Glasgow

Scotland's Bhangra travelled in with the Punjabis who came to work on the Clyde.  The first Sikh Gurdwara in was established in South Portland Street in 1953. Charn Gill came from Moga in the Punjab to work at the Govan shipyards. A tireless entrepreneur, he soon had a restaurant - the Ashoka, then a company - Harlequin Leisure. By 1972 Charn found himself singing with Balbir and Dalbir Khanpur of Bhujangy, playing dholki and giving dance lessons in Washington Street. Bombay Talkies came together when Sanjay Majhu and Subash Singh Pall applied as students. They soon moved from performing at weddings to headlining major shows at the Victoria Plaza, the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre and the Barrowlands Ballroom. Their album Judgement Day and Feem, recorded at Riverside Studios in Glasgow remains one of the strongest débuts in Bhangra history. Subash Singh Pall also started at the Govan shipyards. When Amrik Singh Sahotay, of London's Great Indian Dancers moved to Glasgow in 1984, Subash encouraged him to create a Bhangra dance band for Scotland. Jat Punjabi Bhangra Group was formed after a series of "dance offs" in which both male and female students took part. Pall's Alien Arts produced dance performances with Jat Punjabi at the Mayfests including Nachde Chunn at the Tramway Theatre and Kinning Park Community Centre. Subash set up Kranti Radio to give airtime to Scottish and visiting Bhangra artists, later establishing Film Fixers to attract Indian film makers to Scotland. Two nephews of Jat Punjabi's Harbinder Singh Burmy, Pops and Raja had performed devotional music at local Gurdwaras, but wanted to set up their own studio. With his support, their début album Tigerstyles: The Rising (2000) became an all-time classic and helped redefine the modern Bhangra sound. Its paradoxical agrarian cover conceals a contemporary masterpiece that was controversial and commercial in equal measure. By the time of their follow up album, their original label Kismet Records had changed hands. A resulting dispute meant that they could not release a new album for three years. Instead Tigerstyle honed their talents remixing Ms Dynamite, Busta Rhymes, Eminem, 50 Cent, Lisa Maffia, Lamya and Raghav. Their critically acclaimed second album Extended Play/Virsa didn’t reach the heights of The Rising, but the success of Tigerstyle continues to take them all over the world. Comments (0) Write comment Name Comment Add Comment

 

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