Shiva Soundsystem
Encyclopedia
Shiva Soundsystem is a collective, record label and event host based in east London. Shiva Soundsystem grew out of the Asian Underground
scene in London and went on to become more associated with other styles including Drum & Bass and Electronica.
Formed by DJ and broadcaster Nerm
out of musicians performing on his DJ sets, it evolved into a band, including early appearances of Foreign Beggars
frontman Orifice Vulgatron and Prash Mistry from Engine Earz. It then developed into a sprawling collective of artists with a large warehouse HQ in Hackney.
Nerm and Renu Hossain where band mates in electro punk band Charged signed to Nation Records. Nerm was increasingly becoming a headline DJ, especially with Asian Underground
clubnight Swaraj, he approached Renu to beef up his sets with her on percussion. Orifice Vulgatron from Foreign Beggars
joined on mic duties with Adam Henshaw on live computer sequencing. Shiva Soundsystem began to tour India in 2002 with Swaraj.
2003 - 2005 - Warehouse
Shiva Soundsystem's next line up included Prash Mistry in Adam Henshaw's place and featuring his production as the show's musical backbone. Shiva Soundsystem set up a warehouse heeadquarters in East London and began hosting events, first holding massive parties at the warehouse among other spaces and then, more legally, holding down weekend residencies in East London’s clubland with guests as diverse as Aphex Twin, Swami and Logistics.
It was here that Shiva Soundsystem made its latest incarnation to that of a record label with a roster of artists, with D-Code (DJ)
as the spearhead.
In 2003 Shiva Soundsystem began to tour India every year independently. Shiva Soundsystem began to play Glastonbury annually in 2004, headlining stages in 2005 and 2008.
2005–Present
D-Code took the helm of head producer and the first release on Shiva Soundsystem Recordings was Mumbai Cells and was written when D-Code and Nerm toured India for the first time. This was followed by releases gaining support from Drum & Bass DJs Fabio, London Elecktricity and Andy C. The collective also remixed for notable acts Asian Dub Foundation
, Riz MC and Swami (Band)
This was followed up in May 2006 with another Shiva Soundsystem focussed One World radio show, this time an entire 2 hours
In June 2006 the BBC Asian Network
signed Shiva Soundsystem's Nerm to host their weekly alternative music show Electro East.
In 2008, Shiva Soundsystem's enigmatic DJ sets attracted the attention of BBC Radio 1 and they started their own show at the station.
Nerm and D-Code have also stepped in for Mary Anne Hobbs
, sharing the mic and air-waves with Annie Mac
, Pete Tong
, Zane Lowe
, Fabio & Grooverider and featuring a wide range of guests including Matt Helders from Arctic Monkeys
, Norman Jay
, Marky, Rusko
, Foreign Beggars, Sub Focus
, The Count & Sinden. They also played the stations flagship Big Weekend alongside Eric Prydz
and 2 Many DJs. The duo maintain close ties with the station and regularly appear as presenters across the BBC networks with Nerm presenting his weekly underground music show on the BBC, Electro East.
Nerm mixed and released the first Drum & Bass/Dubstep mix album especially created for India called "India:One" featuring 19 tracks from the Shiva Soundsystem roster and one from New York brothers-in-arms Sub Swara.
Shiva Soundsystem's releases gained support from Pete Tong
, Kissy Sell Out
, Pendulum
and Laurent Garnier
.
Collaborations on the album include UK Hip Hop stars Foreign Beggars
, New York and Mumbai’s electronic duo Shaair and Func and Italy’s Elio D’Anna Jr.
In 2008 D-Code was appointed head remixer for the new music game DJ Hero
the follow-up to the smash hit “Guitar Hero”. His track 'Annie's Horn' is the only Drum & Bass on the game, mashed up and remixed with DJ Shadow
.
In March 2010, Shiva Soundsystem were nominated for "Best Alternative Act" at the UK Asian Music Awards alongside Bat For Lashes
, Niraj Chag
and Engine Earz
In April 2010, they won a BRIT Asia Music Award for "Best Alternative Act".
Asian Underground
Asian Underground is a term associated with various British Asian musicians who blend elements of western underground dance music and the traditional Asian music of their home countries in South Asia...
scene in London and went on to become more associated with other styles including Drum & Bass and Electronica.
Formed by DJ and broadcaster Nerm
Nerm
-Early life:Nerm's passion for music and mixing started at the age of 10 years old whilst playing around with some D90 cassette tapes.-Early career:...
out of musicians performing on his DJ sets, it evolved into a band, including early appearances of Foreign Beggars
Foreign Beggars
Foreign Beggars are a critically acclaimed British Hip Hop, Grime and Dubstep group based in London. The group consists of MCs Orifice Vulgatron, Metropolis, producer Dag Nabbit and DJ Nonames and are renowned for their eclectic and energetic live shows...
frontman Orifice Vulgatron and Prash Mistry from Engine Earz. It then developed into a sprawling collective of artists with a large warehouse HQ in Hackney.
