Diamond Duggal | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Also known as | DJ Swami |
Origin | Birmingham, England |
Genres | Electronic, pop, hip hop, bhangra, world |
Occupation(s) | Record producer, songwriter, DJ, AI researcher |
Years active | 1990–present |
Labels | DesiRock Entertainment, Virgin EMI, Sony Music |
Website | Diamond Duggal DJ Swami |
Diamond Duggal also known as DJ Swami is a British-Indian music producer, composer, musician and AI researcher. He has produced for a number of notable artists, including Shania Twain, Pras Michel, Apache Indian, Maxi Priest, Stereo Nation, Zoheb Hassan and Viktor Kiraly as well as remixing for artists including Erasure, the Beat and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. He is an accomplished guitar player and multi-instrumentalist (modular synthesizers, keyboards, bass, drums, DJing) and toured as lead guitarist with Boyzone and Robbie Williams. Diamond is also co-founder of production duo Simon and Diamond with his brother Simon Duggal. As DJ Swami, he performs and records electronic, Indian Punjabi bhangra and South Asian music both as a solo artist and as band leader of UK electronic world music acts Swami and PunjabTronix. DJ Swami also tours and performs in collaboration with Deep Forest.
Diamond received an Ivor Novello Awards songwriter nomination for the song Arranged Marriage [1] and his songwriting and production contributed to the Mercury Prize nomination [2] for the album No Reservations by Apache Indian. Diamond also produced and played alongside mentor Mutt Lange on the Shania Twain double Grammy Award-nominated [3] album Up!
As DJ Swami, he has won Best Producer 2005 [4] and Best Producer 2008 [5] at the UK Asian Music Awards. He also won the award for Best Mixed Album at the South African Music Awards 2010. [6]
His most successful solo Swami album to date was 2004's DesiRock , the title track from which has been used in a variety of films, TV shows and video games.
Diamond is Head of Music at his production, sync licensing and AI music research company DesiRock Entertainment where recent projects include film and TV sync licensing notably Netflix hit series Indian Matchmaking, artist development, international collaborations and AI music research and VR immersive experiences including the DJ Swami in the Studio AI/ VR music showcase with VR social platform Driftspace.
Born Diamond Jyoti Duggal, he grew up in the Handsworth district of Birmingham, England in a melting pot of second-generation Indian and Jamaican multi-culturalism. By the age of 12, he was already playing guitar in local reggae and rock bands. While learning the craft of music through listening to records by Jimi Hendrix, Ravi Shankar, Kraftwerk, Laxmikant Pyarelal and local Birmingham artists Steel Pulse and UB40, Diamond witnessed his first glance of a new musical hybrid and what was ultimately to become his life's passion.
In 1991, as production duo Simon and Diamond, the brothers launched the groundbreaking production fusion sound of dancehall reggae and bhangra with the artist Apache Indian. The project received huge public and media interest due to its cultural diversity and was making huge waves in the UK, USA, Canada and India. This marked a new milestone in British Asian popular music, soon followed by a record deal with Island Records and a publishing deal with Sony Music in 1992. The Apache Indian debut album 'No Reservations' became a huge international success.
In 1997, Diamond started the group Swami with drummer and brother Simon, vocalist Taz Singh and Indian percussionist Kam Bura. The band performed a number of local and European shows before releasing their debut album Desi Nu Skool Beatz on their SubDub Records label in 1999. The album was given an international release in 2000 on Nation Records (Beggars Banquet). The guitar surfing electronic title track "Mehbooba" went on to feature in the Olsen Twins Warner Brothers movie New York Minute (2003).
Diamond took to the studio in 2002 to work with Shania Twain on her follow-up album to Come On Over entitled Up! . The album was produced by a totally international team co-ordinated between producer Mutt Lange, Simon and Diamond. [7] Shania Twain's Up! topped the American Billboard for six weeks in late 2002 with multi-platinum sales exceeding 15 million and received two Grammy nominations in 2004.
Swami's follow-up album was So Who Am I on SonyBMG in 2005. The title track "DesiRock" embraced clubs the world over with DJ Swami's unique left field electronic beats and anthemic bhangra melodies and reached even wider audiences in the EA Games FIFA World Cup 2006 video game as well as the UK movie Mischief Night (2006).
In 2005, Diamond won "Best Producer" at the UK Asian Music Awards.
In June 2007, Diamond (as DJ Swami) was listed in the official Guardian Glastonbury Festival Guide as one of the Top 5 acts to see at Glastonbury 2007 alongside Amy Winehouse and the Arctic Monkeys. The performance was highlighted by the BBC Asian Network. [8]
In January 2008, Swami's album Equalize was voted album of the year by DesiHits.com. The album features mainstream collaborations from the US, South Africa, France, England and India.
