His debut release Blindfolded has received a lot of attention in a short time and could be the first of many albums emerging from India with a British-Asian sound. Eastern Eye caught up with B-Projekt to talk about his stunning collaboration with Juggy D, what sets his album apart from the other releases in 2009 and being in Bollywood.
 

I started DJing internationally about two years ago. My frequent visits to England helped me explore the Asian music culture from a different prospective. I always had the zeal to create, whether it was graphic designing or music. Coming back to India, I learned that DJs here are always tagged with the term re-mixers – it was new to hear the term ‘producer’ added alongside a DJ. That is when I realised what needed to be done so people could relate to me in a much broader spectrum rather than just as a DJ.

Although I would never give up DJing, I also got the opportunity to create my own tracks, rather than just playing other people’s music.
 

Blindfolded almost took me a year to complete. This being my debut meant I had to take care of a lot of things. The vocalists in the album are from different countries – Juggy D is from the UK; G-Deep, Raja Wilco and Josyln are from the US, and some are from India. Getting all these acts together was a little time-consuming, but I guess it was worth it.

Since it’s a very diverse album, the biggest challenge for me was to give the right kind of sound to every track – for instance, Pyar Kahani is a love song but it doesn’t sound out of place on the album. This being the first urban bhangra coming out of Mumbai gave me the motivation to make the sound as global I could.
 

Well, Blindfolded relates a lot to my journey until this point. It’s been an unseen journey for me and talks about my voyage from a DJ to a producer. Also, it was about how I collaborated with artists on the album: for example, Juggy was not planned for this album, it just happened after we bumped into each other and I offered him the song. Many such incidents helped me name it Blindfolded.
 

As a DJ, I listen and play different kinds of music, and I got a strange fascination for bhangra music after I started touring London – that may sound funny, because it [bhangra] went from India, and I had to learn it from the UK. India is very Bollywood dominated, so most of the producers here are not aware about the sounds used on a global level. Luckily DJing and my taste for good music helped me achieve the sound.
 

In February this year, I was in London looking for vocalists and bumped into him in a common friend’s studio. Because I was late, Juggy had already arrived for his recording, so it was very random for me that I came here to discuss some vocalists and Juggy walks in. I offered him the track and this is how we did this totally unplanned collaboration.
 

All artists have their own qualities and drawbacks. Despite being in this industry for a long time, Juggy didn’t have any attitude and was easy to

work with. He understood what was needed for the track and did absolute justice to it.

If anyone knew the success of a track, film or album before its release, this would have been a different industry. But we all felt that the track had a vibe while we did the recording. I have a strong belief in hard work and if you are serious about your work and you have put in 100 per cent, it will work one day. It’s good to see the track do really well the world over.
 

I would like to work with quite a few. One of them is Jay Sean because Mumbai is always more excited to groove on r’n’b, hip hop and western

lyrics. So it will be nice to blend a bit of the Bombay sound with an international flavour. Imran Khan, Jassi Sidhu and Sukshinder Shindaji are a few more artists I would like to work with.
 

Blindfolded is an album put together with a strong global vibe. It sets its image in a different style of bhangra music. You wouldn’t hear any typical bhangra composition in the album and I have tried to use my own style in terms of instruments and beats. Some tracks really stand apart, like Club Tere Naal Nachda, which has a Greek and Arabic guitar sound sampled to give it that fresh vibe. There are eight Punjabi tracks and two Hindi remixes. I have tried to keep the lyrics of this album very simple so even a non-Punjabi can understand what’s happening, so at least I can start spreading bhangra music to Mumbai and other cities where it is not vastly played at the moment.
 

I believe that if you make good music, you also need to promote it well. I’m focused on promoting this album in various countries with live shows and gigs. We have finished the India tour and have released the album in the UK. Hopefully in January 2010 we start touching down in the UAE, the US and Canada. Although the CDs are available worldwide, I prefer interacting with the audience and playing them my music. I am also touching a few interesting Bollywood projects.
 

It’s definitely on the radar since I’m here in the city, after all. I love the way the films are marketed in the country, in that it might even be a flop film but it is promoted as if it is going to win an Oscar. Hence music becomes an essential part of the film’s success. So I would surely want to give my style of bhangra music to Bollywood.
 

It’s very difficult to measure ambition because I think it’s all about how passionate you are – if you have the passion for what you are doing, it keeps you going. I dreamed of becoming a DJ ever since I was 16 and started winning a few college DJ completions in the city, then I wanted to produce my own music and take it to a global level. God has been kind to give me results for my hard work. I think I’m a greedy person when it comes to my career and always want to learn and achieve more.

If you have belief in your dreams, you will find success if you work towards it. It sounds a little filmy, but it’s okay because I’m from Mumbai.