Recently, DJ Dev had the pleasure of interviewing one of the stars on the desi music scene at the moment. The Producer, Songwriter and Re-mixer SIMON 'SUBS' DUGGAL (one half of the acclaimed SIMON & DIAMOND) talks about his new album FAT, RUFF & LARGE.

1) Your last release was fat, ruff and large, what was the feedback or the album generally?

I've had a great response to the album all over the world. I've had emails from people in Canada to India and all over the world. I'm very happy with how the album has been received.

2) It was one of the few albums around to be full of original beats. What are your feelings towards sampling in the bhangra industry?

I think samplers and turntables are like the modern day guitar. 10 years ago everyone wanted to be a guitar hero now everyone wants to be a DJ. I think we have to use whatever tools are available to create modern sounds but we have to use them to explore original ideas and write more original material.

3) The hit song from the album, 'Tere Toor', but I understand you weren't too pleased with the quality of the video? To be totally honest I was very disappointed with the video. The director promised something that he was unable to deliver and the end result didn't do the song any justice. I've had a fantastic response to the lead track Tere Toor, and the whole album. All I can say is that I made the album and someone else made the video. The video is crap but the album is Fat, Ruff & Large! 4) It featured your cousin Apache Indian? Musical talent

Subs

must run in the family. DJ Swami's is also your brother isn't he?

Yeh, maybe some of your readers might know that my brother Diamond (aka DJ Swami) and I, co-wrote and produced the whole Apache Indian thing including Chok There, Don Raja, Movie Over India and the No Reservations album which was signed to Island Records. We sold three million copies of that album worldwide and were nominated for Mercury, Brit and Ivor Novello Awards. When I was recording my album Fat, Ruff & Large, under the name Subs; I was also recording some new tracks with Apache. He came to the studio one day and I played him the track and asked him if he'd like to try a thing on it. He wrote his parts within about an hour and within a further three hours the track was finished. It was just one of those tracks that kind of produced itself.

5) Where did the name 'Subs' come from?

Subs was actually my nickname when I was young. I thought it would make a good solo name, as I'm usually known as one half of Simon & Diamond. Some of my friends still call me Subs too. A few years ago Diamond and I set up a label called Sub Dub Records. We had Stereo Nation signed to us and we produced their hit track Oh Carol and the Jambo album. We released a lot of great music on the Sub Dub label like the classic Sub Culture Volume 1 by DJ Swami.

6) A lot of people following the bhangra scene won't be fully aware of all the work you've done, the artists you've worked with and the awards you've won. Tell us about some of the highlights of your career thus far.

Yes, we've worked with a lot of artists over the years including;

Erasure - Maxi Priest - Apache Indian - Aretha Daye - Dillinger
The Beat - Boyzone - China Black - Stereo Nation - Janet Kaye
Swami - Martine Girault - Sly and Robbie - Stan Campbell
Raise - Anne Saunderson (Inner City) - Malkit Singh - Gurdass Mann
Hans Raj Hans and too many more to mention.

The highlight of my career so far was just recently. I've just spent the past five months producing the new Shania Twain album with my brother Diamond. We recorded all over the world and spent a month in India working with the top musicians in Bollywood. It's one of the highlights because it was such an interesting musical experience. There are all kinds of influences on the album from Pop to Country and Bollywood to Arabic.

7) You've worked with a variety of artists, from Boyzone to Stereo Nation, who have been the most awkward artists to work with?

That's a good question; let me see… no, I can't think of anyone. No seriously, we've encountered some big egos over the years but Diamond and I have always had a policy that we won't work with people with attitude problems, no matter how big they are.

8) Are there any other artists that you'd particularly like to work with?

This is a difficult question, only because there are so many great artists out there. If you'd have asked me six months ago I would never have said Shania Twain but now we've just finished producing her album. Who knows what's around the corner.

9) It's so rare to see producers working in such a range of different music styles. Do you make a conscious effort to do this?

We've always done what we do because we love music, all kinds of music and we're thankful for the continued success we have. We learn so much from each style and it gets exciting for us when we can mix it up and fuse genres to make something different. That was the key to our success with Apache Indian. Mixing reggae with bhangra had never been done yet it worked so naturally. I guess we do make an effort to learn as much as we can and keep on learning. That's how new styles are made.

10) What music genres do you enjoy producing most for?

Again, I can only say that I love all kinds of music from Reggae to Hip Hop, Garage to House. I did particularly enjoy making Fat, Ruff & Large as I do like the Hip Hop / R&B grooves.

Subs	11) You've also set up your own Audio/Media Company called nativelogic. Tell us a little about this project? Over the years we've done a lot of theme music for Television, computer games, jingles etc, and other mediums. We set up a multimedia company with our younger brother in order to provide music for any application including the Internet. Native Logic Ltd works right across the board from web design to video editing and is run by our brother. 12) Any plans to sign up any budding Bhangra producers?
Sadly we had to put Sub Dub Records on hold while we concentrate on all the productions we're working on. We've been really busy with the Shania album, the four DJ Swami albums that Diamond has done and Fat, Ruff & Large amongst other things.

13) What's next on the agenda then?

A well-earned rest right is due right now so we're taking a two-week holiday abroad. There are a lot of things in the pipeline for when we get back but I'm not going to say too much about that just yet.

14) Any plans to bring out any more bhangra albums?

There will certainly be more albums from Subs and DJ Swami. It's important for us to stay in touch with our roots, our musical DNA and making these albums helps us to do this.

15) Do you have any final message for the thousand of desitunes4u.com visitors worldwide?

Yes, I'd like to thank all the people that have bought my album. I made it for you, Enjoy!!!

That concludes the interview, firstly a big thanks to Subs for taking some time out to do the interview. The album, Fat, Ruff & Large is available in all good music stores near you. If you want to e-mail Subs (also known as Simon) himself then you can yourself at simon@nativelogic.com and you can got to their site: www.simonanddiamond.com.