Swami (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Swami

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Img_capt = Swami Photoshoot Jan 2008
Img_size = 300
Landscape =
Background = group_or_band
Alias =
Origin = Birmingham, England
Genre = Alt/Hip Hop/Bhangra
Years_active = 1998–
Label = Nation Records (to 2004)
Envy/Roma Music (2004, Britain)
Sony BMG India (2005-2006, India)
EMI/Virgin (2007-)

Associated_acts =
URL = [http://www.swamimusic.com www.swamimusic.com]
[http://www.myspace.com/swamimusic www.myspace.com/swamimusic]
Current_members = Diamond "DJ Swami" Duggal (guitar, keys, decks)
S-Endz (vocals)
Sups (vocals) Liana (vocals) Bobby Panesar (dhol)
Past_members = Tarsame 'Speed' Jarnail (vocals)
Kamaljit 'Kamo' Bura (percussion)
Simon 'Subs' Duggal (drums and production)
Baba Stormz (bass guitar)
Rocky Singh (drums)

Notable_instruments =

Swami are a critically-acclaimed [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/asiannetwork/summersounds/artists_swami.shtml BBC Summer Sounds:] Swami] British Indian pop/alt/bhangra band from Birmingham, England. It is also the pseudonym of the band's lead performer, producer, DJ and guitarist Diamond Duggal (aka DJ Swami), who founded the band with his brother Simon Duggal. Though 'Swami' traditionally refers to a Hindu teacher, the name is an abbreviation of the English phrase 'So Who Am I?'. The band has made it clear through interviews that Swami is a band in the traditional sense, and not a looser collective as is the case with many R&B groups. cite web|url=http://hotashes.com.au/index.php?c=archive/yr2006/int_swami/swami|title=Desi Rock|publisher=Hot Ashes|first=Anoushka|last=Nand]

History

Swami's debut dance album "Desi Nu Skool Beatz" was initially released on Simon & Diamond Duggal's own Sub Dub label in 1998. After Sub Dub folded the album was picked up by Nation Records. Described as "blinding" by the Birmingham Post, [cite news|title=Clubs - Swami - Q&A|publisher=Birmingham Post|date=August 21 1999] the album received some international recognition when the opening track "Mehbooba" appeared in the 2004 Olsen twins movie New York Minute [ [http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808503931/cast Yahoo! Movies:] New York Minute] . "Nu Skool Beatz" was followed by the 2002 album "Bhangradotcom", which was less dance-oriented. [Global-trance.co.uk: [http://www.global-trance.co.uk/fr_index.html?/Whirly_Music_R.html Swami] ]

2004-2006: The "DesiRock" Era

The band's big break came with the release of their third album "DesiRock", which became popular across the entire British Asian music scene. By this time Diamond was the only original member remaining and had recruited his cousin S-Endz as rap vocalist in the band alongside British bhangra singer Jagz and MC Sarpanch.

The title track "DesiRock" was voted as a BBC Radio 1 favorite, which led to the band doing a Maida Vale session in the summer of 2005, and the track also appeared in the Official 2006 FIFA World Cup edition of Electronic Arts' FIFA series of video games [http://www.swamimusic.com/content/view/47/31/ Swamimusic.com:] Secrets of 2006] . In the same year DJ Swami won the Media Storm Best Producer award at the UK Asian Music Awards, as well as being nominated for Best Track ("DesiRock") and Best Group. [cite news|title=It's rappers Vs rockers at 2005 British Asian Music Awards|publisher=Hindustan Times|date=January 24 2005] [ [http://www.theukama.com/pressrelease.php Press release from the UKAMA] ]

In late 2005, the band signed a deal with Sony BMG to release "DesiRock" in India as "So Who Am I" with a new line-up losing Sarpanch and replacing Jagz with new vocalist Sups. With a heavily modified sound (nearly all songs re-recorded with live guitar and drums, and additional vocals by S-Endz), they then embarked on a successful promotional tour of India which included a high-profile performance at the MTV Style Awards. "The Hindu" credited Swami with bringing British bhangra back to prominence in Indian clubs. [cite news|title=New age UK bhangra is here|first=A.|last=Vishnu|publisher=The Hindu|date=March 11 2006]

A fourth album of live recording sessions was scheduled to be released in the spring of 2006. Two songs from the sessions have been heard, "Afraid" and "No Apologies", both at one stage were available on the band's Myspace site. "Afraid"'s 'bhangra-fied mix' was also played on the BBC's Desi DNA programme. These recordings remain otherwise unreleased.

