SimplyBhangra.com hooked up with one of the most exciting young pujnbai vocalists around Gippy Grewal! Check out this exclusive interview with the man behind the worldwide smash hit track 'Phulkari'. He has just released his brand new album 'Here I Am'

You recently collaborated with Yudhvir Manak, who is another young talented Punjabi vocalists, do you see yourself as the new generation of Punjabi vocalists to carry on Bhangra into a new generation?
 

That collaboration with Yudhvir was a lot fun, as he is one of my best mates out side of the industry. Both of us are young singers and we want to try new things and experiment with our music style. We both are highly impressed by older generation of vocalists and look up to them as our mentors, although we try to mix it with our own style. All we hope is that new generation of listeners will accept us as new vocalists in the industry.

The song Gabroo which sees you and Yudhvir on the vocals has proved a huge hit across the world; whos idea was it to shoot the video in California and Disneyland?

As I mentioned before recording that song with Yudhvir was a lot of fun. The video shoot came down to us both being in the United States together doing shows. Our label was pressuring us to do the video in India, however we wanted to move away from that a little and experiment. Our label agreed to shoot in Hollywood, it was a little expensive and very risky to shoot a pure folk song in Hollywood but thankfully our label gave their 100% backing to the video. The video came out really well and we have had a lot of positive feedback from our fans. Just want to say thanks to Anoop for making the video possible, it was a great experience shooting the video.

Its safe to say that your album 'Mele Mitran De' was a massive success for you, did you ever expect the response that songs like Phulkari received from the public?

To be honest the albums that came before Mele Mitran De were average, and I was at a turning point in my career. When we sat down to record the song Phulkari we instantly knew it was going to be a success, however the label wanted to do a video for the song ‘Mele Mitran De’ for the launch of the album. The album didn’t go down to well at the beginning with the public so we decided to make a video for the Phulkari track. Thankfully the public accepted the Phulkari track and it became a huge it, and my first hit track in India and worldwide. It was a great relief for me!

After two releases with Kiss'N' Tell producers, you decided to switch to Sukhpal Sukh and JSkillz, what was the reasoning behind this?

After the success of Phulkari 1 & 2 I decided to move up a step and do my album with one of the leading producers in Punjab at that time; Sukhpal Sukh. So we decided my next album was to be with him. The J Skillz idea came through my manager and friend Vick, who suggested we should collaborate with J, he was too interested in the idea. He ended up doing 2 tracks for me on the album 'Akh Lar Gayi' and everything with smooth, and thankfully it was another hit for me.

How would you rate J Skillz to the other music producers you have worked with?

Oh I have great respect for J, he produced one of the best tracks of my career so far in ‘Mere Yaar Ne’, there is still a lot to come from J so its too early to rate him yet, but his on the way to success aswell. He has privately worked with some of the biggest singers like Surinder Shinda and more recently he did Kuldeep Manak’s new album with the hit track Jogi.

Your new album Chandi Challe De/Here I Am is out now, what type of style can we expect from this album?

It’s a mixture of styles, I’ve tried todo what im best at, but I think ill let the fans judge the album before I go talking about. Bhinda Aujla has produced this album, and people may not think of him as a music director but he is very talented.

Oh yeah we are working on something definitely, Bhinda is a really talented vocalist and producer. The collaboration is going to be a surprise and its going to be something really new so watch this space!

Piracy and downloading has had a very bad effect on the Bhangra scene in the UK, is this the same situation in Punjab, or is the scene still healthy there?

Downloading isn’t that big of a problem here, the main problem is pirated CDs. People will sell MP3 audio cds that contain 16-20 albums In one disc and a lot of people are buying them. Its very harmful to us as artists because people arnt buying originals but these these MP3 cds that contain 20 albums which are at poor quality. Its becoming a really big problem for artists and we just ask all our fans who appreciate our music to go out and buy original copies so we can carry on providing you with our music.

If you had the choice to work with one artist, past or present, who would it be? Remember only one!

Jazzy B.

Thanks for the interview, good luck on your brand new album, any final words for the readers of SimplyBhangra.com?

Firstly I’d like to say thanks to all of my fans who support me by attending my shows and buying my cds, there is still a lot to come from Gippy Grewal so watch out,

Big thanks to SimplyBhangra.com for supporting my album! and thanks to Sukh for the interview.

Related Links:

Album Info

Gabroo Video