PATHAAN

According to Pathaan the world doesn’t have on open set of ears. It’s not that he’s saying he’s got it right and everyone else has got it wrong. It’s just that most of the time people get hung up on labels and niches and neglect the simplicity of music. After all his catch phrase is ‘music is a means to strengthen and revitalise the spirit’. It is something he really believes and it is his motivation in pushing the ‘Globetronica’ sound, ideal and genre. After all, have things really moved on since ‘John and Yoko’ sang ‘Give Peace a Chance’ (the Daddy of all ‘Globetronica’ tunes). It may be clichéd to say that we need that ‘great big melting pot’ and that ‘what the World needs now is love sweet love’ but prejudice and intolerance are still very much a part of human experience. Anything that expands and changes our cultural expectations and understanding of each other is good and Asian/Global fusion in a musical and cultural sense is an undeniably important phenomenon.



Pathaan is intensely proud of his Asian roots. From his early days DJ’ing with Talvin Singh at the legendary club ‘Anokha’, to the present day. The music of cultures colliding is the underlying passion of Pathaan’s life. Pathaan gave up a respectable career, and these are his words “as a suit” working for an Airline to pursue his growing interest in DJ’ing and music. His first huge break came when David Bowie saw him DJ in 1996 and immediately offered him the support slot on his tour to promote ‘Earthling’. Aside from the sheer shock of going from playing to 250 people a night to suddenly playing to 15000 people, the sudden exposure gave Pathaan the inspiration and validation he needed to pursue his musical vision further. After the tour in 1997 Pathaan set up the label ‘Stoned Asia Music’ releasing compilations [see ‘music’ at www.pathaan.com] and signing artists like ‘Cosmic Rocker’, ‘The Spy From Cairo’ & ‘Ikarus’. He has also evolved his own musical incarnation together with Italian producer Gaudi as ‘Orchestral World Groove’, ‘The Punk-A-Wallahs’ with the producer Switch as well as producing and remixing in his own right.



The point is that after nearly a decade of crafting an individual sound Pathaan still has the fire and ambition that he originally set out with and due to his awe-inspiring releases Pathaan has put the spotlight on up and coming artists before any anyone else had even heard of them. Why ? Because he has gained the respect of artists and labels worldwide which is rare these days. To gain respect from your peers is definitely an asset for anyone ! In fact Pathaan has set his sights on more than just a musical career and is increasingly excited by the world of broadcasting. So software engineering may have lost a graduate (Pathaan did a degree in the subject at Leeds University). But the Asian/world music scene gained a talented champion of the Asian/Globatronica sound. It’s true what the world needs now is “love sweet love” and Pathaan is one person who is feeling it and not afraid to share it.



Pathaan has DJ’d at some of the best club nights on the planet, ‘SKOL BEATS’ in Brazil, ‘SAMOTHRAKI’ in Greece, ‘THE JAIPUR HERITAGE FESTIVAL’ in India, a regular in IBIZA, hosting his own events and can be found at most of the key UK and European festivals.



He is DJ ’Joie de vivre’, if you had to put it in simple terms. Music inspires life; life inspires music.



PATHAAN has his fingers in many pies:



Label Manager of - GLOBETRONICA, LIQUID SOUND [formerly known as LIQUID SOUND DESIGN] & DRAGONFLY RECORDS.

Critic/Writes for : iDJ & SONGLINES Magazines and soundgenerator.



Radio show : PATHAAN joins the BBC. Pathaan moves into un-chartered territory presenting a weekly show from the hours of 2am till 4am on SUNDAY mornings ; where until now the BBC ASIAN NETWORK switched to the BBC WORLD SERVICE at MIDNIGHT. Leaving an existing fanbase on Ministry of Sound Radio PATHAAN's obviously hopes they will follow and is absolutely delighted to join BBC Asian Network and join an existing great team, to programme a show that'll push the musical boundaries in the only way he does !!!



"We have Pathaan's Musical Rickshaw taking off every Sunday morning from 2am till 4am, on a journey to the Indian Sub-continent, in between and back via Lahore, Istanbul, Ibiza, Marrakech, Paris and many far away hot spots. Pathaan brings the best in Globetronica and Asian Chill, and a background of specialist DJ experience stretching from Talvin Singh's Anokha, through to his acclaimed Sunset and Stoned Asia Music compilation series." MARK STRIPPEL [Head of Music BBC ASAIN NETWORK]



For more info and to 'Listen Back' check: Pathaan's Musical Richshaw & pathaan.



For bookings contact info@pathaan.com