History
2000–2003 - FormationNerm and Renu Hossain where band mates in electro punk band Charged signed to Nation Records. Nerm was increasingly becoming a headline DJ, especially with Asian Underground
Asian Underground
Asian Underground is a term associated with various British Asian musicians who blend elements of western underground dance music and the traditional Asian music of their home countries in South Asia...
clubnight Swaraj, he approached Renu to beef up his sets with her on percussion. Orifice Vulgatron from Foreign Beggars
Foreign Beggars
Foreign Beggars are a critically acclaimed British Hip Hop, Grime and Dubstep group based in London. The group consists of MCs Orifice Vulgatron, Metropolis, producer Dag Nabbit and DJ Nonames and are renowned for their eclectic and energetic live shows...
joined on mic duties with Adam Henshaw on live computer sequencing. Shiva Soundsystem began to tour India in 2002 with Swaraj.
2003 - 2005 - Warehouse
Shiva Soundsystem's next line up included Prash Mistry in Adam Henshaw's place and featuring his production as the show's musical backbone. Shiva Soundsystem set up a warehouse heeadquarters in East London and began hosting events, first holding massive parties at the warehouse among other spaces and then, more legally, holding down weekend residencies in East London’s clubland with guests as diverse as Aphex Twin, Swami and Logistics.
It was here that Shiva Soundsystem made its latest incarnation to that of a record label with a roster of artists, with D-Code (DJ)
D-Code (DJ)
-Early life:D-Code's ardour for Rave music began at the age of 15, as a teenager in Essex, when he invested in a record that would reinforce his love for Rave music forever- "Drum & Bass Selection One"....
as the spearhead.
In 2003 Shiva Soundsystem began to tour India every year independently. Shiva Soundsystem began to play Glastonbury annually in 2004, headlining stages in 2005 and 2008.
2005–Present
D-Code took the helm of head producer and the first release on Shiva Soundsystem Recordings was Mumbai Cells and was written when D-Code and Nerm toured India for the first time. This was followed by releases gaining support from Drum & Bass DJs Fabio, London Elecktricity and Andy C. The collective also remixed for notable acts Asian Dub Foundation
Asian Dub Foundation
Asian Dub Foundation are a British electronica band that plays a mix of rapcore, dub, dancehall and ragga, also using rock instruments, acknowledging a punk influence...
, Riz MC and Swami (Band)
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...
Broadcasting
In June 2004, Shiva Soundsystem were the subject of a half hour "One World" special on BBC Radio One hosted by Nerm about alternative styles of music in the Asian Music scene.This was followed up in May 2006 with another Shiva Soundsystem focussed One World radio show, this time an entire 2 hours
In June 2006 the BBC Asian Network
BBC Asian Network
BBC Asian Network is a British radio station serving those originating from and around the Indian subcontinent. The music and news comes out of the main urban areas where there are significant communities with these backgrounds. The station has production centres in Birmingham, Leicester and London...
signed Shiva Soundsystem's Nerm to host their weekly alternative music show Electro East.
In 2008, Shiva Soundsystem's enigmatic DJ sets attracted the attention of BBC Radio 1 and they started their own show at the station.
Nerm and D-Code have also stepped in for Mary Anne Hobbs
Mary Anne Hobbs
Mary Anne Hobbs is an English DJ and music journalist from Garstang, Lancashire. She launched a new Primetime show on Xfm on 9 July 2011-Early career:...
, sharing the mic and air-waves with Annie Mac
Annie Mac
Annie Mac is an Irish DJ and television presenter who hosts an eponymous electronic dance music show on BBC Radio 1 in the United Kingdom which airs at 7:00 pm on Friday evenings as well as a Sunday evening show alongside co-presenter Nick Grimshaw.-Personal life:Annie Mac was born in Dublin,...
, Pete Tong
Pete Tong
Peter "Pete" Tong is an English DJ who works for BBC Radio 1. He is known worldwide by fans of electronic music for hosting programmes such as Essential Mix and Essential Selection on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio streams, for his record label FFRR Records, and for...
, Zane Lowe
Zane Lowe
Zane Lowe also known as 'Zipper', is a radio DJ and television presenter. He was born in New Zealand and grew up in Auckland, where he was a presenter on the local music station Max TV, before moving to England...
, Fabio & Grooverider and featuring a wide range of guests including Matt Helders from 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...
, Norman Jay
Norman Jay
Norman Jay MBE is an innovative and pioneering British DJ. He first came to prominence playing unlicensed or 'warehouse' parties in the early 1980s, such as Shake 'n' Fingerpop. His diverse and deep musical knowledge and his refusal to be restricted to playing from any single genre distinguishes...
