..Apache Indian

If there is anywhere you need to be this Saturday night it is at the Apache Indian Concert at the Pavement. I managed to spend my afternoon with Apache and I have to say his company is inspiring. The 'just turned' 40 year old is as youthful as ever and has so much positivity emanating from him that we could have sat in silence and I would have walked away smiling. But sitting in silence is not something I do when I am not meditating and not ever in the presence of a superstar.

We know his array of hits "Chock There" and "Arranged Marriage", he has been involved in numerous Bollywood projects including Lovebirds and Dil Apna Punjabi and is now working with Saif Ali Khan in one of the songs off the movie 'Race'.

He is a music driven person with wisdom, a genuine soul with depth and a unique character with personality and a sense of humor.

Apache Indian was born in Handsworth, Birmingham UK. His parents where born in Jullunder (Punjab), India & moved to the UK in the 1960's. Apache grew up in Handsworth, which was largely made up of working class immigrants that had settled from Jamaica & India.

You have been in this business a long time now, what is the secret of your longevity?

Originality. I have never done anything copied or remixed, I have written everything myself and I don't feel that my music falls into any particular genre. My music represents the fusion, it's multicultural – it represents life. My music & lyrics are a simple reflection of this cross culture.

Your sound is very timeless. A song that was a hit 15 years ago can still be listened to today and no one would be able to tell that it is an old song. Only a handful of musicians are able to do this, one of them being Bob Marley. How does this make you feel?

It's a great feeling. To hear Arranged Marriage still playing at clubs is a great feeling. Boom Shakalak was used in Scooby Doo2 and over 100 commercials until date. That of course gives me a very gratifying feeling. I guess it is because what I do is what I feel – I make music. I don't make it for that time following a certain fad or anything, I just create my best.

What is one of your most memorable experiences?

That would have to be when I toured India in 1993. I was taken to meet the Prime Minister. Here I was with my simple styled music that is reggae based and I met with Sonia Gandhi. Rahul, her son, disguised himself to come and see me in Dehli and I guess they just felt very proud that an Asian was doing well; being on Top of the Pops, MTV with the Indian elements made them feel proud and to see the appreciation was an achievement for me.

You do a lot of charity work, tell us about that?

I run the Apache Indian Foundation and also do a lot of work for numerous organizations like the Blind Association, I work with young offenders both Asian and Black in the UK. There is a lot we have to deal with like drugs, crime and violence. Being a role model means that I have to do and say the right things and I enjoy it. It is important to have your own role models, when growing up we only had our parents or people in our families – but you would hardly see any Asian faces on TV, in sport, etc.

Also music is street so the youth can relate that much more easier to music.

Who are some of the major stars you have worked with and who would you like to work with?

I have worked with Asha Bhonsle, A R Rahman, The Fugees, Desmond Decker, Maxi Priest and Boy George to name a few. I would love to work with Lata Mangeshkar – in India there are very few younger artists who really stand out, but I think Sunidhi Chauhan is brilliant. I would also like to work with M People and more reggae artists.

What is your message to the many musicians who want to be where you are today?

What is key is originality! If I heard something from Nairobi I would love for it to reflect the city, the country, the culture. This isn't the formula though, but at least people will respect you for doing your own thing – when it is your own thing you can carry it on, hence I am here twenty years later!

You went quiet for a long while, is there any particular reason for this?

Well, I had 7 top 40 hits, 4 Brit Awards and I didn't have any experience. I was getting totally ripped off because I wasn't business savvy and I guess it was too much to swallow at one go. So in essence, I took a step a back to take two steps forward. But in the mean time I was presenting my own TV shows, Radio shows, Channel 4 in the UK sent me to India to record 'Apache goes Indian' and co-presented a show on MTV from Jamaica called 'Reggae Sound System' with Reggae singer Patra. The show included exclusive interviews & the best Reagge videos from around the globe & I presented a live music show for Charlton TV called 'Soul Music.'

In India everything is very visual – so unless you are seen you are famous, where as around the world there is a lot more where that came from with print media and radio. But it is going very well now with my going back to India to sign new deals.

