Some of the finest musicians from Punjab arrived in Bristol yesterday evening (Wednesday 5 July) to start working on material for the upcoming PunjabTronix tour.

The Bristol residency, taking place from 6 – 12th July, will see award winning music producer Swami join forces with the Punjabi musicians and live visual artist John Minton to rehearse material for PunjabTronix.

PunjabTronix will then tour to UK venues from 13 – 22 July.

Introducing the Punjabi Musicians

The musicians coming from Punjab are Vijay Yamla, multi-instrumentalist and grandson of the celebrated Punjabi folk singer Yamla Jatt,  Dheera Singh, one of the most sought after Sarangi players in Punjab, Naresh Kuki (Dhol & Dholak) and singer Gurtej Singh Sidhu.

Read more about all the artists on the PunjabTronix artists page.

Tour promo video

We have just released a short promo video for the tour. Check it out below.

Tour dates

Visit the PunjabTronix tour page for full details on the PunjabTronix tour and dates.

We are delighted to maintain our National Portfolio Organisation status for 2018-2022 and thankful to Arts Council England in supporting our work.

Asian Arts Agency Director, Jaswinder Singh, said:

“We look forward to continuously delivering our ambitious work, promoting South Asian arts and music in Bristol, nationally and internationally. In particular, we are excited to be developing our national and international projects, creating new innovative commissions, development opportunities for artists from diverse backgrounds and presenting great art and music to diverse communities and audiences across the country.”

As one of the UK’s leading Asian Arts development agencies, we develop, promote and support international contemporary and traditional South Asian arts and music in the South West, nationally and internationally, producing a range of arts and music events. This includes events and tours, international work, programming for festivals, digital exhibitions, artist development, and education and participation activities.

In March 2017, we delivered a highly successful national tour with Sufi musicians Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwals, which sold out at most venues, including London, Bristol and Leeds, bringing in approximately 60% new audiences.

In July 2017, we will be delivering a national tour for our newly commissioned project PunjabTronix, which is part of the ReImagine India programme, celebrating the 70^th anniversary of the Independence of India in 2017. The project features a unique collaboration between artists from India and England, with technology meeting tradition, as cutting edge electronica combines with the traditional folk music of Punjab.

In September 2017, we will be delivering the first international music tour for British-Asian artist Roopa Panesar in North America, opening new development opportunities for the artist. In October, we will be offering several bursaries for Asian musicians to attend a world music conference to develop their international work.

Led by our current Director, Jaswinder Singh, the Agency has grown from strength to strength in the last 10 years, developing and delivering our groundbreaking work, establishing a number of new partnerships with diverse communities and artists and reaching audiences across the world.

We look forward to continuing our ambitious work and being an important part of the arts ecology in the future.

We are delighted to be linking up with Watershed, Bristol, this summer to present a series of films (India on Film) as part of their Cinema Rediscovered season.

India on Film strand

The India on Film strand, part of UK/India 2017, in partnership with BFI, British Council and South West Silents, includes Satyajit Ray’s exquisite film The Music Room ahead of its UK Blu-Ray release in August with an introduction by film historian David Robinson; Celluloid Man, a tribute to film archivist and cinephile P.K. Nair and Panorama of India: A Journey Through the Archive, a specially curated programme, selected from the BFI National Archive’s unparalleled collection of rare films of pre-Independence India, from the earliest days of Indian cinema. The newly digitised online collection of 300 films will be accessible to audiences via the BFI Player in August.

The Music Room

One of Satyajit Ray’s most exquisite films, The Music Room brilliantly evokes the crumbling opulence of the world of a fallen aristocrat (the beloved actor Chhabi Biswas) desperately clinging to a fading way of life after his music room, his greatest joy which has hosted lavish concerts for year, turns into a shadow of its former self.

Find out more on The Music Room event page.

Celluloid Man

Celluloid Man is a tribute to film archivist and obsessive cinephile P.K. Nair, a man whose childhood fascination with cinema finally led to the creation of the National Film Archive of India.

Find out more on the Celluloid Man event page.

Panorama of India: A Journey through the Archive

In this specially curated programme selected from the BFI National Archive, South West Silents presents an unparalleled collection of rare films of pre-Independence India, from the earliest days of Indian cinema. With a live accompaniment from Stephen Horne.

Find out more on the Panorama of India event page.

Living Bhangra legend Malkit Singh (MBE) will pay a special visit to Bristol for a night of Punjabi Bhangra music at St George’s Bristol in December (2017). Presented in association with Asian Arts Agency.

We are incredibly excited to be bringing Malkit to Bristol.  Often hailed as the ‘King of Bhangra’, UK-based Malkit Singh is a true Punjabi icon in today’s Bhangra industry. The best-selling Bhangra solo artist in the world, Malkit’s original style and wonderful melodious voice has brought Punjabi culture to worldwide audiences during an incredible career, spanning over 30 years.

Expect to hear many of Malkit’s classic Bhangra anthems alongside new material in a career spanning set.

TICKETS

Tickets go on sale to the general public today, Tuesday 30 May. We expect these to sell quickly.

Visit our Malkit Singh event page for more details and a link to the St George’s website to book tickets.

Tune in for the first Facebook live stream this evening, Wednesday 17 May at 7.30pm (UK time), featuring DJ Swami introducing material for PunjabTronix.

