Brimful of Asia

Negotiating Ethnicity on the UK Music Scene

Rehan Hyder

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781351218085
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music

During the 1990s, Asian pop artists began entering the mainstream of the British music industry for the first time. Bands such as Black Star Liner, Cornershop, Fun Da Mental and Voodoo Queens, led those within and without the industry to start asking questions such as what did it mean to be Asian? How did the bands' Asian background affect their music? What did their music say about Asians in Britain? In this book, Rehan Hyder draws on in-depth interviews with musicians from these bands and with critics and record producers, to examine the pressures associated with making music as a young Asian in today's multi-ethnic Britain. As the book reveals, these musicians wish to convey an authentic sense of creativity in their music, while at the same time wanting to assert a positive ethnic identity. Hyder explores these two impulses against the backdrop of a music industry and a society at large that hold a range of confining stereotypes about what it means to be Asian. The experiences of these bands add considerably to the wider debate about the nature of identity in the contemporary world.

Chapter 1
Introduction

During the spring of 1992 a new cultural phenomenon began to emerge on the UK music scene as a number of Asian bands and musicians started to attract attention on a national scale. Suddenly, where before there had seemingly only been silence, Asian voices and sounds began to demand to be heard and spoke with a stridency and tenacity that confounded all expectations. Disparate voices in Yorkshire, the Midlands and London began to make themselves heard and, by the time summer had come around, the music press was full of reports of this new wave of Asian bands. At the time this was happening I was studying for my Masters degree in race relations in Bradford and, as someone who was not only a fledgling musician but also part-Asian - my father was born in Pakistan and my mother in England - I followed these developments with a keen interest. In the years that followed I began to realize that the experiences of these individuals provided a unique opportunity to investigate notions of ethnicity and identity in the context of a developing multi-ethnic society. The fact that Asians were entering the mainstream of the music industry for the first time meant that their sense of 'Asianness' was put under constant scrutiny and interrogation in public: what did it mean to be Asian? How did this affect their music? What did this say about Asians in Britain? The expectations and frequent stereotypes traded by a wide range of inquisitors was such that the individuals in question had to be both reflexive and challenging in their responses, ensuring that their sense of self was as much public as it was private. This is extremely significant since it reflects the very nature of identity in the contemporary world; it comes not only from within an individual, from memories and history, but is worked out and negotiated in the big wide world outside; that which is happening now and embodies a myriad array of people, opinions and influences. Who we think we are is only part of the story, since what others think of us is a contingent part of the process of self, and this is no more true than in a contemporary setting like multi-ethnic Britain at the turn of the 21st century.

So, in a sense, this is a book as much about Britain in the 1990s as it is about the experiences of the individuals focused upon. The decade has proved to be pivotal in the growing influence and acceptance of South Asian culture on the mainstream and it is important to recognize the significance of this for the nation as a whole, rather than focus on what it means for a particular 'ethnic minority' group. How then does one tackle such complex and sometimes contradictory issues as ethnicity and cultural identity? The realm of the creative arts is an obvious place to look, but how does one make sense of something as hard to define as music and performance? To seek an absolute understanding of both of these issues seems somewhat misguided and impractical and I have attempted to reflect the ongoing process of musical and ethnic identity formation by first considering the problems associated with such research.

