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 How
did you come up with this fundoo band name?
Navdeep: We were hunting for a
name that would sound Punjabi as well as Western. We wanted
the name to be catchy and snazzy, something that would spark
curiosity amongst the junta. And, since the band consists
of two sardars (that's us), Vineet thought of the first 'balle'
and I chipped in with the second 'balle' and so we called
ourselves the Balle Balle Boys.
The album has already
sold over 80,000 copies. How excited are you?
Navdeep & Vineet: Oh, great!
Yeah! We know that sales are picking up day by day and the
response has been really great, especially in the South. That's
perplexing, but we feel people there liked our kind of presentation.
As far as North India is concerned, we don't have a clear
picture because we haven't done any live shows there and promotion
hasn't kicked off full scale. But we'll rock 'em soon!
You've kicked off
a unique sound called 'Bhangra Rock'. How different is it
from conventional bhangra?
Navdeep: 'Bhangra Rock' is more
an urban sound. Bhangra is something which was very natural
for us, and as regards the rock-it's more of an influential
thing than a natural one. No sardar has played bhangra with
the guitar before and we're the sardars with guitars! Besides,
we wanted to bring out something that would be appealing to
both Punjabis and non-Punjabis.
Who has been your
influence as far as your music is concerned?
Navdeep: We think bhangra came
in very naturally for us. Being Punjabis meant a lot of naachna-gaana
for every damn thing (even when our pet cat gave birth!) That
apart, our parents are great musicians as well. So, that was
no problem at all. Hmm, rock... U2 is our greatest influence.
Especially for me, as I grew up listening to them in the US
of A.
Vineet (Getting a bit nostalgic).
I was the lead singer in a rock band called Stone Cold in
the early '90s.
Who composes the
music?
Vineet: It has been just the two
of us running the whole show. From writing to composing to
even recording all the tracks (at their home-studio in Bangalore),
it's been just us. But during live shows our studio guys help
us out with the background music.
Tell us about your
background?
Vineet: I've spent most of my early
years in Bangalore. After completing my BE (Electronics),
I pursued an MBA from Delhi University. Well, after that I've
been working for different companies. I was with Trikaya Grey
for some time before I joined Worldspace, where I was in charge
of the content. Presently I'm the COO of Indigo, a part of
Rajeev Chandrashekar's BPL Innovision business group.
Navdeep: Unlike my brother, I
grew up with my parents in Cyprus. I am a qualified sound
engineer and worked with a Disney affiliated production studio
for The Lion King television series in New York. I landed
in India only a year and a half ago. Now I'm managing my own
music production house called i3 that produces jingles for
TV, radio and ads.
The current music
scenario in India is really depressing. Every Tom, Dick and
Harry aspires to be an Indipop singer. So, how do you fancy
your chances here?
Vineet: Well, the Indipop scene
in India is really sad. But, if you look at it the other way,
people have become choosier nowadays. So, there's stiff competition;
every artiste has the urge to do something different. But
we have no regrets. We've done our homework well and have
our fingers crossed, as success is a collective thing. We
also understand that at times failure becomes inevitable.
But, we're confident about our success. And the response so
far reaffirms it! Hope we continue it.
What's up next?
Vineet (takes a deep breath): Ufff!
A lot! We have a hell of a lot of promotions and live shows
coming up. Especially in association with Channel [V]. We
will be rocking Chennai soon, then Chandigarh, and other metros.
We thrive on live shows... we must. So far we've released
only one song on air ("My Name Is Manjeet..."),
so we'll release a couple more, but that'll be in the next
couple of months.
Have you guys started
on your next album?
Navdeep & Vineet: It's an ongoing
thing for us. So, there's no end or beginning. We work on
that relentlessly. Our next album should be out by this Diwali.
We intend to include a few mushy numbers and some for women
(we better do that, or else...!). We will also be introducing
a lot more percussion in that album.
And for teenagers?
Navdeep: Of course! They are our
target audience. How can we do without 'em? We certainly will
have songs for teenagers in all our releases. Pukka!
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