The latest duo reppin' the North in the form of Jinx caught up with Irfan & Suhail at the all new desitunes4u shop in Bolton recently to talk about their brand new album 'Culture Shock.'

The comments of each of them have been colour co-ordinated to help you distinguish who is saying what. The following key can be used as a guide to help you with this as well.

Irfan: For those of us that have been in a coma for the last few months and ain't heard anything about you; give us an intro!

Jogi: Five years ago we use to do local events; from they're our passion for music increased basically. At the time we had RDB in the North that came onto the scene. At the back end of that summer we set up our own Roadshow by the name of Asian Flavas in the north. We did various gigs and stuff like that. Then 2 and half years ago we had enough, as we weren't going anywhere so we decided to go into production. Like a natural progression really.

Irfan: That fits nicely with my next question. A lot of DJ's going into production these days. What made you want to make that transition?

Dubz: For a DJ to evolve in the bhangra scene or even mainstream you have to do a something a bit more than just DJ as it gets to the stage where you hit a brick wall with it. We had the interest to do it and got into it. It took us 2 and half years to learn the various aspects of production. Here we are two and half years later with our album.

Jogi: Obviously when you're on the DJ circuit you mix and match different stuff and it gives you the inspiration. To mix an old track with a Nusrat track you get the inspiration from that.

Irfan: You've decided to release 'Culture Shock' on your own label. I'm sure you could have got the album signed to a bigger label. Why did you decide to do it independently?

Jogi: To be honest we actually set off to get signed to a label. Our initial process was to do one song and take it to a label and see what they say. But after we started approaching people they were interested but people weren't signing any new artists because of the state of the Asian music scene with the downloading situation people where scared to take a risk. Then we looked at alternatives and we decided to do it launch it ourselves, as we were really passionate about it; so we thought if were going to do then we'll do it properly.

Jinx

Dubz: New labels are apprehensive when it comes to signing new artists, as you can't predict with a new artist. Obviously with a Jazzy B or Gurdas Maan album you know people want this. With downloading and piracy taking over the whole scene a lot of labels are not taking a risk with new artists which is a shame as new artists are not getting the kinda condition they should. It's good as we've got full control and it's not an eighty year old budda telling us how to make music! [Everybody Laughs] So we get success on how we market ourselves and PR ourselves.

Jogi: In a way it benefited us. We kept it to how we wanted to push it and had full control over that.

Irfan: Simple question; tell us more about the album.

Dubz: The album 'Culture Shock' is a very diverse album. Our objective was to make it diverse as a lot of a track these days are very desi and that's good as that's what bhangra is desi music. But you put on track one, track two, track three they kind of eventually sound all the same. We are influenced by quite a lot of genres of music i.e. rock, pop, house, Bollywood so we kind of wanted to get that influence and fuse it with Bhangra music. I mean if you look at the album theirs house on their, RnB, an Arabic influence, Qawali i.e. we tried to cover all spectrums.

Jogi: You could be a desi lover and love a song on the album. You could be a Bollywood lover and like a song. We are about being different. Like Dubz said you pick up a lot of albums and they sound similar but with this it appeals to everyone. Also we wanted to be different because that's what where about. It's a culture shock what you listen to.

Irfan: On the album, with the exception of Don Dee, none of the featuring artists have been used on the album.

Jogi: That was the first thing we wanted to do. We are very serious about what we do were not going just for the fu** of it; yeah. That's what it is we take our work quite seriously coz that's why were here unlike Irfan who just does it for a fu** about. One of the points was look at the market and theirs not much happening yeah and the majority of singers no names mentioned.

Irfan: Why not names mentioned…

Jogi: Well, take for example Lember Hussainpuri who is probably one of the best vocalists we have seen in years. Surinder Shinda is another one, Labh Janjua; these are all singers that have been used…

Irfan: So you'd say they been used too much?

