was heaving, a crucial reason why I continued to be a dj - to enjoy people ‘having it large’ from the adrenalin of music. Another lasting memory is of the first time I walked into the Dome nightclub in Birmingham. I saw crowds of people in the dome’s spherical dance floor and it blew me away.  What made it even more awe-inspiring was that they were dancing, in every conceivable space, to live Bhangra music.  Bhangra had arrived and has proven that it is here to stay – it can never be beaten!   Ends Comments (0) Write comment Name Comment Add Comment

 

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