I did an interview with Raghav for an international magazine a little while ago which has quite a bit of info about him. He's quite a fun person to talk to and I think he really has a fair amount of talent.
Hope the interview will answer some of your questions!
CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF RAGHAV
Farringdon is one of those progressively swish parts of London; contemporary lofts dot the skyline and small bars are frequented by city workers after a hard day at the office. And here I am sitting in the rather gruesomely titled Bleeding Heart Tavern across from Raghav Mathur, newly crowned crossover king, wearing a loftily perched peak cap and hiding his dark circles behind rimless shades. The look could be very rock star but it’s actually very phillum star, and you begin to understand that all those Bollywood films that Raghav(he prefers to go by the one-word name) has grown up on in his hometown of Calgary have had more of an impact than the occasional sample in one of his songs might suggest. So who exactly is Raghav? Well, he is the guy who sang the song that everyone in London is humming since it came out February. It’s called ‘Can’t Get Enough’ and these days it seems that British Asians can’t get enough of Raghav.
So let’s get a look at the video to see what the fuss is all about. Well, this much is for sure: Raghav Mathur, Asian fusion music’s bright new hope, can’t dance to save his life. Justin Timberlake he ain’t. Take a peep at his debut music video and you’ll know what I mean. But he can make you dance to his tune alright. The distant strains of O.P Nayyar’s lyrical “Kabhi Aar Kabhi Paar” overlaid with a funky hip-swinging groove and Raghav’s slip-sliding R & B vocals combine effortlessly in his first single, ‘Can’t Get Enough’ – and it’s a mix that leaves you not shaken but stirred. I’m not quite sure how they got such diverse musical genres to sit together so effectively but that’s what you get with intelligent production. And Raghav has worked with some of the most happening producers on the list – from the Grammy award-winning duo Sly and Robbie to Sunship (known for his work with Craig David) to Mushtaq (Miss-teeq). If a man is known by the company he keeps, Raghav isn’t exactly rubbing shoulders with has-beens.
But it wasn’t ‘Can’t Get Enough’ which allowed Raghav to break on through to the other side. The song that catapulted him into the charts was 2Play’s ‘So Confused,’ which soared up the charts into the UK Top Ten and featured Raghav supporting the rapper. Suddenly, mainstream success was his for the taking. The UK Charts were touting fusion music as the next big thing; and if Western pop singers could use samples of Hindi music why couldn’t an Indian-Canadian singer do the same? And so Raghav is using that logic in his forthcoming album: a little bit of Bollywood, a smattering of R & B vocals and the now almost unavoidable rap to go with it. At the same time, he is worried that the dream might be more fragile than he hopes. In an interview to the BBC, he said: “It is important that Asian music is recognized in the mainstream, though I worry that we may be a fashion and a fad, and that we will go out of fashion.” Right now of course, the only way Raghav seems to be going is up.
And though he is only 23, it’s been a long way getting here because he started singing when he was five with Guru Nishi Kant Bali and was performing on stage by the age of six! As he grew older his music diversified Raghav a joined gospel choir and basked in the sunshine of Rhythm and blues. It was only natural he went on from there to train with vocal coach Seth Riggs, who had already worked with the likes of Michael Jackson and Madonna. While in LA he started writing songs prolifically, and ended up winning an award for top original song in 1998 from the National Songwriters Association Of America. Next on the agenda was a stint at Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and now London seems to have become a second home. “I've been in England for about three-and-a-half years, trying to make music, plugging away, now all of a sudden we have a little bit of success so it feels fantastic - the UK has been really good to me.” The real test for Raghav after the release of his new album of course, is whether he is going to be able to capitalize on his earlier success in mainstream pop or is going to be relegated to singing westernized desi music to a primarily Asian audience.