Writing ethnicity

The first question I asked myself was how to write about issues of ethnicity without perpetuating notions of fixed identities and static communities. Indeed one of the common irritations experienced by members of Asian bands is the expectation that they somehow speak for all Asians; that their experiences and artistic endeavours somehow represent the authentic voice of 'Asian Britain'. It is important to state at the outset that my detailed focus on the experiences of a number of specific bands and musicians is not intended to be a definitive account of British Asian identity, but to qualitatively examine the complexities at play in terms of ethnicity and identity in multi-ethnic Britain. This perspective was adopted partly as a reaction against totalizing discourses of ethnic absolutism and belonging which fail to recognize the syncretic processes at work in the expression of contemporary cultural identities. In the specific context of discourses surrounding Asian identity in Britain, the articulation of ethnic absolutism is particularly problematic (Modood 1988,1994 and 1997) and bound up in often stereotypically defined studies of separation and 'community' (Khan 1977; Modood 1997). The tendency for researchers to regard racial or ethnic categories as unproblematic damages our understanding of the flexible and dynamic articulation of self-identity for groups and individuals by pandering to what Stanfield and Dennis have called the 'fallacy of homogeneity', which suggests that individuals within minority groups (particularly non-whites) have no differential identities (Stanfield and Dennis 1992: 22). In order to avoid falling into what Silverman has called the 'trap of absolutism' (Silverman 1993: 5) it is therefore necessary in a study of this sort to focus on the specific experiences of individuals in some detail rather than utilizing discourses of ethnic absolutism or, in this case, 'community'. By examining in detail the experiences of specific individuals in particular settings, my intention is to show how a sense of Asian identity is one that is not fixed and rigid but one which is negotiated and dynamic. By focusing on just four bands I have been able to examine in depth the complex negotiations of identity and ethnicity which can only be understood by embarking on extensive and qualitative research. As Mann has written, particularly complex research projects are such that it is necessary to focus on a small group of 'key participants' in order to gather material of any insight:

It may well be that a particular piece of research needs to be focused on selected people for information and the information gained from them will be fitted together in a coherent way with virtually no percentages and significant tests at all. (1993: 111)

These concerns were instrumental in the focus of my research on individuals rather than on a broadly defined social group; I purposely avoided gathering information from any 'community' sources in order to get away from discourses of ethnic identity which present Britain's diverse Asian population as a fixed and culturally isolated grouping. For this reason I have also kept away from gathering data about the ethnic make-up of the audiences that these bands play to, since it is rather reductive to judge the significance of these artists by measuring their success within the community. As I have stated, although the focus of the research is on Asian bands, I did not embark on this project with the notion of constructing a definitive or representative account of British Asian identity, but rather to examine the ambiguities and complexities of multi-accented identities. For this reason the research is intended not merely to provide specific accounts of Asian identity, but to shed light on what Stuart Hall has called the 'crisis of identity' (1992b) that is representative of late modernity. The decline of metanarratives in late modernity which has seen the erosion of old identities and allegiances is such that the politics of identity and belonging have become increasingly contentious (Harvey 1989; Lash 1990). The fragmentation of old sureties and allegiances has meant that particular modes of identity and political agency - not just those surrounding ethnicity but also those based around issues of gender, sexuality, class and generation - have become ever-intensified sites of struggle and negotiation. Rallying cries around notions of ethnicity and cultural authenticity have become particularly strident in attempting to reassert old allegiances and yet, at the same time, the manifestation of multi-accented and syncretic identities becomes increasingly hard to ignore. The ambiguous and reflexive nature of identities in flux during this period is such that it is hard to maintain any definitive or absolute model of ethnicity and identity without ignoring the dynamic processes of cultural change and syncretism that are becoming such an integral part of contemporary multi-ethnic society. This is not to say that specific cultural allegiances and histories do not have any specific bearing on the articulation of individual and group identities; far from it in fact. As the experiences of the musicians interviewed show, the cultural resource provided by their various Asian backgrounds are significant features in the articulation of their sense of self and belonging, but this resource does not have an absolute or fixed influence on their lives. As Wallman has recognized, the importance of the ethnic 'resource' is extremely flexible according to individual experiences and contexts and cannot be assumed to represent a dominant mode of self in all circumstances (Wallman 1981). We need to be able to recognize the combined importance of the dynamic and shifting processes of syncretism and cultural change as well as the pragmatic maintenance of a sense of cultural heritage and belonging. These two processes are not mutually exclusive: they co-exist and combine in a way that represents the complexity of ever-shifting concepts of self and belonging. This does not present us with an easy model of identity, but nevertheless reflects the intricacies of the cultural processes at work in the functioning of multi-ethnic societies in late modernity. This study is not intended to represent a definitive model of such a society but merely reflects the complex negotiations that are present in contemporary articulations of self and belonging. Although this is a terrain which is fraught with much difficulty and contention, it also reveals the vibrant and transformative potential of an environment which is marked by the dynamic processes of inter-cultural exchange and syncretism.

