In today's day and age original artists are rarities so we wanted to track down ones that can be considered to be the real deal. Then after hunting high and low we came across the sounds of the Sonik Gurus who bring a refreshing new style that is an organised mish-mash of sounds that is too damn good. Richard and Irfan caught up with Ash and Ranvir at closing time in a Camden coffee shop where the questions were so strong that Ranvir fell off his chair!!!!

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.

Richard: First of all, for those who aren't familiar with who the Sonik Gurus are, can you give us a quick intro?

Ranvir: Sonik Gurus is essentially Ash and myself, we're the two producers. Musically, Sonik Gurus is all about diversity, mutation and experimentation. We like to play with ancient and futuristic musical forms and try to do things differently, pushing back the boundaries rather than doing the obvious. Through the music we explore our identities and we aim to reflect our musical, cultural and social experiences.

Ash: Yeah, our music's not for purists. You definitely have to have an open mind about music when you listen to us but our music is very song based too which makes it accessible even though it's also very experimental.

Sonik Gurus is the two of us but it's also a wider collective of musicians and vocalists who we record with and who are part of the live show too. The core of the live band is myself on keys/decks and Ranvir on bass; we also both do backing vocals. Also we have our flute player Nathan Lee who does a wicked flute beatbox solo in the set, that always brings the house down, he's also just developed what I named a 'two flute salute' in which he plays two Indian flutes at the same time! We've got Brian 'Lion' Fairbairn on drums and our main vocalist live at the moment is Alias 1, he's a very talented Hip Hop producer and rapper from North London who can rap faster than anyone I know. Oh yeah, he's very tall too. But we're working with a number of female vocalists who we bring in and out of the live show too and who feature on the album. We've also done tracks with Ricky Rankin whose part of Roots Manuva.

Some people have said that we're trying to be the Asian Basement Jaxx or Asian this or that but we're not. We'd rather be seen as the original Sonik Gurus anyway. Irfan: So how did all start of then? Ash: Well I was surfing this website… Ranvir: Yeah…Desitunes4u! Irfan: Yeah...yeah… how did you guys link up?

Ash

Ash: We actually met at the Dogstar club in Brixton about 3 years ago at the night of a mutual friend of ours. At the time I was promoting the Swaraj club nights, dj'ing and running Swaraj Records. A lot of people I meet now through Sonik Gurus don't know my Swaraj connection…some of your younger 'readers' (is that the word?) won't even know what Swaraj is. Back then those were the early Asian Underground days and I was right in the middle of it, people like Bobby Friction and Pathaan were Swaraj resident dj's back then. Nerm from Shiva Soundsystem joined soon after. It's really nice to see how everyone has progressed since then.

Ranvir and I had a musical connection back then because; even though I didn't know it at the time he was coming down to Swaraj. Also, we were playing a lot of Asian drum 'n bass and breakbeats at the club and Ranvir was also involved with drum 'n bass, working with the likes of LTJ Bukem and MC Conrad for Logical Progression Records. We were both tied with our own projects then but we stayed in touch and about a year later we decided to start Sonik Gurus.

Ranvir: Yeah, when we met I was so far underground I was even below the Asian underground - you couldn't see me. But even then I was experimenting with Asian music and I always knew that one day I would take it to the next level and explore it more.

Richard: Tell us more about your history Ranvir.…

Ranvir: I'm originally from Stockton near Middlesborough but I've been living in South London for a long long time now. I've been performing, writing and producing for about 20 years, I taught myself to play bass and keyboards when I was 16 and living in Newcastle. I went to college and studied jazz and other styles of music. When I moved to London I got into music production and technology because I decided that musically I should become as self-sufficient as possible.

Irfan: What did you move to London for?

Ranvir: Because the north's shit! Naah…only joking. It was because for music this is the place to come. It was hard for me because I had to build up all my contacts again from scratch. I started to bring my musicality into the technology and experimented a lot. I also did a lot of session work with RnB acts and reggae, funk and jazz bands.

As well as LTJ Bukem I've worked on a lot of dance music acts with the likes of Dave Lee aka Jakartta/Joey Negro, Subject 13, Seamus Haji aka Big Bang Theory and even on a dance chart number 1 with a band called Masai a few years back.

