Jasmeet Singh
How did you discover your musical talents?
It wasn't so much as discovering my music talents, it was being able to tap into that mindset of a musician at a very young age, and being able to develop and nurture the skills of a musician through kirtan and gurmat sangeet. At a young age, around 5 years old, I was given my first ever Tabla lesson by my Ustad Profesor Parshotam Singh. My brother Jagdeep was also doing Classical Kirtan on the vaja, and from that point on we had been trained in raag and classical gurmat sangeet up till today. Not only did it help my Sikhi and being able to become familiar and a part of gurmat sangeet, it also trained my musical talents and grew my senses towards music and the ability to compose and perform it.
What inspired you to enhance your talents?
After growing much older, I began to listen to more Zakir Hussain and Allah Rakha tapes and CD's and began to practice my tabla and rehearse (or at least attempt to) the same solo's they did in different taals, and challenging myself to play most of what they did in their solo's however difficult it might have been. It was only in recent years that I began to experiment with Tabla Fusion, the art of mixing classical tabla with western or foreign beats and music. Mostly I've done fusion with Hip hop, techno, and world music. I started to perform these as well, along with my classical tabla routines and received a great response towards it, which is why I am definitely inclined to do more in the near future.
What sort of challenges have you encountered in trying to spread this awareness?
There have obviously been many challenges while growing up and pursuing the projects that I am. One of the challenges has been to maintain the Sikh Identity in a post-9/11 world and being able to keep strength and faith to keep moving forward. But I feel as if Sikhi has been more than enough support for me and the teachings of our Guru have been a perfect bridge for me to continue on this path. Another important thing I believe that has helped me is Sangat. Maintaining a well-minded, Gursikh sangat is another key component in getting past illusions and obstacles that many of us face in our lives which tend to lead us in the wrong direction.
Why do you feel the best way to reach out to Sikhs is through your work?
I feel the best way to reach out to Sikhs is through my work and spreading the message of Sikhi in that way. For example, playing tabla at different events and alongside many great people and artists not only gets you recognition of a true artist, but being a Sikh and maintaining a strong identity sticks in the mind of the audience watching you, and you are promoting Sikhi in that sense. Another one of my projects, the production of Dharmik music through Kurbani Productions is another way to reach out towards the Sikh youth and teach them about our history. My partner Prabhjot Singh and I decided to create a means of music that would incorporate educating our youth about our history and Sikhi in a more appealing way, and thats when we decided to debut Canada's first remixed dharmik album - Parnaam Shaheedan Nu. In addition to Kurbani Productions, I had also before the summer of 2007 started up my own clothing line, Fauj Clothing. Fauj Clothing encompasses a large variety of graphic designed T's that showcase pride in our Sikhi and pride in who we are as a people. I decided that I could take my graphic designing skills and depict them through a more Sikh platform and reach out to Sikhs everywhere so they could represent who their are through a statement of clothing.
Have you collaborated with any other Sikhs in regards to your music?
In regards to collaborations, we have many coming up soon, and also in the new CD. L-fresh, who is also featured on your website, will be doing a track on out next CD entitled "Guru Sahib Walks" which will pretty much be the Sikh version of Kanye West's hit song "Jesus Walks" and I believe that it will be an amazing track because L-fresh is such a gifted lyricist and rapper and we are honored to be working with him. Another one of our collaborations will be GNE, a socially conscious Sikh rap group from Maryland in America; they were featured on the Immortal Productions Panj CD and did an excellent job. Speaking of that CD, we will be doing things with Crative boy, and Shveta as well, who were also both feautured on the CD in the tracks Interlude and Satnaam Waheguru respectively. Another Sikh lyricist we will work with in the upcoming future is San Francisco based Sikh Rapper Mandeep Sethi, who speaks a lot about activism, social change for the betterment of humanity. His style is something new and fresh that we'd really like to tap into. And speaking of some local talent in Canada, we will be working with rappers from Toronto, Daku and Pacifik, iNA, and Stolen from Africa movement, and we might collaborate with them to release a Sikh Activist Network mixtape that will appeal to South Asain community in general and speak out about injustices and wrong-doings of our system and government agenda.
Any advice for upcoming Sikh generations?
If there's one message I'd like to give to my younger Sikh brothers and sisters it is that don't be afraid to achieve anything you want in life. Make sure you reach for your full potential and accomplish all that you can. Never think that your religion, or your identity, is a drawback. If anything, it is a gift given to us by Guru Sahib so that we can maintain a strong identity and have more power and recognition to go for greater feats. I strongly believe that I wouldn't be where I am today without Guru Sahibs blessings and kirpa, and I believe that we should be thankful everyday for who we are, and for all of the blessings we have been given.
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