Not content with tearing up Midlands dance-floors and messing with Glastonbury-goers' heads, DJ Sonny Ji is on a one-man mission to bring his blissed-out Chicago house, spliced with sizzling Bhangra breaks, to the masses. Just don't expect his mum and dad to be body-popping to the beats.

Former resident-DJ at the award-winning club night Shaanti, Sonny Ji is used to leaving clubbers open-mouthed at his distinctive reinvention of the Asian fusion sound. But the 25-year-old admits that even he was left dumbstruck upon landing the biggest gig of his life in early 2005.

As part of the renowned Birmingham collective, which counts the likes of Radio 1's Bobby Friction amongst its founding crew, Sonny's role was strictly to spin House grooves. But an invitation to tour Poland under the Shaanti banner fuelled his imagination - triggering a fresh, new hybrid.

"What hit me was the fact I was an Asian DJ, playing House, in Poland," he remembers, saucer-eyed. "I thought they might expect a bit more. Leading up to the gig I had the jitters," he confides: "It was my first gig abroad."

Searching for inspiration, he riffled through his classic Bhangra records. "House music is four-to-the-floor, but bhangra isn't like that and I thought, 'How can I make it blend?' So I started looping sections of tracks between tracks. I'd play the House on two decks and mix the looped track or the dhol (drum) over the top of the beat," he explains with barely-contained enthusiasm.

"It sounded totally different and suddenly, it connected," he says, recounting the Eureka moment. "I could bridge House and Bhangra, and bring people together through the music. It changed the dynamic and caused a commotion."

The rest, as they say, is history. He "smashed it" and his collision of East-meets-West blew the European crowd away. After returning from Poland re-energised, Sonny tentatively dropped the fusion - dubbed 'Asian House' - into his set at Birmingham's achingly-cool Medicine Bar, causing shockwaves. Not all the punters were instantly seduced, with some Asian detractors accusing him of rejecting his roots, but Sonny is defiant and urges the doubters to listen without prejudice.

"When I started playing Asian House, I was getting grief. People said, 'What are you playing? Put some bhangra in there, man!' Asians want to control things, to the point where they say, 'I've got a CD, do you want to play it?' and I go, 'We're not at a wedding!'" he chuckles.

"When I was playing a gig once, an Asian girl called me a coconut - because I'm an Asian playing so-called white, House music! A lot of Asians want to pigeonhole you. Now though, it's changing."

"My Asian roots are very important," he declares. "I'm an Anglo-Asian; I live in this country. I take what I can from both cultures and I'm not going to be sorry about that."

Relentlessly upbeat, the DJ – whose musical tastes range from Panjabi MC to the Prodigy - is convinced that critics lamenting the death of dance are being premature. He believes the scene has gone back-to-basics and is flourishing away from the super-clubs of the nineties.

Putting his money where his mouth is, the Derek Carter fan launched his own club night, MishMash , in April at Birmingham's Boiler Room, juxtaposing house with tabla players. The charismatic Midlander reckons that the city is the perfect setting for his contagious concoction of Desi dance.

"It's like a community; you see people around you've seen for years. The bhangra scene started here. I used to live in Handsworth and Soho Road is the lifeblood - it's pumping; so much inspiration."

As well as pushing boundaries and confounding clubbers, Sonny's also notched up DJ spots at Fabric and Gatecrasher. But his highlight is the sight of thousands of festival-goers pogo-ing to his mixes in a muddy field. "Glastonbury was the big one; it went down a storm," he says. "I played the Lost Vagueness field to 3,000 people. That's exactly the kind of scene I want to get the sound out to."

So how did his parents react to his decision to swap the nine-to-five with 12-inches and 45s? "When I started, my mum and dad were so-so," Sonny reveals. "But now they've seen articles and my name on billboards, they're proud. Obviously I'm not going to get them into it," he laughs. "I don't expect them to start dancing in the living room to my music!"

In demand across the UK and working on a hush-hush collaboration involving high-profile names in the Asian and dance worlds, Sonny's star is on the ascendancy. But he's determined to stay grounded. "I've been in situations where I could have got carried away, but you can't believe the hype – you're as good as your last set."

Clubbers attending one of his nights should leave their preconceptions at the door: "I once played Bohemian Rhapsody in my set. I put the volume up and it just dropped. White, Asian, black – everyone loved it. That's the magic," he grins. "I like messing with people's heads."

Catch Sonny Ji present "The Bhangra Mixtape" every Saturday 8-10pm on the BBC ASIANNETWORK (MW1458), SKY CHANNEL 0119 - A two hour non stop mix playing Bhangra with Breaks, House, World, Rock, Dub, D&B & the like - To catch the show online go to:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/asiannetwork/thebhangramixtape

Comments (1) >>

Saif Khan said:

Its about time we have bhangra mixed with House music. Iam getting sick n tired of back-2-basics music and tracks. I have since a little kid been waiting for Bhangra-house music and it's bloody time to present that.. Please tell me or write to me where i can buy or get hold of your music/mixtapes from Sonny Ji. Kind regards, TgR

October 19, 2007 | url

Write comment

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment