Diamond Duggal
Encyclopedia
Diamond Duggal aka DJ Swami is a music producer, songwriter, DJ and guitarist. He is also the leader of UK pop/ electronic/ bhangra band Swami
. He is Ivor Novello and Mercury Prize
nominated and produced and played alongside Mutt Lange on the Shania Twain
double Grammy nominated 2004 album Up!. He is twice winner (2005 and 2008) of Best Producer category at the UK Asian Music Awards
. He is also winner of Best Mix Engineer at the South African Music Awards
2010.
An internationally accomplished British Asian music producer, having produced a variety of platinum-selling award winning recording artists, including Shania Twain
, Pras
, Apache Indian, Maxi Priest
, Stereo Nation and China Black
as well as remixing Erasure
, The Beat
and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. He has also performed and toured as a guitarist with Robbie Williams
, Boyzone
, and Blue
.
His most successful solo Swami
album to date was 2004's DesiRock
, the title track from which has been used in a variety of movies, TV shows, and video games.
district of Birmingham, England in a melting pot of second-generation Indian and Jamaican multi-culturalism. By the age of 12 he was already playing guitar in local reggae and rock bands. While learning the craft of music through listening to records by Jimi Hendrix
, Ravi Shankar
, Kraftwerk
, Laxmikant Pyarelal
and local Birmingham artists Steel Pulse
and UB40
, Diamond witnessed his first glance of a new musical hybrid and what was ultimately to become his life’s passion.
In 1997, Diamond started the group Swami
with drummer and brother Simon ‘Subs’ Duggal, vocalist Taz Singh and Indian percussionist Kam Bura. The band performed a number of local and European shows before releasing their debut album Desi Nu Skool Beatz on their SubDub Records label in 1999. The album was given an international release in 2000 on Nation Records (Beggars Banquet). The guitar surfing electronic title track "Mehbooba" went on to feature in the Olsen Twins Warner Brothers movie New York Minute
(2003).
Diamond took to the studio in 2002 to work with Shania Twain
on her follow-up album to Come On Over
entitled Up!
. The album was produced by a totally international team co-ordinated between producer Mutt Lange, Diamond and Simon Duggal. Shania Twain’s Up! topped the American Billboard for six weeks in late 2002 with multi-platinum sales exceeding 15 million and received two Grammy nominations in 2004.
Swami's follow-up album was So Who Am I
on SonyBMG in 2005. The title track "DesiRock" embraced clubs the world over with DJ Swami’s unique left field electronic beats and anthemic bhangra melodies and reached even wider audiences in the EA Games FIFA World Cup 2006 video game as well as the UK movie Mischief Night
(2006).
In 2005, Swami won "Best Producer" at the UK Asian Music Awards
.
Diamond has recently been touring with his band Swami promoting the new Swami album Equalize
released in late 2007. The album features mainstream collaborations from the USA, South Africa, France, England and India.
In June 2007, DJ Swami was listed in the official Guardian Glastonbury Festival Guide as one of the Top 5 acts to see at Glastonbury 2007 alongside Amy Whinehouse and the Arctic Monkeys
.
In January 2008, Swami's album Equalize was voted album of the year by DesiHits.com
In March 2008, DJ Swami won "Best Producer" at the UK Asian Music Awards for a second time.
In August 2008, Swami's "Hey Hey" music video received its Canadian premiere at Toronto's FILMI South Asian Film Festival, as part of FILMI's debut music video night programmed by Deejay Ra.
Swami (band)
Swami are a critically acclaimed British Indian pop/alt/bhangra band from Birmingham, England. It is also the pseudonym of the band's lead performer, producer, DJ and guitarist Diamond Duggal , who founded the band with his brother Simon Duggal...
. He is Ivor Novello and Mercury Prize
Mercury Prize
The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize and currently known as the Barclaycard Mercury Prize for sponsorship reasons, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album from the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was established by the British Phonographic Industry and British...
nominated and produced and played alongside Mutt Lange on the Shania Twain
Shania Twain
Shania Twain, OC is a Canadian country pop singer-songwriter. Her album The Woman in Me , brought her fame and her 1997 album Come On Over, became the best-selling album of all time by a female musician in any genre, and the best-selling country album of all time. It has sold over 40 million...
double Grammy nominated 2004 album Up!. He is twice winner (2005 and 2008) of Best Producer category at the UK Asian Music Awards
UK Asian Music Awards
The UK Asian Music Awards, also known by the abbreviation UK AMA, is an award show that is held annually in the United Kingdom since 2002. It is presented by B4U Music since 2008...
