New Sunday Times - July 8 2007
Singapore musician rH shares with Asrin Ishak how
he makes music with literally no boundaries.
(click at the picture to listen to r-H's music )+copy.jpg)
Singapore music scene, it seems, is as diverse as the amount of expatriates you can find shopping around Orchard Road on weekends.One of Singapore's finest musical finds is Rajesh Hardwani better known as r-H. He will find plenty of exposure this year as he is one of the performers set to appear at WOMAD
SINGAPORE in August.WOMAD or World of Music Arts & Dance, is a major international world music festival that takes place around the world. Singapore is one of the countries that hosts this event and this year is particularly special for our neighbours down south as WOMAD celebrates its 10th year anniversary in the Lion City. The event at Fort Canning typically pulls tens of thousands."I think it is going to be particularly packed this year because of the event turning 10" says r-H. "It should be a lot of fun. The event is always a good place to network with people, meet with friends and just enjoy the good vibes."r-H's music is difficult to pigeonhole. While it has a strong electronic base, the rest of the sounds you hear seem to come from various sources. "I always find it difficult to describe my own music and dreads when reporters ask me to describe it" jokes r-H. What the man is out to do with his music on the other hand is less difficult to explain. "I try to work towards unity with my music. World unity if you will. Whatever I do, I always incorporate Asian sounds." says r-H. If that still doesn't help you to get a sense of the man's music, he has a long lists of influences he mentioned. The likes of which includes Earth, Wind & Fire, Kool & The Gang, KC & The Sunshine Band, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, James Brown, Aerosmith......
r-H performs with MC Garuda at Blu Jaz every 1st Sat of the month from 10pm to 2am..
Imagine Stevie Wonder backing Jay-Z, Herbie Hancock beating to Kishore Kumar…r-H’s original remixes are highly sought after and you can hear his latest work right here. BBC Asian Network remarked r-H’s radio DJ set as the best DJ set ever.
RAVE Magazine voted him as one of top 25 Indian Djs today.
Just Plain Folks Music Awards voted his album, BlackAsia Volume 1, as the Best Asian Album of the Year 2006 and the International Songwriting Competition Voted r-H as the best Electronica Producer 2004.
Performing at world stages and representing Singapore at events like WOMAD, regular radio airplay on BBC Radio One, LUSH 99.5 FM and American College airwaves are just a part of this maverick producer.
r-H is currently working on Black Asia Volume 2 and remixing/producing for Hip Hop and Pop acts from across the globe. r-H collaborates with MC Garuda for this installment of BlackAsia Soiree at Blu Jaz