DJ Swami will be live streaming from the studio via his Swami Facebook page – offering an exclusive insight into the sounds of our new commission PunjabTronix and the production process.

This live stream will offer a sneak preview of material ahead of the first live performance this Saturday at Wolverhampton Art Gallery.

This live stream is the first in a series of planned live broadcasts from the studio with DJ Swami, introducing PunjabTronix and the production process.

Follow Swami on Facebook to receive a notification when the live stream begins.

If you miss the live stream, you can still watch it later, either on Swami’s page or the Asian Arts Agency Facebook page.

Update

You can now view the Facebook live stream, which was broadcast on Wednesday 17 May here:

DJ Swami and John Minton present an exciting preview performance of PunjabTronix this Saturday 20 May at Wolverhampton Art Gallery.

Ahead of the UK tour in July, they will offer a sneak preview of the sound and visual material that will feature in the live show of PunjabTronix.

We are really excited to be previewing material for PunjabTronix – a new commission from Asian Arts Agency, which is combining cutting edge electronica from DJ Swami with the traditional music of Punjab.

The performance will take place alongside an evening of activities and performances at India Rocks (Or Not!), an event exploring British Asians and their tenuous marmite relationship with India.

Produced by Creative Black Touring, Multistory & Delhi Photo Festival, the event is part of Alchemy Black Country, a week long festival celebrating the UK’s relationship with South Asia featuring; theatre, music, dance, film and much more. The festival will run from 20 – 28 May.

You can find out more about the event on our India Rocks! (Or Not!) event page.

Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali, nephews of late Qawwali legend Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, toured to six prestigious venues around the UK in March 2017, receiving wonderful praise and fantastic receptions from audiences across the country.

RECEPTION ON SOCIAL MEDIA

The reception to the tour on social media was phenomenal and the tour has also received some fantastic press reviews.

We’ve created a Storify – featuring some reactions from audience members on social media during the tour – check it out at on Storify.

You can read a great review from the Bristol gig via Bristol 247.

Read a review from the show in Leeds, via Simon Godley at God is in the TV.

TRIBUTE TO NUSRAT FATEH ALI KHAN

The UK tour, produced and managed by Asian Arts Agency, marked the 20th anniversary of the death of their great Uncle, legendary Pakistani Qawwali singer Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and Rizwan-Muazzam paid a wonderful tribute, performing some his most famous and iconic Qawwali songs.

Some of the classics performed on the tour were ‘Must Must‘, ‘Mast Nazron Se Allah Bachaye‘ and ‘Jana Jogi de Naal‘.

STANDING OVATIONS AND SELL OUT SHOWS

UK audiences were mesmerised by Rizwan-Muazzam’s spectacular interpretation of classic Sufi texts, hypnotic vocal repetition, and ensemble of traditional instruments and rhythmic handclaps. The audience participation and standing ovations truly reflected the powerful impact of Qawwali music, and particularly the incredible talent of Rizwan-Muazzam.

The concerts at Howard Assembly Room, Leeds, and Barbican, London, sold out in advance, with all other venues having near full houses on the night! The stunning performance at the Barbican, London, was also live streamed via Boilerroom TV to an audience of over 100,000 viewers around the world.

We will be uploading some live videos from the tour in late April.

For a full list of tour dates, visit our Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali tour page.

We are pleased to announce Punjabtronix UK tour dates in July 2017.

For tour dates visit the Punjabtronix tour page.

We also released a new video yesterday introducing some of the musicians from Punjab that will be working on the project, including Vijay Yamla, Dheera Singh and Naresh Kuki.

You can watch the video here:

Punjabtronix is an exciting new live collaboration between established British-Indian electronic music producer Swami and traditional Punjabi folk musicians, synchronised with unique live mixed digital video projections, produced by Bristol based filmmaker John Minton.

An exciting international project produced and commissioned by Asian Arts Agency in partnership with Watershed Bristol, Punjabtronix is part of Reimagine India 2017, a cultural exchange programme developing creative collaborations between art and cultural organisations in England and in India. Supported by Arts Council England and British Council.

We are super excited to announce that Canada’s Delhi 2 Dublin will bring their energetic live show back to the UK this summer, on a tour produced and managed by Asian Arts Agency.

Described by one magazine as the ‘United Nations of Rock n’ Roll’, the last 10 years of touring have seen Delhi 2 Dublin become one of Canada’s most buzzed-about bands. Fusing their Celtic and Bhangra roots with dance beats, dub, reggae, rock and electronica, these guys (and gal) put on one hell of a show.

This will be the first time the band have toured in the UK since 2013 and we have lined up a number of exciting dates for them this summer at venues and festivals.

Visit the Delhi 2 Dublin event page for more information and tour dates.

Asian Arts Agency’s latest international project, Punjabtronix, entered another exciting stage in February, as lead artist DJ Swami and Project Producer Jaswinder Singh hosted a successful residency in Punjab, India.

DJ Swami spent a week collaborating with some very talented Punjabi musicians in the studio. They started to explore and develop some exciting material for the summer UK tour.

We’ve shared a few photos from the residency below and on our Facebook page. We are currently working on a short video, introducing the musicians and the live collaboration, which will be coming soon. Watch this space.

For more details on Punjabtronix, visit the Punjabtronix event page.

Full UK tour dates will be announced very soon.