. He is also winner of Best Mix Engineer at the South African Music Awards
South African Music Awards
The South African Music Awards are an annual award ceremony, run by the Recording Industry of South Africa , where accolades are presented to members of South Africa's music industry. Winners receive a statuette is called a SAMA. The event was established in 1995...
2010.
An internationally accomplished British Asian music producer, having produced a variety of platinum-selling award winning recording artists, including Shania Twain
Shania Twain
Shania Twain, OC is a Canadian country pop singer-songwriter. Her album The Woman in Me , brought her fame and her 1997 album Come On Over, became the best-selling album of all time by a female musician in any genre, and the best-selling country album of all time. It has sold over 40 million...
, Pras
Pras
Prakazrel Samuel Michel, known as Pras, is a Grammy Award-winning Haitian-American rapper, actor, film producer, and member of the hip hop trio The Fugees.-Early life:...
, Apache Indian, Maxi Priest
Maxi Priest
Max Alfred "Maxi" Priest is a British reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent. He is best known for singing reggae music with a R&B influence, otherwise known as reggae fusion, and became one of the first international successes who regularly dabbled in the genre as well as being one of the most...
, Stereo Nation and China Black
China Black
China Black was a British pop-reggae duo, consisting of Simon Fung and Errol Reid -Overview:...
as well as remixing Erasure
Erasure
Erasure are an English synthpop duo, consisting of songwriter and keyboardist Vince Clarke and singer Andy Bell. Erasure entered the music scene in 1985 with their debut single "Who Needs Love Like That"...
, The Beat
The Beat (band)
The Beat are a 2 Tone ska revival band founded in England in 1978. Their songs fuse ska, pop, soul, reggae and punk rock, and their lyrics deal with themes of love, unity and sociopolitical topics....
and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. He has also performed and toured as a guitarist with Robbie Williams
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams...
, Boyzone
Boyzone
Boyzone are an Irish boy band comprising Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Ronan Keating,Shane Lynch, and formerly Stephen Gately. Boyzone have 19 singles in the top 40 UK charts and 21 singles in the Ire charts. The group currently have 6 UK number one singles and 9 number one singles in Ireland with 12...
, and Blue
Blue
Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
.
His most successful solo Swami
Swami
A swami sometimes abbreviated "Sw." is an ascetic or yogi who has been initiated into the religious monastic order founded by Adi Sankara, or to a religious teacher.The Oxford English Dictionary gives the etymology as...
album to date was 2004's DesiRock
DesiRock
DesiRock is the third album by British-Indian producer Diamond 'Swami' Duggal's alternative bhangra group Swami and is also the title of the album's electro/ bhangra/ rock fusion lead track. It is their most popular album to date and voted as one of BBC Radio 1's best DJ tracks of the year. It was...
, the title track from which has been used in a variety of movies, TV shows, and video games.
Biography
Born Diamond Jyoti Duggal, he grew up in the HandsworthBirmingham Handsworth (UK Parliament constituency)
Birmingham Handsworth was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Handsworth district of Birmingham. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
district of Birmingham, England in a melting pot of second-generation Indian and Jamaican multi-culturalism. By the age of 12 he was already playing guitar in local reggae and rock bands. While learning the craft of music through listening to records by Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar , often referred to by the title Pandit, is an Indian musician and composer who plays the plucked string instrument sitar. He has been described as the best known contemporary Indian musician by Hans Neuhoff in Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart.Shankar was born in Varanasi and spent...
, Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
, Laxmikant Pyarelal
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Laxmikant-Pyarelal were a popular Indian composer duo, consisting of Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma . They composed music for about 635 Hindi movies from 1963 to 1998, working for almost all notable filmmakers including Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Feroze Khan, B.R...
and local Birmingham artists Steel Pulse
Steel Pulse
Steel Pulse is a roots reggae musical band. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, in Birmingham, England, composed of David Hinds , Basil Gabbidon , and Ronald McQueen .-History:...
and UB40
UB40
UB40 are a British reggae/pop band formed in 1978 in Birmingham. The band has placed more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. One of the world's best-selling music artists, UB40 have sold over 70 million records.Their hit singles...
, Diamond witnessed his first glance of a new musical hybrid and what was ultimately to become his life’s passion.
