Cultural Appropriation, Boston, & Racist Backlash

Apr 23rd, 13 / 0 Comments

It’s been an intense week in Boston and beyond. I wrote a piece for The Langar Hall and the Huffington Post last Monday after the tragic Boston Marathon bombing. You can read it in full here, and an excerpt is below.

As something as horrifying as this afternoon in Boston is literally unfolding, as we are worrying about loved ones who may be affected, we already have to worry about the consequences of backlash violence. We have to worry about the sensationalism in the media. We have to worry about being attacked because of the color of skins, the turbans or hijabs on our heads, the beards on our faces. I pray that people in the United States and beyond have learned something in the last 11 and a half years. I pray that the collective response to today will be drastically different from the knee-jerk racism that pervaded the days, weeks, months, and years after 9/11/01.

A few weeks back, I was asked to participate in a discussion on cultural appropriation in fashion on Al Jazeera English’s program, The Stream, after recent outrage — yet again — about appropriation at Urban Outfitters. You can watch the program right here.

Shruggy Ji drops at #1

Feb 3rd, 13 / 0 Comments

2013 is off to a great start with the recent release of Red Baraat’s new album Shruggy Ji. Believe it or not (I don’t quite believe it yet), the album has been #1 on the Billboard World Music charts for the last week and also debuted at #1 on the itunes world music charts. We are overwhelmed by all the support and love. Thank you! You can pick up the album on itunes here or a physical CD here.

We’re in the midst of our album-releasing US tour right now, which is off to a great start.  See all the dates here and a new live video from our show at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC last weekend.  Thanks for the continued support, and see you soon!

Brooklyn Bhangra Afrobeat Brass Bash

Dec 7th, 12 / 0 Comments

It’s been quite a year of  globe-trotting adventures with Red Baraat.  I’m happy to have a little time back home in Brooklyn to regroup before we release our 2nd studio album Shruggy Ji in January (NPR recently premiered the title track to the album).  We’ll be doing a bunch of touring to support the album around the US in the early spring.  You can see all the confirmed dates here.

But before the year is over, we will be joining forces with our Brooklyn-based friends Antibalas for a hometown (and neighborhood in my case) show on December 14th.  Get your tickets soon before they’re gone.  This is going to be a memorable night!

Red Baraat on BBC Radio, in Zuccotti Park

Sep 17th, 12 / 0 Comments

First of all, Happy Birthday to Occupy Wall Street!  Here is a clip of some members of Red Baraat playing at Liberty Square last year.

Touring season doesn’t seem to be slowing down this September with Red Baraat. We just returned from our our first tour of the UK, which was sponsored by the Asian Arts Agency.  It was a memorable one.  We even played in Trafalgar Square as a part of the London 2012 Festival and Paralympics.  Lots more happening this fall, from Virginia and DC to California and back to Europe.  Below is a show we did for BBC Radio 3 in London.

Reflections on Oak Creek, Pushing Forward with Music

Aug 15th, 12 / 0 Comments

It’s been a tough week to say the least. Thanks to everyone who has expressed their support, solidarity, and love since last Sunday and to all those who have been contributing to the conversations, analysis, and interventions that are sorely needed in the US (and beyond) right now. As you may know, attacks on the Muslim community have been raging wild since Oak Creek. We have a lot of work to do. It’s overwhelming. I want to share a few of my own thoughts and reflections with you as well as some of my favorite writings since the tragedy:

Soul Searching for the Roots of White Supremacist Terror in the United States by me
Jadaliyya, 8/10

Is the radical right wing on the rise in the US: Inside Story Americans
Discussion on Al Jazeera English with Vijay Prashad, Arsalan Iftikhar, and I, 8/8

When someone shoots our aunties and uncles
Interview on “Let’s Talk About It” radio with Subhash Kateel, Deepa Kumar and I (also check out Subhash’s piece Our Aunties and Uncles in this Culture of Violence)

Hate Crimes Always Have A Logic: On The Oak Creek Gurudwara Shootings by Harsha Walia
Racialicious, 8/6

Michael Page Didn’t Choose the Wrong Address to Hit: Interview with Vijay Prashad
International Businss Times, 8/11

Why Oak Creek Isn’t Being Treated as a Tragedy for All Americans by Naunihal Singh
The New Yorker, 8/13

There’s a lot of great discussion happening within the Sikh community on The Langar Hall as well, a blog that I write for regularly, and so many other wonderful pieces being put out in the mainstream and independent media.