Jogi: Well too much? Well you know they've gotta earn a living, we've gotta earn a living. They're singers so that's what they do; it's up to the producer on how creative he/she is. We set out to be different; so when we sat down we wanted to make the product different to give us a cutting edge over others. That's why we looked at new singers. We have some tried and tested singers also; we got Bakshi Salamat on the Qawali track [Akhiyan Udheek Diyan] from back home [Pakistan]. We've got Billa Sahota who only ever released one album. We just wanted to be different and keep it different. The reason we used Don Dee was just do give it a different flex really.

Irfan: The videos for Akhiyan Udheek Diyan & Rang are both very well produced in comparison to most desi music videos. Was that important to you?

Jogi: Again very important. We wanted to be different, that's what I keep highlighting we need to be different.

Jinx @ Desitunes4u in Bolton

Irfan: How much did you spend on the videos? Jogi: We spent a lot of money, you're gonna be shocked. [Everybody Laughs] No No again we didn't spend much. Everybody thinks Jinx / Asian Flavas they've spent loads of money but we didn't. We just used our resources a lot better. Normally everyone just goes to one production firm or another but we said 'hang on; why not?' There are other production companies out their, their are other directors.

Irfan: What other video's have the company that you used done?

Jogi: x1x film and design have done Ominous DJ's one the animation, they did an SK1 video comic style [Dhoka] a few years ago and they did the Panjabi Hit Squad video featuring Metz & Trix called 'Saher.' These guys have been about and we looked into 'different' producers and directors and video production houses we liked what we saw. They needed a chance and we wanted to be different and they wanted to put a product out there which will create hype and that's what they did.

Suhail: Where did they idea come from with the break dancing; girls v's boys?

Jogi: That did come from the run DMC video. The 2nd video came from…

Dubz: We wanted something that represented us as British Asian Artists. We wanted to keep it Urban and at the same time it is important to keep it clean so you can watch it with your family, with your mum, your sister. It's a shame because most good Asian tunes have sh** videos.

Jogi: That's a good point at the end of the day half the videos we have these days are just like Porn. We are Asian and that one thing that we would like to highlight, that's why we kept it clean. Whether your Indian, Pakistani, Bengali, Gujarati we all have the same concept of family values. We wanted to keep it clean and fresh; we could have gone with the club. We could have hired 'Desitunes4u' out [referring to the shop] but we kept to it. It's a good video but theirs nothing to it; its clean cut and that all there is to it.

Irfan: Serious question coming up; garam ho gaya?

Jogi: Garam ey hai!

Irfan: Kam Frantic is credited on the CD [Culture Shock album inlay] as engineering and performing/composing the music on the album. Many people have suggested that he had a more significant contribution…do you wanna set the record straight?

Jogi: Kam Frantic is a very good friend of ours who we met and he guided us in the right direction. Kam Frantic is tagged for being a 'ghost producer' which he's not...right!

Dubz: The thing is speaking about ghost production. With Kam it's deterring artists from going there [referring to Kam's studio in Birmingham] because people think sh** if I go to Kam I am going to be labelled as a fake producer after all the hard work in the studio. A lot of artists are deterred and quite apprehensive from going to Kam's studio and he's kinda shit scared about that because this it's his livelihood. Like I said, this is his livelihood be people are shit scared thinking 'I'm not going to Kam.'

Irfan: So what exactly do he [Kam] do?

Jogi: Kam Frantic is a musician and sound engineer he does what you tell him to do. People have this concept that you go their, give him a vocal, go to the chippy on Ladypool Road and come back and you've got a hit track. It doesn't work like that. Kam Frantic is not I ghost producer and I know for a fact he wouldn't do it. Secondly in the bhangra industry we have this concept in our head that the producer has to do everything but in the mainstream such as Dr Dre and Puff Daddy get help from others.

Dubz: People won't like it a lot of apna Punjabi artists. I don't wanna who it is as off the record I will get sh** for it. Off the record it's [whispers name of artist]. These guys are fu***ing…

Jogi: Kam Frantic is an engineer and music composer. Every producer works with an engineer. Puff Daddy does it, Dr Dre does it, Sukshinder Shinda does it. Every producer works with an engineer unless you're very lucky to have your own studio, what you can afford. Some people use Kam Frantic; some people use Planet Studios, whatever studio you're comfortable with right. All Kam Frantic's job is to sit there and try to put it across in the best way possible. For the ghost production thing, there are probable people out their that do it but it's up to the media like 'desitunes4u' to find out who does it. People like Kam Frantic and Planet Studios are losing business, losing value as people are scared to go their as they think 'I might not get credit for what I've done' and that Kam Frantic has done it all. You know like a lot of people say about Dr Zeus and Unda The Influence that Zeus didn't do it and Kam

Jinx

Frantic did engineer it but at the end of the day it's Zeus idea of how he's putting it across. On our CD cover whoever has done what has been cleanly highlighted i.e. the executive producer, the producer, the arranger, the composer, the lyric writer, the dholki player, the guitar player, it's all there.

Dubz: Then you get a lot of bhangra producers who don't give Kam the credit that he should get and say we produced it all ourselves. Now I don't know if they doing this selfishly or out of the fear that they gonna get labelled as a frantic production I don't know. I mean I know albums, which Kam has done work on and he's not even been credited at all.

Irfan: It is said by many that a lot of the newer artists get into the music game for 'the 5 minutes of fame.' If someone said that to you; what would you say in response to them?

Jogi: Come back to us in 10 years time. If we were in it for the fame we could have worn the chains you know. We came into it very seriously. We're not in it for the fame or the money; we're in it for the passion that we have. The people that are in it for the 5 minutes of fame they come and go.

Dubz: We've kinda sacrificed a lot to be where we are today. It's took us 2 and half years to do the album. People say 2 and half years for eight tracks is bo**ocks yeah but say we've finished every track and come back to it and looked at it and studied 'is it gonna work?' coz deep down you've gotta be. It took us two and half years as we were learning and we wanted to make it happen.

Jinx: We could have easily gone to India to get the vocals.

Irfan: All your vocals have been recorded yourself right?

Jinx

Jinx: Yeah, they have we've met the singer, explained to the singer the audience for each track, we need something that's got a universal appeal. We've sat there with every singer and writer 'no' 'yes' and it's been a very long process getting the right singer for the right song and not just get anyone on. We've tried to get the right feel for the song, which is very important to us. Like 'Gal Sun' was done in 4 hours - we put a vocal on it in 10 minutes and it was done. We looked at it about a year later, shredded it and adding a different concept to it. We thought hang on it is a luvy duvy tune; we can bring more to it. We

shredded it down again and brought a guitar into it and a female vocalist so a lot of thought went into it sitting there with the singers, sitting there with the writers. The vocal is very important.

Dubz: As the album going to be released in the UK so when we sat down with the lyricist we explained to them that there are people out there who don't speak and understand Punjabi in its rawest form. We made sure all the hooks are single line hooks so at the end of the day it's easier to understand.

Jogi: We knew that many non-Punjabi people such as Bengali, Gujarati are going to listen to the album and they can't understand it so we made sure we got the hook right as that is very important and stuff like that takes time.

Irfan: Since you mentioned it earlier, in 10 years time were do you see yourself?

Jogi: Having a successful label and bringing a lot of UK talent out. Developing artists is very important to us.

Dubz: We're looking for a Punjabi singer to nurture into the best Punjabi singer. We need more Punjabi singers. That's our ultimate aim. If there is anyone out there that is interested in becoming that then contact us whether they are male or female.

Irfan: So you want to be like a mentor to them and guide them?

Jogi: In this industry not a lot of people that do that. We found it hard, listening to people and they don't do anything for you. There is a lot of talent here in the UK, musicians, all sorts, all kinds of talent. Why not use it? People go to India but why? But why India when we have all the talent here! Irfan: There is a lot of politics in the desi music industry. Has it hindered your progress in any way?

Jinx

Dubz: You know what we've had the best people behind us Pedro & Rakhee and it's hard for new artists to make a name. We've had a lot of support for the general public and the media and that's down to Pedro who's helped us promote it as well.