In March 2008, as DJ Swami, he won "Best Producer" at the UK Asian Music Awards for a second time.
In August 2008, Swami's "Hey Hey" music video received its Canadian premiere at Toronto's FILMI South Asian Film Festival.
In April 2010, Diamond won SAMA Best Mix Engineer at the South Africa Music Awards.
In 2013, Diamond produced the single "Fire" for artist Viktor Kiraly reaching the number 1 chart position in Hungary's MAHASZ Top 40.
In 2014, Diamond produced the second single "Running Out Of Time" for Viktor Kiraly featuring Run DMC reaching the number 1 chart position in Hungary's VIVA chart.
In 2015, Diamond completed production for Zoheb Hassan's album, Signature, [9] featuring the vocals of his sister Nazia Hassan. Swami also released two new albums, Upgrade and Sidetrkd (a mostly instrumental version of Upgrade) in 2017. [10] [11]
In 2017, DJ Swami produced and toured the UK with new electronic meets Punjabi folk project PunjabTronix, as part of the ReImagine India cultural exchange programme. [12]
In 2019, DJ Swami and Casey Rain commenced a weekly brand new radio show entitled 'The Phaseshift' on Dash Radio and Rukus Avenue Radio.
In 2021, Diamond was commissioned by Arts Council England to explore 'New Realities in Music' AI generative music research and VR immersive experiences, resulting in the DJ Swami in the Studio AI/ VR music showcase with VR social platform Driftspace.
As a writer, Diamond reviewed Sarfraz Manzoor's Greetings From Bury Park for The Guardian . The book was later adapted into the film, Blinded by the Light . [13]
Bhangra is a type of non-traditional music of Punjab originating from the Punjab region of India and Pakistan. It is a type of upbeat popular music associated with the Punjabi diaspora. The style has its origins in the folk music of Punjab as well as western pop music of the 1970s and 1980s. Over the years, Bhangra has evolved and gained popularity not only in South Asia but also around the world. It has become a significant part of the cultural identity of the Punjabi diaspora in countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. Prior to this musical fusion, Bhangra existed only as a dance form in the native Punjab. This Punjabi music was unique in that it was not traditional nor did it seek any authenticity. While the traditional folk music of Punjab has a set of melodies that are used by various singers, Bhangra was a form of strict "band culture" in that new melodies were composed for each song. Therefore, the musicians were as important as the singers. Some New Punjabi Singer's are Raka, Vadda Grewal, Prince Poddar, Jass Manak, Karan Randhawa, Guru Randhawa, Diljit Dosanjh
Rajinder Singh Rai, better known by his stage name Panjabi MC, is a British-Indian recording artist, rapper, producer and DJ. He is best known for the worldwide 2002 Bhangra hit "Mundian To Bach Ke", which sold 10 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time. Among other songs, he gained acclaim with the 2003 release "Jogi". AllMusic has called him "one of the most prominent names in bhangra".
The Woman in Me is the second studio album by Canadian country singer-songwriter Shania Twain and her first to be produced by long-time collaborator and then-husband Robert John "Mutt" Lange. Released on February 7, 1995, it went on to become her biggest-selling recording at the time, selling 4 million copies by the end of the year, and was eventually certified 12× Platinum by the RIAA on December 1, 2000, for 12 million shipments throughout the United States. The album has sold an estimated 20 million copies worldwide. It was ranked number 8 on CMT's list of 40 Greatest Albums in Country Music in 2006. The album is credited with having influenced the sound of contemporary country music. Eight singles were released from the album for its promotion, including "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?", "Any Man of Mine", "(If You're Not in It for Love) I'm Outta Here!" and "You Win My Love", with each accompanied by a music video.
Steven Kapur, known by the stage name Apache Indian, is a British singer-songwriter and reggae DJ. He had a series of hits during the 1990s. He is best known in the UK for the song "Boom Shack-A-Lak", which reached the top ten during August 1993.
Rishpal Singh Rekhi, better known by his stage name Rishi Rich, is a British-Indian music producer based in London. He began his career in the Asian Underground scene and later became internationally known for his bhangra tracks, his Hindi remixes, and as a pioneer of Asian-R&B fusion music.
"Ka-Ching!" is a song recorded by Canadian singer Shania Twain. It was released on February 17, 2003, as the second single to her fourth studio album Up! (2002), exclusively to Europe and Central America. The song was written by Twain and Robert John "Mutt" Lange. "Ka-Ching!" lyrically centers on greed and consumer culture, a topic Twain had never sung about before.