Making music feels more important (and necessary) than ever in times like these. Fortunately Red Baraat will be spreading the joy and love in a bunch of different places in the next month, starting this Friday in Mississauga, Ontario, then around the northeastern US, and our first tour of the UK in September.  All the details on the shows page.  Thanks for your ongoing support.  See you soon.

Can’t Stop Won’t Stop

Jun 14th, 12 / 0 Comments

Bonsoir! That’s about all the French I learned on tour in May with Red Baraat in Europe, but it was nevertheless a memorable and successful whirlwind.  We recently released our album Chaal Baby in Europe (Jaro Records) and did our debut tour out there with stops in France, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, and Poland. We played 10 shows over 4200 miles in the tour bus in 11 days! True story. Despite the grueling schedule, it was an amazing tour overall, and we’ll be bringing the bhangra funk to Europe pretty regularly in the coming months it seems.

I also just returned from Bonnaroo down in Tennessee with Red Baraat (and 85,000 people?!).  It was hot, dusty, then muddy after some rain, and quite an experience.  Many thanks to Bill Bragin and globalFEST for bringing us down there and Rolling Stone for this shout out!

The summer touring is continuing in full force from West Virginia to California and back to Europe.  You can see all the upcoming dates here.   See you soon!

Spring Touring in Full Effect

Apr 23rd, 12 / 0 Comments

I just returned from a great 2 week run in the Midwest and South with Red Baraat.   From squeeky cheese curds in Wisconsin to avoiding the Colonel in Kentucky, we had a beautiful tour all in all.  The diversity of the audiences that seem to be moved by our music never ceases to amaze me.

Here’s a fun clip from a live performance we did on WGN TV in Chicago:

And a clip of “Baraat to Nowhere” from our performance at the amazing Kentucky Center in Louisville:

A review of our show at Lawrence University in Appleton, WI stated:

The end result of the ensemble in concert was something like a small explosion, leaving no one unaffected. Their sound blasts across cultural borders, creating simultaneously inclusive and anarchic music which calls to all human beings to get up, and get down. Red Baraat reminds us that music doesn’t have to be simple or tepid to appeal to a wide variety of people. Their big, bold, brassy and complex sound powerfully and triumphantly sweeps you off your feet.

I’m back home in Brooklyn now, but not for long.  Our Spring tour continues in a couple of weeks at the LEAF Festival in North Carolina and Lilac Festival in Rochester, and then we head to Europe for a two week bhangra adventure.  Oh, and we’ll be playing at Bonnaroo on June 9th!  What?!

Road Report + Red Baraat’s Festival of Colors

Mar 4th, 12 / 0 Comments

Red Baraat at the Mint in Los Angeles, Photo by Jim Brock

I just returned from an eventful 10 or so days on the road with Red Baraat in California and Miami.  We started with our dhol-shattering (literally) debut show in the Bay at Slim’s in San Francisco and a fun little lunchtime jam at the Google campus (see video), where we were fed very well and rode tiny brightly colored bikes around the parking lot (and brought smiles to the faces of many desi engineers).  Then we made our way to Santa Cruz and LA with great energy and turnout all around and a sold out show at the Mint in LA (check out this review).  Many burritos were eaten, as were tandoori brussel sprouts (for real) at this amazing spot in Santa Cruz courtesy of my friend Rupa.