In 1997, Diamond started the group Swami
Swami (band)
Swami are a critically acclaimed British Indian pop/alt/bhangra band from Birmingham, England. It is also the pseudonym of the band's lead performer, producer, DJ and guitarist Diamond Duggal , who founded the band with his brother Simon Duggal...
with drummer and brother Simon ‘Subs’ Duggal, vocalist Taz Singh and Indian percussionist Kam Bura. The band performed a number of local and European shows before releasing their debut album Desi Nu Skool Beatz on their SubDub Records label in 1999. The album was given an international release in 2000 on Nation Records (Beggars Banquet). The guitar surfing electronic title track "Mehbooba" went on to feature in the Olsen Twins Warner Brothers movie New York Minute
New York Minute (film)
New York Minute is a 2004 American teen comedy film starring Mary-Kate Olsen, Ashley Olsen and Eugene Levy. It was directed by Dennie Gordon and released on May 7, 2004. In the film Mary-Kate and Ashley play twins with opposing personalities who have a series of misadventures around New York City...
(2003).
Diamond took to the studio in 2002 to work with Shania Twain
Shania Twain
Shania Twain, OC is a Canadian country pop singer-songwriter. Her album The Woman in Me , brought her fame and her 1997 album Come On Over, became the best-selling album of all time by a female musician in any genre, and the best-selling country album of all time. It has sold over 40 million...
on her follow-up album to Come On Over
Come on Over (Shania Twain album)
Come On Over is the third studio album recorded by Canadian singer Shania Twain. It was released on November 4, 1997. It became the world's best-selling country music album and the best-selling studio album ever released by a female artist in any genre...
entitled Up!
Up! (album)
-Critical reception:Upon its release, the album received very positive reviews from most music critics, based on an aggregate score of 72/100 from Metacritic...
. The album was produced by a totally international team co-ordinated between producer Mutt Lange, Diamond and Simon Duggal. Shania Twain’s Up! topped the American Billboard for six weeks in late 2002 with multi-platinum sales exceeding 15 million and received two Grammy nominations in 2004.
Swami's follow-up album was So Who Am I
So Who Am I
So Who Am I is the fourth album by British bhangra group Swami.The album is a re-recorded and re-mixed version of their previous album, DesiRock, and contains massive musical differences, most notably, the tracks have all been re-done with live instruments, giving the album much more of a rock...
on SonyBMG in 2005. The title track "DesiRock" embraced clubs the world over with DJ Swami’s unique left field electronic beats and anthemic bhangra melodies and reached even wider audiences in the EA Games FIFA World Cup 2006 video game as well as the UK movie Mischief Night
Mischief night
Mischief Night is an annual tradition in parts of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, and the United States when people take a degree of license to play...
(2006).
In 2005, Swami won "Best Producer" at the UK Asian Music Awards
UK Asian Music Awards
The UK Asian Music Awards, also known by the abbreviation UK AMA, is an award show that is held annually in the United Kingdom since 2002. It is presented by B4U Music since 2008...
.
Diamond has recently been touring with his band Swami promoting the new Swami album Equalize
Equalize
Equalize is an Urban Desi album by the UK band Swami released on September 24, 2007.Their two previous albums were DesiRock in 2004, and So Who Am I in 2005...
released in late 2007. The album features mainstream collaborations from the USA, South Africa, France, England and India.
In June 2007, DJ Swami was listed in the official Guardian Glastonbury Festival Guide as one of the Top 5 acts to see at Glastonbury 2007 alongside Amy Whinehouse and the Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys are an English indie rock band. Formed in 2002 in High Green, a suburb of Sheffield, the band currently consists of Alex Turner , Jamie Cook , Nick O'Malley and Matt Helders...
.
In January 2008, Swami's album Equalize was voted album of the year by DesiHits.com
In March 2008, DJ Swami won "Best Producer" at the UK Asian Music Awards for a second time.
In August 2008, Swami's "Hey Hey" music video received its Canadian premiere at Toronto's FILMI South Asian Film Festival, as part of FILMI's debut music video night programmed by Deejay Ra.
Discography as DJ Swami
- DJ Swami – Sub Culture Vol. 1
- Kurthi Malmal Di
- Bismillah
- Raathi Kithe Giya Si
- Mitran Dee Yaad
- Jind Mereeyeh
- Dekha
- Dil Naihee Dehna
- Oh Carol Club Mumbai Mix
- DJ Swami – Sub Culture Vol. 2
- Intro
- Jatan Nu Larey
- Nit Kher Mangdi
- Hat Jo Hat Jo
- Pyar Tere Nai
- Koka
- Nachna
1991
- The Badman – Magic Style/ Shape Dancing (single and remix/ CityBeat)
- The Badman Presents N.D.X. – Come With Me/ Higher Than Heaven (single and remix/ CityBeat)
- Aretha Daye – No More (Making Love) (single)
1992/1993
- Apache Indian – No ReservationsNo Reservations (Apache Indian album)No Reservations is a music album by Apache Indian, released on Tuesday, 18 May 1993 on Mango/Island/PolyGram Records.-Track listing:#"Don Raja "#"Chok There"#"Fe Real" #"Fix Up"#"Aids Warning"#"Guru"#"Wan No Me"...
