Bombay body rock

By: Insiya Syed

Bombay Rockers - comprising Navtej Singh Rehal and Thomas Sardord - have made waves worldwide in clubs, on the radio and even at weddings. Hailing from Denmark the group recently came to Pakistan to perform shows in Lahore and Karachi

For well over a decade sales of bhangra music have been rising well into the millions. People such as Bally Sagoo and Apache Indian became household names and it was only a matter of time before other Asian artistes would join them, and the Asian community would finally conquer the mainstream market in the West.

Well, that was back in 1993, when the bhangra revolution was beginning. Fast forward to 2005 and we have Bombay Rockers comprising Navtej Singh Rehal and Thomas Sardord. The duo have made waves worldwide in clubs, on the radio and even at weddings. Hailing from Denmark the group recently came to Pakistan to perform shows in Lahore and Karachi. Topping the charts in our part of the world with their song Teri To Teri Ta, which became an anthem of sorts in Pakistan.

During their short visit this writer got a few minutes to talk to the band about their music, origin and future plans after waiting patiently for several hours in the hotel’s lobby. The boys were out playing squash but on their return it was revealed that they could only manage a few ping-pong games that Navtej aced.

Navtej has been playing music since the tender age of 11 and later studied IT engineering, only to discard it and take up music as a career. Almost instantly he jumped into talking about the similarities between India and Pakistan.

"I was born and raised in Denmark. I always had this idea that people in India and Pakistan are the same. In fact we have a lot of friends in Denmark who are Pakistanis. And it’s obvious that we have the same culture and the same values. I mean I haven’t found any difference as yet. They dance and scream the same way and the music level of the people is also the same," explained Navtej. Whereas Thomas had a slightly different view: "I’ve been to India five times but I haven’t seen much of Pakistan as yet. Even when we played in Lahore we spent most of the time in the hotel. But the people are really kind and the crowd knows how to rock."

The band made it clear they follow the crossover style of hip-hop versus bhangra style of music (made popular by acts like Rishi Rich Project), but the desi element in their music is relatively higher than other bands, especially when it comes to Punjabi vocals. The only thing that sets them apart from the rest of the bands is Thomas whose father and grandfather were musicians and who was working as a producer even before the Bombay Rockers. He doesn’t know much about Punjabi as a language and Indian music and therefore he ends up treating the sound very differently. "There’s a different kind of vibe because I just took some flutes and dhol, etc, and mixed it up. We have no rules and that’s the reason why we end up with a lot of flavours on the album like hip-hop and R&B and the way I produce is also slightly different," he says.

Bhangra itself is a very exciting genre of music and the target audience is massive to say the least. And these musicians are mostly third generation immigrants who are as English as fish and chips but in many ways they’ve brought this wonderful musical culture and mixed it with what was there already. In the case of Bombay Rockers, Thomas is Danish whereas Navtej is Indian by origin but born and raised in Denmark. And hence it’s no wonder this band is making waves and even got featured at the number three slot on the Denmark top 20 countdown. Further on in the interview the band did accept that they aren’t as big in Denmark as they are in India or Pakistan. Their manager, however, wasn’t very excited about the dodgy manner in which Pakistani record labels work and how the bands that are being released don’t have any rights for royalty. He also felt that the Bombay Rockers would visit a lot more often if there is a system in place and albums are released legally.

It was the mass appeal of desi music that accidentally spawned the band’s name explains the twosome. "Well, when we came up with the name Bombay represented the music. In Europe or Denmark when you mention Bombay it instantly gets connected to India and rockers because we rock the party. Or if you want you can put it this way that Navtej is Bombay and Thomas is rocker. Plus, it’s simple and reflects well as to who we are as in a little Indian spicy sound that rocks the party."

On closer inspection to the earlier days, bands such as Bombay Vikings have also cashed in on the name and hence one wonders if there’s more to it then what appears. Not only did the band form its name without thinking too much about it, it also formed almost accidentally.

"I was working as a producer with my other producer Janus Bosen Barnewitz, when we heard a Panjabi MC track called Mundian and that is when some guys at the record label that we were working with ended up really digging that Indian sound and we decided to do something on those lines. One of the guy’s girlfriend at the record label knew Naf and so we met up in our studio and it just clicked," said Thomas. And although Thomas disagreed Navtej thinks that it was "love at first sight." Their honest approach came to the forefront instantly when they agreed that at times they find it hard to put up with each other but they always find similar grounds as far as music and sports are concerned.

Two years into making music together at the age of just 25 years and having released the album in over 35 countries, the two feel that they aren’t better than anyone else but they are making music from their heart and they think that their music speaks for itself. When a band that has only released one record with only three major hits says something as strong as "we have full control over our music and even though we listen to our record label the final decision lies with us," they must have solid plans in the pipeline.

First Published in DAWN, Images - Sunday, July 10, 2005.