We also did a couple of special performances at the TED conference in Long Beach, getting the likes of Al Gore, Cameron Diaz, Van Jones, and Matt Groening (to name a few) shrugging their shoulders to the dhol n’ brass. I also had the pleasure of having my eyebrows brushed for the first time ever during my makeup session before our main stage performance.  Will keep you updated if any video footage from TED gets posted.  I think you’ll be pleased with the eyebrow stylings.

To round it out, we soaked up the heat in Miami with two sets at the annual Carnaval on the Mile festival this weekend, which also featured one of my favorite bands Ozomatli who are good friends and comrades.  We had a great time sitting in with them too, which you can see some clips of here and here.

I’m back home for a few weeks and getting ready for Red Baraat’s first annual Festival of Colors this coming Saturday 3/10 at Le Poisson Rouge in Manhattan.  It’s an early show (starts at 7 sharp), and should be a great time in celebration of Spring festival Holi.  Come through and spread the word!  All the details below:

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Red Baraat on NPR’s Tiny Desk and on the road

Feb 14th, 12 / 0 Comments

Red Baraat had the pleasure of performing a Tiny Desk concert in the NPR office of Bob Boilen and All Songs Considered last week before our packed show at U Street Music Hall in DC. NPR just posted our full acoustic performance.

I’ll be on the road a bunch this Spring with Red Baraat, starting next week with California. We’ll be playing in the Bay area for the first time on Thursday, 2/23 at Slim’s in San Francisco, then on 2/24 in Santa Cruz, and 2/25 in Los Angeles. On March 2-3rd we’ll be at the Carnival on the Mile Festival in Miami, and then return for a big Holi festival in NYC at Le Poisson Rouge.  In April, we’ll be all over the Midwest and the South. Check out all the details on the shows page, and hope to see you soon!

Peace out 2011

Dec 28th, 11 / 0 Comments

What a year it has been! People are rising up all over the world, demanding fundamental change in their societies, practicing direct democracy, and creating alternatives to the oppressive status quo. As 2011 comes to a close I am inspired and excited about what regular, every day people have accomplished this year, from Tunisia and Egypt to Wisconsin and Wall Street.

Making music and making change go hand in hand for many of us, and I’m eager for another year of creating joyful sounds with Red Baraat and many other friends and collaborators. I have a bunch of shows coming up in January– check out the schedule here.

I’ve also done a lot of writing this past year for The Langar Hall blog where I am a regular contributor as well as a number of other outlets including the Asian American Literary Review, the Huffington Post, Left Turn, The Big Ceci, Sikh Chic, and In Front and Center: Critical Voices in the 99%, a blog I co-founded.  Here are a few of my favorites from this year:

Working for Langar Justice
The Langar Hall, 1/14/11 and at The Big Ceci

The Divisive Taboo of Halal for Sikhs
The Langar Hall, 2/22/11 and at SikhChic.com

The Death of Bin Laden & the Soul of the USA
The Langar Hall, 5/13/11

Khuli Dhari: My Journey to Beard Liberation
The Langar Hall, 8/2/11 and at SikhNet.

Healing the trauma of post-9/11 racism one story (and melody) at a time
Asian American Literary Review, 9/11/11 (order journal here) and posted online at Left Turn

Wall Street Sikhs, Corporate Tyranny, and the 99%
The Langar Hall, 10/4/11

We Are One: LGBT Rights and Guru Nanak’s Legacy of Inclusion
Huffington Post, 11/10/11

A complete list of links to my writing can be found here.  Thanks to everyone who reads these words, posts links, and engages in the conversation.  Your feedback and support is much of what keeps me writing down all the thoughts and feelings swirling around in my head and heart.

And finally, here are a couple of new videos to share with you all — one performing with hip hop artist Mandeep Sethi at Lahir: Move the Movement a few weeks back; the other performing with Arooj Aftab in this trailer for the Rebuild Pakistan series that I’m honored to be a part of.   Happy New Year, and see you soon!