Bobby Friction’s Top 5 Asian Underground Club Nights

Talvin Singh

Anokha

This club was the centrifugal force at the centre of the Asian Underground musical movement. Run by Sweety Kapoor with Talvin Singh at its creative control panel it was the place that actually named the “Asian Underground” via its seminal compilation “Soundz Of The Asian Underground”. Mixing up the cream of the emerging DJ scene alongside killer live performances from the main musical protagonists behind it, it became more than a club, and more than a musical space. For many of us, myself included, it was a full on lifestyle. Historical moments included live performances from Talvin Singh & his tablatronics, State Of Bengal AKA Sam Zaman using it as a space to showcase his genius & people like David Bowie & Bjork coming & dancing with the crowds. Some DJs who I danced to there included DJ Pathaan, Equal I, Ges-E & Osmani Soundz from The Nasha Experience & Earthtribe.

Nitin Sawhney

The brainchild of Outcaste Records supremo Shabs Jobanputra, this club night was the first Asian Underground club night I ever went to. At times it felt like Nitin Sawhney was an artist in residence here with regular live performances as he honed his live craft early in his career. Its playlist was very very eclectic with jazz, funk, and full on Bollywood seeping into the electronic dance and Drum & Bass that was the staple diet of lots of the other clubs. My first experience here included Nitin Sawhney jamming jazz style with an Indian Classical violinist & DJ Ritu playing one of the most genre mashing sets I had ever heard. It was an important musical counterbalance to Anokha and for a few years it felt like both clubs nights were a binary star system.

Flyers

Unashamedly loud, proud and all about dancing till you dropped Swaraj was run by Ash Chandola & DJ Pathaan. Swaraj was a visually & sonically spectacular club space with film projections, massive stacked speakers & a roll call of performances that encapsulated just about every facet of the by now named & recognized Asian Underground genre. Its visual iconography was pop art meets Bollywood meets graffiti. I had my DJ debut here the same night Fun Da Mental played the a warped punk Qwaali live set that blew the roof off the place. Musically anything went & often did. You would manage to see State of Bengal, Black Star Liner & The Dhol Foundation all play live within a few weeks of each other and my mum even supplied the Samosa’s & chick pea curry that the kitchen sold every week. If it wasn’t for this club I’d probably still be building computers in a warehouse in Hounslow.

Flyers

The start of this club in Birmingham was the breakout moment for the Asian Underground. The evolution had begun. Shaanti and its creator Manga Matharu, took the blueprint that had started in London and refined it for a Midlands audience that was already hungry for something different. It quickly grew from humble beginnings to filling out warehouses & the sound reflected that as well. Big Asian Underground bangers blasted out from one of the loudest sound systems in the country at the time, as well as Bhangra anthems too. The midlands demographic was heavily Panjabi so dropping the new remixed Bhangra sounds that were starting to emerge at the time, amongst the Drum & Bass, always found a willing audience. DJs like Sonny Ji, DJ Suki & I relished the chance to play for such a hungry crowd who had a multi-genre approach to what they danced to. Shaanti fast became the hottest Desi music ticket across the UK. An Asian Underground club night that was already beyond that definition.

DJ Nerm

Set up by founder Nerm & a host of acolytes all based in & living collectively in a warehouse in East London, Shiva Soundsystem nights were the enfant terribles of the entire Asian Underground. Punky, loud, bass heavy & with the feeling that a riot could break out at any moment their club nights were full of people falling over & drinking till the early hours. The musical core was often Nerm & D-Code and whichever of their friends they could rope in to create memorable events. I often went home semi-deaf & worse for wear, but happy in the knowledge I had experienced the next stage in our musical movement. Drum & Bass was the core the nights were built around, although live performances could come from any genre. As always, I often found some debauchery was waiting in the wings for me and often hard to avoid! Sometimes the Asian elements of the nights felt incidental, but by now the scene, the demographics & the artistry was changing beyond a simple South Asian focus & the Shiva Soundsytem nights were reflective of this.