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| Sunday, 7 December 2003 |
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by Umangi de Mel
"I've always loved music", says Nihal and continues, "and I didn't want to merely be a spectator but to be part of it, hunting down records, being in clubs, being on the mike or organising clubs ...", he goes on, "I just wanted to be in the field which is a massive part of what I am. I couldn't be without it". Nihal pauses and Bobby joins in the conversation, "well I didn't want to be a spectator of music plus, I was quite obsessed with Asian music. There were only a handful of people whom I looked up. My main intention was to spread Asian music", he says. The two experts from London say that their first love has been music. "I've loved music since I was 13 or 14. It's not that we didn't want to do our school work, in fact we both have our degrees", says Nihal adding that music gave him a sense of belonging, especially rap music, "I grew up in Essex where I was just a kid with brown skin who had to mingle with 90 per cent of white skinned people.
Bobby agrees with his buddy, "I realized that my first love was music cause I couldn't live without it. Especially as teenagers you feel very emotional and driven about certain things. The first thing I was emotionally driven about was music". He says that hip hop music was an energy booster and that he felt the same way about other styles as well; Asian music and stuff like 'Public Enemy', 'Prince' who's very passionate about his music. My passion started filtering through in the early 90's". Nihal and Bobby explain that music is not a nine to five job. 'We work mostly seven days a week and 12 hours a day. We actually spent half our time researching or doing radio shows and the rest of the time is being used to do our projects", they say that the two of them meet up once a week before the show to double check our music. "We choose every song that goes into our show. Ninety per cent of it has our personal stamp of approval and the other 5 per cent is great stuff we feel that our listeners should hear". The two of them say that the show is a cultural movement about language, history and state of mind, "The other shows are music shows but ours is a cultural experience. It's an experiment with other parameters. The two busy bodies seem to be involved in a lot of things. "We do lots of side projects DJ'ing in clubs, TV work, Journalism which are linked to music. Actually the media is interrelated. Becoming a DJ in Radio I means that you've become an asset, a commercial brand. Since winning the award, we're part of the whole package", they say while claiming to have DJ'd in New York, Rome, Germany, Switzerland, Poland and many other countries. "We're international ambassadors for the 21st century. Wherever there are Asians, there's a market for our stuff", they add. In their eyes, London has the most vibrant clubs and live scene in the world. "I dare anyone to come and challenge it. It's always had the most vibrant music and the ability to cater to whatever you want to hear. Jungle Punk, rock, reggae and they've got African nights, Caribbean nights, Indian nights and more. It's amazing", Nihal goes on, "Asians are the largest minority in London and Bangra is pretty popular there. Ethnic music is becoming part of their life and we are lucky to be part of the musical revolution". Claiming to be busy to the roots, Nihal and Bobby reveal that most of the time their schedule is pretty hectic, "our lives are unorthodox. A girl would have to just understand the nature of our profession since we might not be able to adjust and do stuff a normal guy would do like spending the evening or hanging out. If we were getting paid by the hour, we'd be millionaires", they say adding that they never get enough of their job since they have a passion for what they do. "It's a dream come true for us". According to them, a pastime is lying in a sofa not having anyone around and letting the head to deflate. "Sometimes the adrenaline rush is too much and you work till you burn out. However our work is what we love", Nihal explains. Bobby joins in to say that he sometimes wonders why he doesn't have time to sit in the toilet, read the newspaper or a novel. You simply don't have time for anything else or anybody else but that way you get to know who your real friends are'. Speaking about their childhood, Bobby say that he's had a quite a nice childhood in London. "I was a bit weird as a teenager. I started dressing up like prince and wearing make up. I was definitely one of those sulky teens with weird clothes". He says that his dad was adamant that he became a doctor, "I was good in Arts and drama yet I was compelled to do science which I flunked eventually and at the university I was made to do Maths and Physics which I failed again", he laughs heartily at the memories and adds, "Then I chose to do an arts course which I completed well. Later on my dad said that he loves me for the things that I've proved him wrong", he says. Nihal says that he studied for the sake of his parents. "My dad was adamant that I did my higher studies if I wanted to succeed in a place where white people ruled. I'm a person who gets bored easily and I switch from one thing to another. Finally I did English and History to obtain a degree", he reflects, "We owe our happiness to our parents. We wouldn't be sitting here if it weren't for them, he says. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
Born to local parents, Nihal Attanayake who has lived all his life in
London teams up with Bobby Friction, a Punjabi who also grew up in London,
to be presenters to the ever vibrant world of music of Asian tunes while
working for BBC Radio I. The funky duo also bagged the prestigious Gold
Song Award for best specialist radio show.
It was a worse racist society in the early 80's thus it was hard
growing up among a majority of white people. Rap and hip hop culture
changed that", Nihal says that rap music gave him a sense of
community and that it was a revolution that allowed him to become part of
something he wanted for many years", I put a track out, a completion
record in '89 which became famous".