What sort of a show do you have in store for Nairobi tomorrow night?

A fantastic show!! 3 generations of fans who will want to hear the new and old. I love Nairobi and am glad that am loved here too. Being on stage is no easy task but as usual I will give my 110 per cent. This is a family show so of course there will the young and the old and if you love reggae, bhangra and pop then you will have yourself a great time.

What is your opinion of the current music scene?

There is no reggae in mainstream music. Over the years there was talk of fusion as well but we see less Asian artists in the charts. The Jay Seans and Rishi Richs are being dropped off labels and record companies are trying to sign on old artists. Also there is nothing new – people just stick to the formula including the people who play the music, as if they are afraid to try something new. Also there is a lot of downloading of songs, so artistes are probably not making so much in sales, the upside of that of course is that there are more live performances but then you don't get a gig unless you are a known musician and to be a known musician you need have sold albums – it's a viscous circle!

Today what challenges do you face as an artist?

People don't disrespect me – when you have been in the industry for as long as I have to tend to become established and people know you and your music. I guess it is a challenge to create something fresh and new to appeal to the younger generations.

But I am very happy to be where I am – my music has shown me the world three times over it has brought me back to Nairobi and for that I pay it immense respect. In this business it is so easy to go wrong, one just has to stay focused.

What inspires you?

God.

What are the pros and cons of being an Asian in the limelight?

Pros are there aren't many in the market and cons are that people feel that it adds flavor for a season, the thing is we are here to stay.

What is your opinion on Shilpa Shetty?

She got a lot of publicity and because 'Bollywood is in' – the producers thought they would bring her in and it worked. But here she is talking about racism but she doesn't know the half of it. Good luck to her though, she played it really well – the thing is racism is real. I have grown up with it and it is no joke. No disrespect to Shilpa Shetty, but people get stabbed and shot and it is not getting better. It is getting worse – religion and war all breeds racism. People die because of racism. Terrorism of course makes a difference, it brings in things from the past with the west then blaming Muslim, Sikhs, Hindus – they all see us as the same. It isn't intentional and it is not in your face, but it is there – I have seen racism go up and down and down and up again. Where are we going to be in 10 years? With racism, one thing leads to another. My take is if you are going to make a difference don't do it for the money or the hype or the publicity. I have been asked to be in the reality TV shows that feature celebs, but I stay away from it.

How important are Indian traditions to you?

Very important. Cultures and traditions are important for everyone no matter what your background. But instead of letting traditions or cultures from the past hold us back, we should look at culture that is now and respect it. Why wait 100 years from now to celebrate the culture that we are enjoying today? I come from different influences like I enjoy reggae music, I speak different languages, I enjoy Chinese food so I say that we are a part of a new culture. Don't disrespect the past but look at religion as well – even that has its different influences. What is religion? Being good right? Don't lie, rape, rob – you need not learn that from a book. Things are changing.

Tell me about your dreadlocks?

Everyone thinks that I have them because it leans more to the black community but you will surprised – Saints who went from India to Jamaica had dreadlocks – that's where it came from. Because of the lack of understanding because of the language barrier there was so much that the Jamaicans took from Indians. You can actually do a search on this on the net on Hinduism influences on Rastafarian the results may just astound you!

For more on this artist

www.myspace.com/apachei

Trivia

Bob Marley died on his birthday

He is opening a Rasta Shanti Camp in Goa

Star sign: Taurus

What Nots

Aishwarya Rai or Angelina Jolie? Aishwarya Rai

Manchester United or Newcastle United? Man U!

Fast cars or Fast women? Fast Women

Snow or Sun? Sun

SMS or Snail Mail? SMS
Arranged Marriage or Love Marriage? Love

Jullundar or London? Jullundar

Favorite things

Favorite Food: Indian

Favorite Color: Red

Favorite time of day: Evening

Favorite Number: 7

Favorite Animal: Elephant

Favorite Musician: Bob Marley

Favorite Movie: Gandhi

Favorite place in the world: Goa

What is the first thing you do in the morning?

Drink Tea

What is the last thing you do at night?

I can't tell you that