An Inspired musical move

WHY BRIT DUO SHAAN & VERINDER DECIDED TO DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY AND RELEASE AN ALBUM

by ASJAD NAZIR

THE number of albums released by British Asian artists has dramatically decreased in recent years, but London-based Shaan & Verinder bucked the trend with the terrific 12-track release Inspired.

The album featuring diverse commercial music styles featured top singing talents Roshan Prince, Gunjan, Benny Dhaliwal, Manjit Pappu, Saini Surinder, Miss Pooja, Santu Singh, Kamal Khan, Feroz Khan, Baljit Malwa and Bhinda Jatt. The breath of fresh air during lockdown has been a labour of love for the hardworking musicians and has a variety of influences.

Eastern Eye caught up with Shaan & Verinder to talk about music, their new album and future plans.

Tell us about your musical partnership?

Shaan: We’ve come a long way. Initially, we worked as musicians who recorded for other producers. From there we pushed into full-on production and things have been rolling since. We’ve found our feet within this industry and have our own sound, which represents us. We’ve learnt so much from each other on this journey, and continue to evolve and better our sound. It’s been very positive overall, and we’ve met some great people along the way.

Artists aren’t releasing albums any more. What made you want to release an album?

Verinder: You’re right, Asjad! You rarely see an album being released today, especially producer-led ones. I think our overall aim has always been to showcase different sounds and it was only going to happen through an album. We released two consecutive singles back in 2016, Yaar Nachda with Nirmal Sidhu and Truck by Bhinda Jatt, and were labelled as desi folk bhangra producers. This didn’t tell the complete story of what we’re about, so showing a body of work was the only way forward.

What made you release the album Inspired during lockdown?

Shaan: The album has been ready for some time. We thought that hopefully our music could help bring some positive vibes during this period. Also, not a lot of new music released recently so we decided to drop the album.

Tell us about your album Inspired?

Verinder: Inspired puts together Shaan’s and my creativity, all our learning as musicians, producers and engineers, to create an album we hope has diverse sounds and shows variety. We always felt that although the Punjabi music industry is small in comparison to Bollywood, its boundaries need to be pushed. As fans of Punjabi music, we’ve always noticed how albums stick to a particular sound, whether it’s desi folk or urban beats. We thought, why can’t we have the best of both worlds and tried achieving this throughout our album.

What was the biggest challenge of putting the album together? 

Shaan: The creative process in making music is one thing, sourcing lyrics and approaching singers is another. Having to amalgamate all these individuals and convince them this would be part of an album, and not an individual single project was challenging. The internet enabled us to reach out globally for lyrics, singers and musicians. Then communicating with each person to make sure we’re all on the same page and have our vision captured was challenging, but rewarding. On the creative side, just developing a sound true to yourself and different from what’s in the market was another challenge, but that’s part of the journey.

How did you both decide on the singers to work with for the album?

Shaan: Before being producers, we are fans of music and of these vocalists. Our mission for this album was to provide a variation of different sounding songs. We picked the song style, whether it was a ballad or upbeat and then approached the singers who would fit the bill. Thankfully, we had worked with some of the artists featured on the album before.

Why did you choose Duawaan as the first video?

Verinder: Coming off the back of two bhangra singles in 2016, Shaan and I thought we’d change things up and show a completely new side to us. With videos being heavily consumed nowadays and more so becoming the main listening platform via YouTube, we thought that our first from the album had to instantly portray us in a different light to get rid of the ‘desi folk bhangra’ producers badge we had been given.

Who are you hoping connects with these songs?

Verinder: I guess overall we’re simply just trying to connect with listeners in the UK who feel the industry here is dead and look towards artists from India, Canada and USA for music. It would be nice to bring some positivity and faith back into the UK Punjabi music scene.

What is your favourite song on the album?

Shaan: We put equal efforts into all the songs. I have a different favourite on different days depending on how I feel. I’m especially proud of Nathli by Baljit Malwa and Mere Naina by Gunjan. In the current music climate, there’s not a lot of live instruments, but with Nathli most of the song is made up of live recordings. With Mere Naina, we’re still in awe over Gunjan’s vocals and have grown up with her music.

Verinder: It is mood dependent. If I had to pick one, then it’s got to be the Feroz Khan song Duawaan. We put a lot of heart and soul into making that song sound how we wanted. Feroz has delivered an amazing soulful vocal in the song, and we’ve tried to match that with our composition.

How do you work as a partnership?

Verinder: Shaan and I have been friends since way before even considering music production. I guess we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, especially when it comes to music. Strangely, our ideas have always been the same, down to the very last detail, so we are confident in each other. This helps us get music work done quite quickly.

How do you get around any creative differences?

Shaan: We both take on each other’s opinions and take nothing to heart. We make sure from the start that the initial direction the song is taking is how we both envisioned it. We are pretty much on the same page when creating music. I know when working on a song that there are elements he will be able to do better than myself and vice versa.

What is the music master plan going forward?

Shaan: We’re looking to evolve our sound further, keep up with the latest technology in sound engineering and try to create a catalogue of music, with consistent releases. We will still uphold elements of traditional Indian music to make sure this lives on in the future.

Who would you love to work with?

Shaan: We both want to work alongside homegrown UK talent and do more international acts like we have done with this album.

Verinder: With the amount of styles we are trying to cover there’s so many names! Working with Jazzy B or Rahat Fateh Ali Khan would be a dream come true.

Why should we pick up the album?

Verinder: If you’re a fan of UK Punjabi music, we have tried to make this for you. We hope by bringing a variety of different songs on the album, there’s something in there for everyone to appreciate and connect with.

Why do you love music?

Verinder: I think just like most people, it’s the feel-good factor. There’s always a song out there that will trigger different kinds of emotions. I think that’s what’s so special about it.

Shaan: Music is a universal language that brings people together, from all backgrounds. Listening to music makes me feel good. As a music producer, I enjoy creating and recording music to try making something unique. Having people enjoy the music we create is also rewarding.

Inspired by Shaan & Verinder is out now.

Visit Twitter & Instagram: @shaan_verinder