Hailing from Coventry U.K, Anil Chauhan (MR P) makes his introduction into the Asian music industry as a music producer with his debut single entitled ‘Rab Utte’ featuring Hema Sharma (Available for free download), taken from his forthcoming album titled ‘He’s Here.’ Below is a brief statement taken directly from Anil describing his rise into the music industry and the manner in which, his forthcoming album was assembled.
“To begin with, I want to thank SimplyBhangra.com for giving me the platform to introduce myself to the industry and to start my musical journey. The name (MR P) comes from my love of Punjabi music. ‘P’ simply stands for Punjabi and the abbreviation ‘Mr’ represents the music I create.”
Biography:
At approximately 10 years old, like most young lads, I took keen interest in the Dhol instrument. Soon after I was given my first Dhol and with practice over the coming years my education of the instrument grew in elevation. Having taken a 5 year break due to educational commitments, I returned my focus to my real passion; music. I purchased a Tabla and Dholki, after a few hours of experimentation I decided that professional lessons were the best way to the top.
After searching endlessly for a tabla instructor in Coventry, I was fortunate enough to have found ‘Mr Harpal Sembhi’ who taught me how to play the 3 percussion instruments I had grasped. As the learning curve took nearly 2 years; it ran parallel to a growing interest in live instruments and music. Thus I encouraged myself to engage in drum and keyboard lessons.
Blending all my knowledge that I had garnered throughout my youth, I decided the best way for me to creatively portray my interest in live music was to begin production of an album. As a consumer myself, I would buy an album and reflect on how I would have made the tracks that I had just listened to. After years of delving, I decided that it was time for me to enter this industry with my own masterpiece. I would best describe my sound as being live and original. I was bought up in an environment of contrasting music from mainstream UK Punjabi to pure Desi Punjabi backdating my birth!
On one side of the watering hole, the UK Punjabi bands played a unique role in my development and how live instruments were played by the likes of ‘Sahotas, Alaap, Apna Sangeet’ and of course most importantly the ‘DCS’ band and ‘Shin’. The other side was focused on traditional, folk orientated maestros such as the legendary ‘Sardool Sikander, Kuldip Manak and Amar Singh Chamkilla’.
The Album:
Moving on to the album, titled simply ‘He’s Here’ to announce the arrival of my work. The album is currently in progress of completion, nearing 60%. A few more instruments are due for recording before the final product is available to the public.
It will have taken approximately 3 years to make and complete it, whilst featuring 8 brand new tracks, a cover version and an instrumental.
The lyrics are something that I believe need to be given attention, so I bought on board my Uncle ‘Dev Raj Jassal’ who has written 6 tracks whilst another prominent lyricist is working on 1 track for me also. I myself have also been busy trying my hand at writing and will feature my lyrics on the album.
Moving on to the vocals, I have a strict view that no vocals or lyrics should be purchased online or without the presence of the producer of the album. This ensures that the lyrics are of a suitable quality and that there is uniqueness from what is currently on the market. The vocals for the tracks of the album have all been recorded in Punjab to cater for all tastes from Teth Punjabi, Gidda to mellow songs. As you can see for yourselves from the promos attached, I have tried to vary each track.
Also an important consideration is instruments, where I have recorded each instrument live from Sitar to Sarangi and further. There are no samples, loops or MC’s present on the album as the sole idea was to create a Punjabi album with live elements. During the recording of instruments and vocals I was joined with a knowledgeable team that included Daz Wood, Monty Singh, Dev Raj Jassal and Ravi Dana.
The single ‘Rab Utte’ featuring Hema Sharma has been getting regular airplay on the Bobby Friction show where it was Inbox track of the week beginning 12/04/2010. I decided to release this version as a single as I wanted to show the audience that I had a diverse sound when creating music and Bhangra is not all about Dhol/Tumbi and songs like these have their place in our industry.
Dev Raj Jassal has written the lyrics and it is best described as a song of hope. Although it has been written from a male’s view, I have kept the same lyrics but changed the scenario regarding the background of the song itself. I have also showcased a further promotional track called ‘Kali Chunni’ to show my variation as a producer and the type of sound that you will hear in my full album.
The primary purpose of the video diary is to show that I am not coming into the industry for fame. I thought it would be beneficial to the audience and myself to showcase how the track was made. From Hema Sharma singing a few lines of the track live to Paul Sampson recording Acoustic Guitar, to shots of myself in the studio with Daz producing the album. I would like to take this opportunity to thank enormously Daz Wood from the Herbert Studios. He should take as much credit towards this project as myself and the musicians or vocalists. There are a lot of rumours as to what an engineer’s role is and what a producer does and I think our team perfected the definition of both roles and that is demonstrated in the end product.
If you have any queries about my work you can contact me on the following email, but also please leave your comments on this page to show your appreciation or constructive criticism!
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. I hope u guys enjoy the single and look out for the album.
Last but not least, I present ‘Rab Utte’ featuring Hema Sharma!
Listen to Rab Utte
Listen to Kali Chunni
Watch out for the FREE DOWNLOAD of 'Rab Utte' coming soon to SimplyBhangra.com