Ranvir

Richard: Some quarters of the industry have said that your music isn't Asian enough to be considered solely for this market, what would you say to the people levelling those opinions? Ash: The first thing I would say is judge us on our album, it's coming out this summer and we've got all sorts of Asian vibe tracks on there with Punjabi, Hindi and Bengali vocals as well as rap, ragga and soulful English vocals. We're going to shock a lot of people when it comes out…there will be a lot of styles on there that at the moment people aren't equating with Sonik Gurus. Secondly, we don't want to make music solely for the Asian audience. We make music for the whole world to listen too and we want as many people as possible to hear and buy our music. Why should Asian artists be expected only to make music for Asian people? We don't want to ghettoise ourselves or our music, as Asian people and artists we get that from other people anyway, why do that to ourselves…and you can't tell

me 'Mundian To Bach Ke' only sold to an Asian audience!

It's that insular attitude which has held back Asian music in this country for years. We are Asian but we are not just influenced by Asian music.

Ranvir: It's about breaking stereotypes as well and as artists, Asian or not, we're free to make whatever music we want to make. Ash and I grew up listening to all sorts of music and that's what makes Sonik Gurus so interesting and different, and there are plenty of Asians who don't just listen to Asian music. Listen to the latest Bollywood soundtracks…they're fusing so many styles of music. There might be an Indian brother out there who listens only to reggae and dancehall. If you go to Pakistan or India or anywhere in the subcontinent they're listening to music from all over the world.

If every band was the same it would be pretty boring, we bring a bit of diversity and colour to the scene. That's a good thing.

Irfan: Having a variety of ethnic backgrounds in the band, how does that affect the music, which the Sonik Gurus come out with?

Ranvir: I'm mixed race, my fathers Punjabi, my mothers English. I grew up with curry and chips you know what I mean?

[Ranvir falls of his chair! Everybody cracks up laughing!!]

Yeah, we're a real mixed bunch and we like it that way…we certainly don't look like most bands in the scene. Ash is Indian, Nathan is half Indian and half Scottish, Alias 1 is half Jamaican and Brian Lion is from St Vincent. It's the same with our other singers…Unnati is Bengali, Shiuli is from Mumbai, Sneaky C is Greek Cypriot…but that's London for you, we're a London band with a London sound. Our music couldn't have been created anywhere else in the world.

Ash: It also means we have a lot of issues. Rehearsals are...how should I put it… 'lively.'

Richard: The Asian underground market is really starting to blow up now, where do you see it in a few years from now?

Ash: Booooring…anyone who know me knows my views on the Asian Underground tag, for me that was what was happening 8 years ago with nights like Swaraj, Anokha and Sitarfunk. It's a lazy label given by the media to anything Asian but isn't bhangra. I don't like being categorised as Asian underground because we're blatantly not and anyway it's going back to the ghettoising argument again… if you call your music reggae then other people will call your music reggae, if you call yourself underground then you will always remain underground. It's up to us to define ourselves.

We want to be seen as Sonik Gurus and people to identify with our sound in the way that you instantly recognise the Chemical Brothers sound or Coldplay's sound…or whoever…a mini-genre in itself.

Ranvir: What I like about Sonik Gurus is that we have one foot in the underground and another in the mainstream. Some of our album will be a bit more commercial and some of it clubbier and more underground. Part of our job is to promote Asian music and Asian artists in the mainstream as much as possible. Irfan: Which other artists do your rate in the scene at the moment and whom would you say are your main influences? Ash: From the UK scene I reckon Swami and Fusing Naked are doing the most interesting and progressive stuff at the moment but I'm also feeling Tigerstyle's sound. Internationally speaking, Karsh Kale's stuff is really unique.

Nathan 'Flutebox' Lee

Ranvir: I like Outlandish and RDB; they've got something going on there, they've got a good angle [Ranvir tilts his head to one side…everybody laughs].

Ash: Other influences? aaaargh! Find me one artist or producer who likes that question! What was the last thing I bought? … The Prodigy's new album, that's wicked. It's funny, I actually grew up listening to a lot of Indie guitar music including all the classic stuff…The Beatles, The Smiths, Stone Roses etc and like so many people in the early nineties I cheered up, got into raving and dance music big time while taking in a lot of old school funk and rare groove too as well as the other …er…things associated with raving. I got into properly into Asian music once I heard it in a space and a way that made sense to me i.e. when people started mixing it with western club sounds…and that's when I got hooked. I still want to bring more guitars into the Sonik Gurus sound…maybe save that for the next album.