(album/ Island Records) - Apache Indian – Arranged Marriage (single and remix/ Island Records)
- Apache Indian – Chok There (single and remix/ Island Records)
- Louie Rankin – Typewriter (remix/ Ruffness)
- Johnny Zee – Cum Be My Lover (remix)
- Dillinger – Cokane In My Brain (remix/ Island Records)
1994/1995
- Erasure – Run To The Sun (remix/ Mute)
- The Beat – Mirror In The Bathroom (remix/ London Records)
- Raise – I Got It (single and remix/ SubDub)
1999
- SwamiSwami (band)Swami are a critically acclaimed British Indian pop/alt/bhangra band from Birmingham, England. It is also the pseudonym of the band's lead performer, producer, DJ and guitarist Diamond Duggal , who founded the band with his brother Simon Duggal...
– Desi Nu Skool Beatz (album/ Nation Records) - SwamiSwami (band)Swami are a critically acclaimed British Indian pop/alt/bhangra band from Birmingham, England. It is also the pseudonym of the band's lead performer, producer, DJ and guitarist Diamond Duggal , who founded the band with his brother Simon Duggal...
– Transmission (single) - TazTaz (singer)Tarsame Singh Saini aka Taz born 23 May 1967, Coventry, West Midlands, United Kingdom), is a British singer, composer and actor of Indian descent. He is the lead singer of the pop band Stereo Nation which was formed in 1996...
– Nasha (album/ SubDub)
2002
- Shania TwainShania TwainShania Twain, OC is a Canadian country pop singer-songwriter. Her album The Woman in Me , brought her fame and her 1997 album Come On Over, became the best-selling album of all time by a female musician in any genre, and the best-selling country album of all time. It has sold over 40 million...
– Up!Up! (album)-Critical reception:Upon its release, the album received very positive reviews from most music critics, based on an aggregate score of 72/100 from Metacritic...
(album/ Mercury) - SwamiSwami (band)Swami are a critically acclaimed British Indian pop/alt/bhangra band from Birmingham, England. It is also the pseudonym of the band's lead performer, producer, DJ and guitarist Diamond Duggal , who founded the band with his brother Simon Duggal...
– BhangraDotCom (album/ Nation Records)
2005
- SwamiSwami (band)Swami are a critically acclaimed British Indian pop/alt/bhangra band from Birmingham, England. It is also the pseudonym of the band's lead performer, producer, DJ and guitarist Diamond Duggal , who founded the band with his brother Simon Duggal...
– So Who Am ISo Who Am ISo Who Am I is the fourth album by British bhangra group Swami.The album is a re-recorded and re-mixed version of their previous album, DesiRock, and contains massive musical differences, most notably, the tracks have all been re-done with live instruments, giving the album much more of a rock...
(album/ Sony BMG) - Apache Indian – Time For Change (album/ Revolver)
2009
- SwamiSwami (band)Swami are a critically acclaimed British Indian pop/alt/bhangra band from Birmingham, England. It is also the pseudonym of the band's lead performer, producer, DJ and guitarist Diamond Duggal , who founded the band with his brother Simon Duggal...
– Electro Jugni/She’s Mine EP - SwamiSwami (band)Swami are a critically acclaimed British Indian pop/alt/bhangra band from Birmingham, England. It is also the pseudonym of the band's lead performer, producer, DJ and guitarist Diamond Duggal , who founded the band with his brother Simon Duggal...
– 53431 (album/ EMI Virgin) - SwamiSwami (band)Swami are a critically acclaimed British Indian pop/alt/bhangra band from Birmingham, England. It is also the pseudonym of the band's lead performer, producer, DJ and guitarist Diamond Duggal , who founded the band with his brother Simon Duggal...
– Sugarless (single and remix) - Ishmael – Over The Edge (album/ Ghetto Ruff)
- MejaMejaMeja , is a Swedish composer, artist and singer. Among her best known songs are "I'm Missing You","All 'Bout the Money" and "Private Emotion"...
– Regrets (remix/ Sony)
External links
- Diamond 'Swami' Duggal's website
- Swami performing at BBC Asian Network Uni Tour 07
- An interview and another with DJ Swami
- Another interview and the German translation with Diamond & S-EndzS-EndzS-Endz, also known as Turi and Casey Rain is a British Asian vocalist, music producer, songwriter and presenter. He is best known as a member of the critically acclaimed UK rap/alternative/bhangra band Swami....