Panjabi Hit Squad take time out and talk with Bhangrareleases.com for an exclusive interview

Bhangrareleases.com exclusively talk to Panjabi hit Squad about where they started from, where are they heading now within the music market industry, Electro Mahiya why there hasn’t been much hype over the release and much more. Thank you to Harpz our journalist for putting together the questions. Have a read below and enjoy

Let’s start from the beginning! Something everybody wants to know.. How did you guys meet up one day and decide that this is the industry you want to go into? This is the career for you?

Well it started from just after high school. We started DJ’ing and that kept some money coming in but it was when we saw an interest in Asian music from the mainstream (Around 2000) that we started to take the production and the brand a lot more seriously. Up until that point we were all working 9-5 jobs but became so busy with the music that it was one or the other, we chose music

How did you learn how to DJ? Was it something you had to go out and do by watching others or was it all pretty much self-taught stuff?

Where we come from (Southall) there has always been a strong DJ culture. Most of what we do has been self-taught but also comes from watching and following classic Hip-Hop DJ’s in America like Funk Master Flex. That’s where the skill comes from but DJ’ing is more than that. It’s knowing to play the right song at the right time which no one can teach you. We have been fortunate to always have our ear not only to Desi music but to other genres like Hip-Hop, R’n’B, Dancehall, House & Garage

You guys also host your very own popular show weekly on The Asian Network, how was that for you when you first started off?

It was great. We had been presenting on 1Xtra for 6 years before that and the show was quite specialist. With our Asian Network show it gave us an opportunity to become more mainstream and to start to let our personalities shine. Our show has great connection with our core audience and spans across such a great age group. We are pleased to be presenting our show to such a large audience and at a time when the Asian Network is doing well.

Is this something you’re wanting to continue? Is Radio the future for you?

It’s definitely a part of who Panjabi Hit Squad are so yes it’s something we would be doing for the foreseeable future. We are always looking to develop new ideas for the show so that it sounds fresh every time you listen. We are also getting into TV and some film work

You’ve worked alongside some big names in the industry, such as Raghav, Saini Surinder, Scandalous and more! Has there ever been a favourite that you’ve enjoyed working with and possibly hope to work with again?

I think every artist has been fun to work with in their own unique way. In the studio we are quite relaxed. Most of the time we spend talking about other music, food even cricket. For an artist to deliver something good he/she has to be relaxed and comfortable otherwise the recording can sound rushed. We hope to work with Saini Surinder again, Scandalous is always going to be there and Rahat will always be special and we are making a pt.2 as we speak. We have great relationships with so many artists at the moment like Ash King, Nafeess and Navin Kundra. We have been in the studio just putting ideas down for them and mainly just vibing off each other until the right song comes around.

Dil Mera has been a huge success, what’s the response been like towards the remix?

The response has been great. It was geared towards mainly club DJ’s but has been getting played on Radio 1, Buzz Asia plus a lot of other stations. Electronic music is MASSIVE as soon as you step out of the UK so we wanted to cater for the wider audience

Electro Mahiya is another one you guys have dropped this year, but there hasn’t been much hype over the release? Any particular reason for that?

We didn’t overhype it on purpose. The song is being appreciated by the right audience and has been getting great feedback from DJ’s. It’s something that we wanted to put out as a part of our India deal with Universal. Sometimes it’s just got to be about the music ONLY. You should buy music by how it sounds to your ears not by how the video looks or how much promotion you do

The biggest news for you lot this year though has to be your new label signing: Universal Music India! How did this happen? Fill us in!

Universal had been talking to us for a long time about signing and taking our World Famous album. We had great response from all over the world with the album but it didn’t filter through to India properly. Universal will give it that push it needs to break the market. ‘World Famous’ is just one part of what we have coming with Universal

What are you hoping to achieve by joining one of the biggest record labels across India?

In a country that is filled and dominated by Bollywood we hope to bring in a fresh new angle with not only our music but brand. At the moment Panjabi music is hot all over India and hopefully we can keep pushing music in the right direction

Are there any other surprises we should be looking forward to this year?

Ha Ha this is always a tricky question as you never want to say something that doesn’t end up happening. I think just look out for a lot of new music that will be released by us from our website, all this will be the buildup to our NEW album out in 2014

On a final note, is there anything you would like to share or say to the readers of BhangraReleases.com?

Thank you for the continued support. We are happy to have such a great site and readers follow us on our musical journey

Catch Panjabi Hit Squad on BBC Asian Network Every Saturday from 6-9pm, On every Emirates Airways flight hosting the House Party Mix and the new album World Famous (Deluxe version) out now on iTunes via Universal Music/Major Moves

We would like to thank you Panjabi Hit Squad for taking the time to talk to us here on Bhangrareleases.com and wish them all the success. 

Harpz – Bhangrareleases.com – Journalist

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