Writing music

The second question that needs attention is that of the music itself; how to write meaningfully about a medium that quite simply cannot be represented in words. Descriptions of the sound of music are inevitably subjective and tied into the ability of the author to convey what can be the most ephemeral or profound sonic and emotional nuances. Furthermore I have always felt that analysis of musical notation and lyrics is something of a cold and abstract tool; particularly when considering such complex issues as that of ethnicity and cultural identity. The close study of musical texts is undoubtedly a useful method and can uncover some important insights about both the author and the society that produced them, but ultimately they are limited insomuch as they are bound by the interpretative powers of the critic. The examination of lyrics is a particularly favoured source of analysis within popular music, but one which has limited value since it not only isolates particular passages and words but also excises them from the overall context where sound and language are fused. In the end, whatever is uncovered by such scrutiny must always be considered with caution; too often are meanings ascribed to lyrical texts that are alien or even anathema to authors themselves. It is troubling that many studies of identity and ethnicity that concentrate on music have based their analysis simply on musical texts such as records or videos, decoding them as unproblematic and unambiguous messages and statements, all too often ascribing meanings to these texts which may or may not be intended by the musicians in question. Any study of musical meaning and cultural significance taken from a musical text must be counterbalanced by consideration of the avowed intentions of the artists themselves. It is therefore crucial to allow the members of the bands in question to air their own voices and opinions, partly because of the complexity of the subject matter involved, but also because of the lack of such material in many others studies in this area (Hesmondhalgh 1995; Sharma, Hutnyk and Sharma 1996). This is not to say that artists are not prone to their own interpretative shortcomings, and the poetic or even abstract nature of many lyrical texts is such that they may escape neat analysis or understanding.

So from the outset I was suspicious of the value of textual analysis with regard to the music produced by these bands, and I soon realized that this book was not actually about the nature of the music created by Asian musicians but about how such music acted as a pivot around which notions of cultural allegiance and ethnic identity were established and negotiated. In that sense the actual music itself is not of primary importance; how it is used, interpreted and reported is the real source of interest. Music, like identity itself, does not come simply from within and, although both emerge from the individual, they find meaning and contestation in wider society. So, although I have drawn on various musical texts, my prime source of information has been the musicians themselves. While the music and lyrics they produce are certainly important and provide a necessary and valuable resource for this book, I have been more concerned with their reception; how others have interpreted them and how the musicians have responded to this. Musical meaning then, like a sense of self, is something that is contingent on and negotiated in relation to the outside world and that represents an ongoing process of identity construction and maintenance. The specific arena of musical performance and production is a particularly rich area through which to explore these issues as it provides a space where identities are presented, distorted and transgressed. The notion of cultural identity as process is mirrored by the development and articulation of musical styles and performances which are in a constant state of flux and re-evaluation. By prioritizing the importance of musical production as a significant site of cultural interaction and change I have sought to problematize much previous work in youth studies which have tended to relegate music as simply an adjunct of style (Cohen 1972; Hebdige 1976), preferring to assert its importance as a significant area of social and cultural transformation. Frith (1996; 109) has correctly identified the importance of music-making in the articulation of a dynamic and shifting sense of self and has stated that 'Identity is not a thing but a process - an experiential process which is most vividly grasped as music.'

By privileging music as a site of cultural negotiation and change, where identities are performed and transformed, I intend to show how the experiences of the musicians in this study represent part of the processes of transition and change that are transforming contemporary British society in ways which reflect the complex articulations of cultural syncretism at play in a multi-ethnic setting.

The bands

The bands that I have focused on all originated in the early 1990s and represent the influence of a wide array of musical cultures; in this sense they are characterized more by the diversity of their output than by their ethnic background. They were chosen because they happened to be some of the earliest Asian bands on the scene and, as it turns out, they have also been among the most successful and have enjoyed careers that were still developing some ten years later. Although all these artists have experienced a great deal of success both in the UK and internationally, I recognize that not everybody will be familiar with their work. Therefore I have provided a short description of each for the edification of the reader. These descriptions are a somewhat brief overview of sometimes complicated careers, but it is hoped that they will provide a rough outline and backdrop to the subsequent interview data. The artists are listed in alphabetical order; this does not reflect their degree of success or indeed the musical preferences of the author.