In December 2006, Dhol player and percussionist Bobby Panesar joined the band.

2007-current: The "Equalize" Era

In March 2007, an update was made to Swami's website, containing details of the forthcoming album and revealed that it would feature many guest appearances including Pras of The Fugees, Boostylz, Lady Ru, French rappers Asuivre, South African vocalist Ishmael, MC Spee from the band Dreadzone, Yam Boy and more.

It was later announced that Swami's 2007 release was to be named Equalize and would be out in the fall following a tour including Wychwood and Glastonbury festivals.

BBC Radio 1 premiered 'Hey Hey', the first single from Equalize on the 14th August.The song had been hosted on social networking website MySpace for 2 weeks prior to this, in a deal which saw Swami as a MySpace Music Featured Artist. To date, the song has been played over 1.7 million times on MySpace.

Following the radio premiere of the song on the 14th, Radio 1 DJ Bobby Friction announced that Swami would be performing an exclusive live session at Maida Vale in a few weeks time. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/1xtra/F1866167?thread=4484105 BBC Radio 1:] ] The session was recorded and broadcast at the end of September and featured many new songs from Equalize and guest appearances from some of the featured artists including Boostylz, MC Spee and Ishmael.

Equalize was released in the UK on the 24th September, and in mid November a music video began rotating for 'Hey Hey'.

In December 2007, Swami announced that they had signed a new international record deal with Virgin/EMI and would be releasing "Equalize" in India imminently. The major label release is a new version including bonus tracks, one of them being an all-new version of the track "Electro Jugni" featuring Swedish popstar DeDe Lopez. [ [http://www.swamimusic.com Official Swami Site:] ]

In January 2008, Swami won the 'Album Of The Year' award on DesiHits, and were nominated for 3 awards (Best Album, Best Producer and Best Underground Act) at the 2008 UK Asian Music Awards. Diamond was awarded the Best Producer award, but couldn't make the event, so S-Endz, Liana and Bobby Panesar accepted it on his behalf.

As of 2008, it is believed that Rocky Singh and Baba Stormz are no longer in the band, and their names have been removed from the list of band members on Swami's MySpace page.

In February 2008, Swami appeared on the UK TV show 'Desi DNA' on BBC 2 and performed "Ching" and "Electro Jugni". The performance of "Electro Jugni" was also the debut of Swami's new female vocalist Liana. The video to "Electro Jugni" was shot a few weeks later and is expected to premiere soon.

In June 2008, Swami revealed a forthcoming digital single of 'Electro Jugni/She's Mine'. Both songs are new versions, 'Electro Jugni' is a new Punjabi and Hindi version, and 'She's Mine' is an all-new English version of the song. Both songs feature all-new vocals from S-Endz, Liana and Sups. The artwork appeared shortly thereafter on MySpace, and the single is set to be released in the summer of 2008.

In August 2008, Swami's "Hey Hey" music video received its Canadian premiere at Toronto's FILMI South Asian Film Festival, as part of FILMI's debut music video night programmed by Deejay Ra.

Discography

*"Desi Nu Skool Beatz" (1999)
*"BhangraDotCom" (2002)
*"DesiRock" (2004)
*"So Who Am I" (2005)
*"Equalize" (2007)

References

External links

* [http://www.swamimusic.com Official Swami band website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/swamimusic Swami's Official MySpace Page]
* [http://www.youtube.com/swamimusic Swami's Official YouTube Page]
* [http://www.desitunes4u.com/interview_swami_2.php November '07 interview with Diamond and S-Endz]
* [http://chakdey.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=881&Itemid=2 December '07 interview with Diamond and S-Endz]
* [http://funkhauseuropa.de/world_wide_music/kuenstlerlexikon/interpreten/swami.phtml Funkhaus Europa] (German)