Meanwhile, here I am at the Bleeding Heart with Raghav – which is a tavern with a rather gory little story behind it. Bleeding Heart got its name because a young woman’s dead body was found in the courtyard, the victim of a spurned lover, with her heart still pumping blood onto the cobblestones. That was in the 18th century, but in the 21st century Raghav’s bleeding heart managed to wrangle him a hit single: ‘Can’t Get Enough’ is about his ex-girlfriend, who has since moved on.
I find Raghav articulate if occasionally contradictory. The kind of person who would have been a great lawyer because he can see both sides of the case and so knows how to outwit his opponent. He has ample charm, but I’m not too sure about the peak cap. After he shows me a quick glimpse of the dark circles I hastily take back my comments on the dark glasses. With a little more oomph in his stage act this guy could go places; the music certainly is so very catchy that you’re going to find yourself pressing the rewind button often. But he needs a lot more Press then he’s getting at the moment. Right now Raghav is one of the best kept secrets in the Asian crossover business. Pass the word on…
Q. So what’s with the movie star shades without an inkling of sunshine on a dreary London day?
A. I haven’t slept for three days! Trust me you don’t want to see me without the sunglasses right now.
Q. You grew up in Canada as Indian-Canadian and now you live in the UK That’s a lot of different cultural influences at work in one person isn’t it? Do you miss Canada?
A. I miss Canada a lot. I didn’t have a typical or traditional Indian upbringing but yes it was very Indian in the sense that I was brought up absolutely connected to my culture. I wouldn’t say I had that many Indian friends though. My parents sent me to catholic school in Calgary so I wasn’t part of the Indian crowd as such. So while I’m very Indian I’m very Canadian as well.
Q. So did you feel out of place when you went to India or did you feel right at home?
A. When I went to India I felt like I had come home. My Indianess is a part of me. I love speaking the language, I love the little Indian things that people there take for granted. I love the songs, the movies, the food. At the same time there is a lot of sadness that I feel when I see things that are not working quite right. When I see the amount of pollution in Bombay for instance it really upsets me.
Q. I’ve heard you love Indian films. So if you were playing a hero in a film, what film would that be?
A. Oh this would definitely have to be ‘Shakti’! It is a film that I have watched a million times. So has my sister and she still cries in the last scene each time we see it. And no I am not saying I would want to do Amitabh Bachchan’s role in it because only someone like him could do justice to it. If I could even be the guy in the last scene who drives the car or something that would be an incredible honour. What a film!
Q. Everything Indian suddenly seems to have become hip in the West. The London high streets are full on bright Indian fashion, Bollywood films in Leicester square cinemas and Madonna does yoga and wears bindis. At the same time, the West seems to be moving into India - strange isn’t it?
A. There is that mix of coca cola, MTV and satellite culture which I find really unattractive. The big American corporations really seem to have made a move on India in a big way. It has definitely brought a certain amount of economic confidence to India but there are things about it that are very off-putting.The whole Tommy Hilfiger must-wear shirt thing is so unfortunate. Sometimes things are gimmicky and yes it makes me cringe a little when I see the West trying to ape the East or vice versa. You can look at it both ways though because some of the interaction is very fruitful. Its not that I see anything wrong with a natural fusion of western and Indian cultures but it’s really a very grey area isn’t it?
Q. Well, you have come up against the same kind of challenge haven’t you – being Indian and singing R & B?
A. People couldn’t understand why an Indian boy wanted to be a Rhythm n’Blues singer. But vocally I am very influenced by singers like Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder - I’m a huge hip hop and R &B fan. And I’m very into gospel music – actually I even sang in a gospel choir. But I have other influences as well – I’m a huge fan of Mehdi Hasan for instance. At the same time I’m really into Indian film music. Cant get enough uses samples of an O.P Nayyar song that I grew up with and have always loved and it also has major hip hop and R & B grooves. Its very connected to what’s going on in urban music. And I simply adore A.R Rehman’s music. So all this is part of my east-west heritage. I think I got lucky that I can draw on both. But I’m not going to restrict myself and say I have to sing a certain way just because I am Indian.
(continued in second post)
showwy
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