Jogi: It's how you put yourself across and you need guidance when you enter a market. At the end of the day we've had excellent support from all media. TV, radio, press, everyone has supported us. It is hard with the politics but to be honest we haven't had much political problems.

Dubz: If your music is good then it will come through.

Jogi: We don't have a bad mouth attitude. We are just two guys who put music across and we still have our daily lives. If your gonna come across with a bad mouth attitude then you will get politics but touch wood we haven't had nothing.

Irfan: What's your point of view on downloading?

Jogi: It's getting serious, every artist from Bally Sagoo, Dr Zeus, TKM have said these issues.

Irfan: TKM?

Jogi: They've probably been affected by downloading just as much as anyone [everybody laughs]. It's fu**ing us up the arse, labels will tell you the same thing, shop keepers will tell you the same thing, it's getting ridiculous. Within 2 years we won't have a bhangra industry left. Look at how many quality releases you are getting now and how many hit albums you are getting in a year? Not many! People are scared to do anything different so people are just sticking to desi…it's getting ridiculous with downloading. People have to start supporting.

Irfan: That message has been said to us in interviews by at least a dozen artists!

Suhail: What about legal downloads. Say for example 'Warner Brothers' have announced their new downloading service.

Jinx @ Desitunes4u in Bolton

Jogi: Warner Brothers, English Market; different kettle of fish. Asian's if they can get it for free then they won't pay for it, you gotta remember that. If you can download it for free then why you gonna pay 60p or whatever for a download. Tell me, why? We [Asians] don't operate with that mentality; we never have done. Take a look a Southall Broadway; take a look at the piracy situation their. Its fu**ing ridiculous. I think if we are artists put more quality out and the media need to educate people 'please don't download its killing the industry.' We need a governing body yeah…

Irfan: The BPI [British Phonographic Industry] needs to do something about it.

Dubz: We just need to make a stance.

Suhail: I'll tell you why that is…Culture Shock is a good album but you got albums where one or two tracks are good and the rest are fillers.

Dubz: Well artists are too scared to try something different.

Jogi: I'll give you an example yeah. You've got a budget of £4000 for an album for arguments sake. You record one track and it's taken too long, you've got a four grand budget yeah. You've done three tracks and you've spent well over half the budget. Arguments sake you got three tracks down and you've only got £600 left; what are you gonna do then? That's when you lose quality. You can't go over budget because you think I'm not going to make the money back. If you take more money from the budget and your video loses out. The buyer will probably say that labels were releasing one hit track on albums; that right but it's a knock on effect. Firstly, we need to get something done with the piracy situation it's getting ridiculous. You know why people do it? Because they not scared of doing it [downloading]. As if you're scared of something then you don't do it.

Irfan: A few people have been getting warning letter from their ISP [Internet Service Providers] in reference to file sharing. The BPI has to force this from the ISPs. The guy that got this letter apparently said 'I'm never gonna download again.'

Jogi: Something needs to be done with file sharing programs [Live Share, P2P etc]. As the mainstream is suffering, where suffering, something needs to be done about it. You can download DVD's from them. People think file sharing is not making a difference but it is; your downloading it, someone else downloads it. It all knocks on and it is a serious issue. It's important that the media and everyone need to educate people about it. Your Jazzy B's, your Rishi Rich's and your Sukshinder Shinda's you won't have them any more. You won't have PMC, your Juggy D's; you won't have them any more. If labels are not making the money they are putting in they 'why are they gonna do it?' Then people will complain 'oh this is sh**!' Why do you think there is so much sh** coming out?

Irfan: Any final words to the desitunes4u readers?

Dubz: Thanks and respect to 'desitunes4u' for letting us voice our opinions. A big respect to everyone that has supported us and bought the album.

Jogi: Watch out for the video for 'Gal Sun.' By the time this goes online it will probable be on air! Check out www.jinxculture.com & www.asian-flavas.com

That concludes the interview, a big thanks to Jogi and Dubz of Jinx for taking some time out to chat to us. Be sure to check out their websites listed above.