WOMAD

Badmarsh & Shri featuring UK Apache

From United Kingdom

This UK duo explores musical migration that spans Bombay and East End with their brooding sound of funk, drum n bass, hip-hop and Indian Classical music. Signed to the popular club label Outcaste- this Saturday night highlight has a reputation for serving up an amazing live experience. Coupled with the catchy ragga vocals of UK Apache this is a panoramic view of dance music at its best. Badmarsh and Shri’s appearance is made possible by The British Council2001 Biography"Awesome, gorgeous dance music". Most hard bitten hacks have long since learned to ignore the hyperbole issued by record companies about their beloved artists but this statement in the press release accompanying Badmarsh & Shri’s second album ‘Tribal’ on Outcaste Records just about hits the nail on the head. The two musicians come from polar strands of the Asian musical diaspora but they are a united by a philosophy that champions an open minded approach to making funky, multi-faceted, listenable and danceable music and reaching out beyond the straight-jacket of ghettoising concepts like ‘Asian underground’ or ‘rave’. Shri was already in heavy demand as a tabla and bass player before he travelled to London in search of new horizons. His passport into the music scene was a fortuitous link up with Mercury Prize nominee Nitin Sawhney with whom he toured and recorded for five years. Badmarsh, which means ‘naughty boy’ in Hindi, cut his teeth in the reggae studios and clubs of east London, painstakingly building a deep love and knowledge of urban dance styles. These two rising stars from different firmaments were coupled by the far seeing founder of Outcaste records Shabs Jopanputra who recognised their common open-minded and creatively ambitious attitude to music. Influences like Latin, funk, hip hop, Afrobeat and classical Indian music are all mashed up into a flavoursome stew by a pair who don’t have any truck with cheap labels or categorisations. It’s just awesome, gorgeous dance music... just like the man said!Biography by Andy Morgan, May 2001