WOMAD

Mushtaq

From United Kingdom

2001 BiographyWe’ve all felt the millennium blues at one time or another but Mushtaq has turned it into an art form. After quitting the ranks of Asian angst rockers Fun-da-mental this born and bred west Londoner did a year long stint as a taxi driver, soaking up the endless cinema of street life and the endless bullshit of A&R men who hitched a ride in his cab. It’s not surprising that the pains and joys of big city life are one of the major themes of Mushtaq’s music and the man himself seems to be something of a metropolitan street philosopher. Born of Bengali and Iranian parents Mushtaq has now set up home deep in the "universal cockney culture" of the East End. Whereas the energy of the city is often expressed in jarring, blaring, inhuman and sectarian sounds Mushtaq’s aim is to reflect all the pain and confusion of urban existence in a more melodic, multi-stylistic and inclusive mode. An avowed fan of the 70s when the often segregated world of black and white musical culture enjoyed their most cooperative phase, Mushtaq draws on the inspiration of Sly Stone, Led Zep, John Lee Hooker, Van Morrison, Beck and Ben Harper to produce what is to all intents and purpose a highly relevant urban blues style for the new millennium. His eponymous debut album on Mercury records has been hailed in several quarters as the perfect antidote to saccharined girlband boyband pop.Biography by Andy Morgan, May 20012001 biographySoulful newcomer-artist whose debut album has made a big mark on UK clubs already this year.May 2001