Ranvir: I've got so many influences and I've been lucky enough to live with many dj's over the last 20 years including one who had over 10,000 records I love a lot of classic soul and funk and you can hear that in Sonik Gurus' music. In particular I've been influenced by James Brown, Stevie Wonder and George Clinton? Parliament (one of our tracks is a tribute to them), Herbie Hancock, Lee Perry, Bob Marley…so many, such little time to remember them all.

Richard: Congratulations on being nominated in the BrAMA category for Best Group, but considering that the amount of material you've released has been perhaps minimal, do you think that the nomination is a little premature?

Ash: Well, obviously we are not going to say yeah. We know that we haven't released a lot but that makes us even more proud to be nominated and in two categories too…don't forget the 'best underground' nomination too. See? We can't get away from that tag! [Hold his head in his hands. Everyone laughs]

Awards should be for quality anyway, not quantity and I think our nominations are also recognition of the fact that we're doing something original and progressive and we're pushing the whole scene and ourselves internationally. We've done a lot of gigging too and really pushed ourselves as a proper band, anyone who's seen us live knows that we can play. There aren't many bands in the scene, there need to be more.

Brian Lion

Last year we played to 1500 people in Mumbai, sponsored by MTV India who broadcast the whole event to 23 million homes across the country, we also played in Caracas, Venezuela to 2000 people, that was sponsored by Sony Entertainment Channel and the British Council and broadcast to the whole of South America…how many bands do you know who've done that? That's got be worth an award in itself…only joking! Ranvir: We also played at the the Jaipur International Heritage festival last year, in an open-air courtyard at the Jaigarh Fort, performing with street musicians from Rajasthan…that's like doing a gig at one of the Queen's palaces. Talvin Singh jumped on stage and did a track with us! That gig was particularly amazing for me as that was the fort of one of my ancestors who lived there 500 years ago. I'm Rajput on my Indian side

and the fort belonged to Man Singh, Rajput commander of Akbar the Great's army.

The whole festival was an amazing event top promotes the traditional culture and heritage of Rajasthan. It was a privilege to play there, something really special, which goes beyond the music.

Irfan: In response to the BrAMA nomination a few bhangra-heads have been saying to me 'Sonik Who'? How does that make you feel?

Ash: Hey, 'Sonik Who' … now that's a great name for a band! Actually I'm not surprised but I'm not bothered really. There must be plenty of bhangra artists I've never heard of too. Anyway, there's room for all of us. A lot of people in this country think that bhangra is the only Asian music out there and we love it and respect what bhangra artists have achieved in this country and worldwide but the BrAMA's aren't the Bhangra Music Awards, they should be about Asian music as a whole. What about classical Asian music? There should be an award for classical artists too. The bhangra scene has in many ways blown open the doors for Asian artists as a whole but it's now time for more the more progressive bands like us and Swami to come through.

We've got to come with some fresh shit or those doors are going to close on us. But I'm confident that there are enough quality Asian artists and producers out there now to keep pushing things forward.

Richard: On the subject of the BrAMA's, how do you think this year's awards have been put together?

Ash: I think there has been a big progression from last year. It's a great thing that it's happening at all, Asian artists have got so many platforms now that we didn't have even two years ago when you take into account the Bobby & Nihal show etc. I really hope it goes from strength to strength and into our own MOBO's. It's definitely a great incentive for artists to get their music out there.

Ranvir: It's great to see so many Asian artists on TV. When I was growing up in the seventies the only non-white people I saw on TV was the occasional black footballer. We need more Asian role models for the kids to aspire to.

Irfan: You did an official remix for Swami's DesiRock. How did that come about? Ash: There's no big story there really, we asked Diamond (Swami) if we could remix it. It's a great track, let's face it the whole world loves it! I'm sure it will win best track at the awards and we just wanted to remix it! By the way, we've got our own Desi Rock on the album…its called Bionic Desi Funk. That's all I'm saying for now. Irfan: You've managed to perform at some pretty obscure places from a desi perspective. Tell us more about where you have managed to apply your trade.

Ash

Ranvir: We've already talked about India and Venezuela…yeah, not too many desi's out in Caracas that's for sure. We've just come back from Poland actually…that was cold! Again not many desi's but we had and amazing Indian meal in a restaurant in Krakow. We also played in Warsaw; there were about 1000 people across the two events. We got a great reception, we've played in France too, we find that the continental crowds are very open-minded and surprisingly clued up about Asian music. In some ways they're more open minded than British audiences…even British Asian audiences. Last year we did a lot of hot places…India, Venezuela etc… at the moment we seem to be doing all the cold countries, we've got an Eastern European tour coming up to the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Croatia.