Black Star Liner

This band was formed in 1994 in Leeds and consisted of three members: Choque Hosein, Chris Harrop and Tom Salmon. From the outset the band's music incorporated a fusion of elements drawn from a wide range of sources. Aspects of dub reggae and rock guitar were merged with a variety of instruments from Asia and the Middle East to create a deeply textured and unique sound by a process whereby the band (and various collaborators) recorded instruments and voices live and then manipulated and remixed them into the final musical text. As such, the band's recorded output differed markedly from live performances, which tended to rely on a more direct, 'rock and roll' approach.

Black Star Liner's first record. Smoke the prophets, was released on their own Soundclash Sound label in 1994 and was made single of the week in the Vibes section of New Musical Express (13 November 1992). Following the release of High Turkish influence in 1995 they were signed to the independent label EXP, which led to their debut album Yemen cutta connection the following year. It was a significant critical success - named as dance album of the week by The Guardian newspaper (23 August 1996) and the preceding record, Haldol rock, became single of the week in Melody Maker (10 August 1996). The latter included a collaboration with Cornershop's Tjinder Singh (see below), who provided vocals on the track 'Dhuggie Dhol'. and the two bands would later appear together on the BBC's India 5-0 live broadcast in 1997. By this time EXP records had collapsed and Black Star Liner subsequently signed a three-album deal with Warner Music LJK. The deal in fact produced just a single album, Bengali bantam youth experience, which was released in 1999 to much critical acclaim and nominated for the coveted Mercury Music Award. The breakdown of relations between the band and the new management at Warner Music UK resulted in legal wranglings which meant that Black Star Liner did not release any further records for four years, although in 2003 Choque Hosein, the sole remaining member, was about to sign with a new label and finally to start releasing records again.

Cornershop

Previously named General Havoc, Cornershop emerged in Preston in 1992 around the nucleus of Tjinder Singh and Ben Ayres, who met while studying at Lancashire Polytechnic in the late 1980s and who have remained the key members of the band ever since. Tjinder's brother Avtar, David Chambers and Anthony Saffrey completed the line-up. The band was quickly signed to the London-based independent label Wiiija, through which they released their first records In the days of Ford Cortina and Lock, stock and double barrel, the latter being chosen as single of the week by NME (27 November 1992). Musically Cornershop began as an archetypal indie/rock band, favouring a three-guitar lineup betraying energy and enthusiasm over musical ability. The band courted controversy early in their career by burning a picture of former Smiths' vocalist Morrissey outside the London offices of his record label EMI in protest at the singer's supposed flirtation with far-right nationalist sentiments. This act garnered a lot of attention in the press and did much to label the band as an angry and explicitly political group, despite the fact that this was not always apparent in the band's lyrical content.

Following the release of Cornershop's debut album Hold on it hurts in 1993, the band began to experiment with new sounds, drawing on a wider range of influences and sounds, including greater use of Asian instruments such as the sitar and the dholki. The band's second album Woman's gotta have it (1995) reflected these changes and went on to gather widespread critical acclaim in the USA following a licensing deal with David Byrne's Luaka Bop label. Cornershop's increasingly eclectic and innovative approach came of age in 1997 with the release of their third album When I was born for the 7th time, which not only featured the number one single 'Brimful of Asha' but was also nominated for the prestigious Mercury Music Award. The combination of rock, hip-hop, funk, country and Asian sounds resulted in an album which was radically different from the band's initial output and Cornershop have since built on the success of this approach with the release in 2002 of Handcream for a generation, to almost universal critical acclaim. The band have continued to work around the songwriting ability of lead singer Tjinder Singh and, until 2003, remained under the auspices of Wiiija Records.

Fun^Da^Mental

Fun^Da^Mental were formed in London in 1991 around the core membership of PropaGhandi (aka Aki Nawaz), Lallaman and Goldfinger and released t...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Figures
• General Editor's Preface
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Negotiating difference: ethnicity and identity in contemporary Britain
• 3 Music, culture and identity
• 4 Asian influences on pop and rock in the UK
• 5 Marketing the exotic: Asian bands and the novelty effect
• 6 Politics or pleasure? Asianness and the burden of representation
• 7 Old and new identities: music, ethnicity and syncretism
• Conclusion Then and now: Asian bands in the 21st century
• Appendix 1: Interviews
• Appendix 2: Liner notes
• Discography
• Bibliography
• Index