Nazia and Zoheb were Pakistani pop duo from Karachi, Sindh formed in 1980. The group consisted of two siblings, Nazia Hassan and Zoheb Hassan, who were singing sensations and pop icons across South Asia. They are regarded as pioneers of the Pakistani pop scenes, and were one of the most successful Asian pop duos of all time, selling more than 105 million albums worldwide.
Swami is a British Indian electronic music/ bhangra/ world music act from Birmingham, England. "Swami" is also the pseudonym of the DJ producer Diamond Duggal. Swami currently performs as a hybrid electronic DJ act with special world music guests and collaborations including Deep Forest and PunjabTronix.
DesiRock is the third album by British-Indian producer DJ Swami's alternative bhangra group Swami and is also the title of the album's electro/ bhangra/ rock fusion lead track. It is their most popular album to date and voted as one of BBC Radio 1's best DJ tracks of the year. It was also crowned the best album of the year by Eastern Eye newspaper. In the year after its release, producer DJ Swami won the Media Storm Best Producer award at the UK Asian Music Awards.
BBC Soundcrew is a Canadian DJ group from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Created in 2000 by Johney Brar and Gurjit Bolina BBC Soundcrew was created to advance the South-Asian music scene across North America.
No Reservations is the debut studio album by British-Asian musician Apache Indian, released in January 1993 by Island Records and their subsidiary Mango. The musician and singer recorded the album primarily in Jamaica's Tuff Gong studios with producers including Simon and Diamond, Bobby Digital, Phil Chill and Sly Dunbar. It follows, and includes, Apache Indian's 1990–91 singles – "Move Over India", "Chok There" and "Don Raja" – which saw him pioneer a fusion of Jamaican ragga and Indian bhangra later known as bhangramuffin.
Johney Brar, also known as DJ JoN-E or "Johnny No Best", is a Canadian DJ, producer, writer and radio host. He was the host and executive producer of the primetime Desi Live Radio Program which first aired on CHRY 105.5FM then was nationally distributed in the United States on HD Radio in New York/New Jersey WRKS 98.7FM HD2, Washington WTOP 103.5FM HD2, Chicago WKQX 101.1FM HD2, San Jose/Bay Area KIOI 101.3FM HD2 and Los Angeles KPWR 105.9FM HD2. He is currently head of operations for Sixcity Media.
Sona Family is a London-based musical quartet. They have been said to sound "like The Black Eyed Peas infused with traditional Indian bhangra music". They combine urban music, hip hop, R&B and dancehall with their own upbringing as UK Desis. Headed by producer/writer Harry Sona, Sona Family consists of rapper/singer/producer Mr Riz, female singer/rapper Kazz & DJ/producer JC.
"Stay" is a song by Jay Sean, released as the third single from his second album My Own Way. It was also included on his third album, All or Nothing. The single was released on 30 June 2008 digitally and on 7 July 2008 physically in the UK. It became his lowest-charting official UK single to date, peaking at number 59.
Muhammad Mumith Ahmed, known professionally as Mumzy Stranger or his producing name SP, is a British rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He made his mainstream recording debut in the summer of 2009 with his debut single "One More Dance" along with follow-up single, "Showgirl". The following year, he released Fly with Me which is the lead single from his debut album, Journey Begins.
Inderpal Singh Sagu, better known by his stage name Indy Sagu, is a British Sikh record producer, singer and DJ. Sagu has made a global name for himself as a leading Asian pioneer of fusion genre, his urbanized record production infuses the sounds and incorporates the elements, musical instruments, and hook lines of traditional bhangra with urban western sounds, primarily with a special emphasis on American hip hop.
Hartinder Dhami, better known as H-Dhami is a British-Indian Bhangra artist.
The UK Asian Music Awards, also known by the abbreviation UK AMA, was an awards show that was held annually in the United Kingdom from 2002 to 2012. The awards show has been produced and broadcast by B4U Music since 2008. Awards winners were decided by public voting at a website, from a list of nominees presented by the event organizers, except for the special category awards "Outstanding Achievement" and "Commitment to Scene" which are decided by the organizers. Desimag called the event "The most prestigious Asian music awards ceremony in the UK".
Casey Rain, also known as S-Endz and Turi is a British Asian vocalist, music producer, songwriter, YouTuber and radio presenter. He is best known as a member of the UK rap/alternative/bhangra band Swami and co-founder of the media collective The Violet Reality.
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