Ash: The best bit about touring is collaborating with local musicians at the gigs and then recording with them in their studios. In Venezuela we played with a local half-Venezuelan, half-Trinidadian dread vocalist called '1 Chot', he's like part of the extended Sonik Gurus global family now. He recorded some Spanish vocals for us too…bad…that'll probably be on the next album, we're already thinking two albums ahead, we've got enough tracks already for the 2nd album but we want to record new stuff too, we've got so many ideas.

Irfan: When I interviewed Nihal (click here to view) and asked him whom I expected to blow up in 2005 on the UK Asian scene he named you as one of the few names. How does that make you feel?

Ash: Nihal is obviously a very wise man! Seriously though, both Bobby & Nihal have been very supportive, they actually got us quite a few gigs last year. I know they're itching to hear the album.

Ranvir: I respect them because they are musicians and they have musical ears as well as being DJs. They know what they are talking about.

Irfan: How is the Sonik Gurus debut album coming along? What should we expect from it?

Ash: We're going to release the album on our own label in June or July. We've named it 'Sound And Culture Clash.'

One thing to expect is some f*****g amazing artwork, it's gonna blow your mind. Not enough bands put enough thought into their artwork but it's as important to Sonik Gurus as the music itself. Our designer is Seb Ahmad @ Studio Mogul, he also did the Desi Rock album cover but I've been working with him for years on the Swaraj visual identity, which has always been really strong too. But this is some next level shit; the guy is seriously talented and deserves to be huge in his own right because he's been hardcore about it right from the early days.

Ranvir: It's two years worth of hard work, which we've developed in the studio and through the live gigs, which is a great way of testing out and tweaking our material. Playing in Poland gave us a lot of ideas about what people want. Music is about taking risks; we've done a lot of that on the album.

Ranvir

Our sound is a mixture of live musicianship and vocals with studio based electronics and production, that's what you're going to hear. We'll have eastern classical styles and folk beats fused with every genre from Ragga, Funk and Soul to Hip Hop, Breakbeat and Drum 'n bass…and more. We're looking at 14 tracks, 12 of those will have vocals so it's pretty song-based…Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi, English, all sorts. Some tracks will have a heavy eastern flavour and others will have none. It'll definitely have some phat dance floor tracks but it'll have some more downbeat stuff too and some pretty off the wall shit which you can't really categorise. All the material is there now and it's just a matter of finishing certain elements and doing some mixing and editing…we're really excited as are the PR Company and plugger who'll be working it so bring it on! Irfan: So from a commercial perspective how does it fair?

Ash: We're not ashamed to make commercial music but it's important for us to make progressive, interesting music too. The key is to make fresh music with a commercial edge. I hope we achieve that musically with the album. Who knows how many we'll sell…at this stage it's more about making our mark as new artists making exciting, relevant music. It'll be interesting to see how well it does with the 'desi heads' but our music is for everyone.

Irfan: What else have you got going on?

Ranvir: We've got tracks coming out soon on a few compilations including 'Indian Grooves 2' on Virgin India, we were on the first one last year too as well as the 'Hyderabad Blues 2' film soundtrack. We've also got tracks on DJ Pathaan's 'Tandava' mix CD coming out in the States later this month and we've remixed a track called 'Wrong Day' for a U.S rock band called 'Dragonfly' which is also out in India this month, other British Asian artists like Fun'Da'Mental and T.J.Rehmi also did mixes for that project so we're in good company there.

Gig-wise we're playing in Paris in May as well as up North for the first time in Bradford, Manchester and Leeds. The Eastern European tour is in early summer but we've got some festivals lined up - Glastonbury again and the Glade festival which is a huge UK breakbeat festival. We're on the live stage there and that's exciting because it'll bring our music to a whole new audience again and we'll be on-stage alongside some great breakbeat bands and dj's.

Richard: Finally, have you got any sentiments for the army of Desitunes4u readers out there?

Ash: Keep reading desitunes4u …and eat your greens (at the same time)!

Ranvir: It's all about breaking down the barriers! Support British Asian music!

That concludes the interview, a big thanks to Ash and Ranvir of the Sonik Gurus for taking some time out to chat to us. Also, thanks to Claire Greenway for allowing us to reproduce the images on display. Be sure to check out the official Sonik Gurus website at www.sonikgurus.com where you can download two of their tracks for free!