Talvin Singh – The founder of Asian Underground subgenre of music which revolutionized Indian pop music scene and Bollywood music in the 1990s

Talvin Singh is a musician, music producer and tabla player based in London. He is of Indian origin, but born and brought up in London. He is best known for founding and revolutionizing Asian Underground subgenre of music in the 1990s alongside Sweety Kapoor, his promoter, and is a pioneer of this music genre. State of Bengal was the third member of the group, and the trio was quite popular for Anokha Club Nights which they ran in London in the second half of 1990s to promote budding musicians. Bollywood music and Indian pop music since early 1990s have been deeply influenced from Asian Underground music genre developed by him. Bangra, an important genre of Indian pop music scene is developed from Asian Underground.

A top artist amongst Western born Asian musicians, Singh was born in London in 1970 and raised in Leytonstone. As a child he was drawn towards tabla and at the age of 16 he came to India to take musical lessons of this instrument from Pandit Lachman Singh Seen from Punjab. He returned after one year, and decided to pursue a career in the field of music. However his heavy western influences couldn’t convince British promoters of Indian classical music and he also didn’t wish to remain as an extra musician who adds an exotic element to the work of western musicians. That’s how he decided to combine western drum and bass with Indian classical music to produce a new fusion music named as Asian Underground, which later conquered music scene in the 1990s.

“Kiss Them for Me” in 1991 was the first single released in collaboration with Siouxsie and the Banshees, and he played tabla as well as provided vocals. The song was an instant hit and he collaborated with his promoter Sweety Kapoor in 1995 to start Anokha club night. They also collaborated with Bangladeshi artist DJ State of Bengal to produce many inspiring tunes in the second half of 1990s. They ran Anokha Club Night, at Blue Note in Hoxton Square, London which gave opportunity to youngsters to experiment with Indie pop music. His debut album OK was released in 1999.

Talvin Singh – Some interesting facts

1. His father is a retired engineer who hails from Punjab, while his mother is from Madhya Pradesh.

2. He along with Sweety Kapoor developed a new genre of fusion music, Asian Underground which made a deep influence in Bollywood music since 1990s. Interestingly even after 25 years, Talvin is still continuing with his music experiments in the same genre.

3. He may not be a favourite of purists, but this Suffolk-based musician still owns a strong fan base who loves his compositions and experiments.

4. His refusal to work with western artists who just wanted him to add as an exotic element embarked his independent career in a new path of music in the late 1980s and early 1990s, which we call ‘Asian Underground’. Britpop and UK bhangra originated from this genre of music.

5. He along with Sweety Kapoor and DJ State of Bengal released a compilation album, Anokha — Soundz of the Asian Underground in 1997, and also hosted Anokha at Fabric at Clerkenwell during 1999 – 2001.

6. Singh keeps a low profile on social media and barely tweets through his twitter account. He is not active in other social media sites.