, Marky, Rusko
Rusko (musician)
Christopher Mercer, more commonly known as Rusko, is an English dubstep record producer and DJ who was born on 26 January 1985 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.-History:Rusko graduated from Leeds College of Music with a degree in Music Performance...
, Foreign Beggars, Sub Focus
Sub Focus
Nick Douwma, better known by his stage name Sub Focus, is an English Electronic Music record producer. He has been releasing records since 2003. On 12 October 2009, he released his self-titled debut album.-Chart success:...
, The Count & Sinden. They also played the stations flagship Big Weekend alongside Eric Prydz
Eric Prydz
Eric Sheridan Prydz is a Swedish DJ and producer based in London, United Kingdom. The pronunciation of his surname is often questioned; it is pronounced "prids", but when under his alias, Pryda, it is pronounced "pride-ah"...
and 2 Many DJs. The duo maintain close ties with the station and regularly appear as presenters across the BBC networks with Nerm presenting his weekly underground music show on the BBC, Electro East.
Nerm mixed and released the first Drum & Bass/Dubstep mix album especially created for India called "India:One" featuring 19 tracks from the Shiva Soundsystem roster and one from New York brothers-in-arms Sub Swara.
Shiva Soundsystem's releases gained support from Pete Tong
Pete Tong
Peter "Pete" Tong is an English DJ who works for BBC Radio 1. He is known worldwide by fans of electronic music for hosting programmes such as Essential Mix and Essential Selection on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio streams, for his record label FFRR Records, and for...
, Kissy Sell Out
Kissy Sell Out
Kissy Sell Out an English DJ, producer and graphic designer. Kissy Sell Out quickly gained notability in 2006 for his eccentric electro productions and energetic DJ style. In 2009 Mixmag described him as "one of the most exciting, charismatic and entertaining DJs of the decade"...
, Pendulum
Pendulum (band)
Pendulum is an Australian drum and bass and electronic rock band founded in 2002 in Perth by Rob Swire, Gareth McGrillen, and Paul Harding.Swire and McGrillen were members of the rock band known as Xygen. After hearing Konflict's "Messiah" at a club, they were inspired to enter into the drum and...
and Laurent Garnier
Laurent Garnier
Laurent Garnier , is a French techno music producer and DJ. Garnier began DJ-ing in Manchester during the late 1980s. By the following decade, he had a broad stylistic range, able to span deep house, Detroit techno, trance and jazz...
.
2009- Present
In 2009 Shiva Soundsystem released their debut LP Phasmatis in Machina (Latin for Ghost In The Machine) which hit number 3 in the D&B download charts and number 10 in the DMC charts.Collaborations on the album include UK Hip Hop stars Foreign Beggars
Foreign Beggars
Foreign Beggars are a critically acclaimed British Hip Hop, Grime and Dubstep group based in London. The group consists of MCs Orifice Vulgatron, Metropolis, producer Dag Nabbit and DJ Nonames and are renowned for their eclectic and energetic live shows...
, New York and Mumbai’s electronic duo Shaair and Func and Italy’s Elio D’Anna Jr.
In 2008 D-Code was appointed head remixer for the new music game DJ Hero
DJ Hero
DJ Hero is a music video game, developed by FreeStyleGames and published by Activision as a rhythm game spin-off of the Guitar Hero franchise. It was released on October 27, 2009 in North America and on October 29, 2009 in Europe...
the follow-up to the smash hit “Guitar Hero”. His track 'Annie's Horn' is the only Drum & Bass on the game, mashed up and remixed with DJ Shadow
DJ Shadow
Joshua Paul Davis better known as DJ Shadow is an American music producer, DJ and songwriter. He is considered a prominent figure in the development of instrumental hip hop and first gained notice with the release of his highly acclaimed debut album Endtroducing....., which was constructed...
.
In March 2010, Shiva Soundsystem were nominated for "Best Alternative Act" at the UK Asian Music Awards alongside Bat For Lashes
Bat for Lashes
Natasha Khan , also known by her stage name Bat for Lashes, is an English musician. She sings and plays the piano, bass, guitar, harpsichord and the autoharp....
, Niraj Chag
Niraj Chag
Niraj Chag is a London-based musical artist and composer. His musical style mixes Indian classical influences with contemporary stylings and layered, complex beats. Niraj's tracks were initially released on the Outcaste record label...
and Engine Earz
In April 2010, they won a BRIT Asia Music Award for "Best Alternative Act".
Albums
- India:One (2008)
- Phasmatis In Machina (2009)
- India:Two (2009 - India Only)
Singles and EPs
- Shiva Soundsystem - Mumbai Cells SSR001 (2005)
- D-Code & Chan1 - The Mutation/Rebirth SSR002 (2006)
- D-Code - Isolation EP SSR003 (2008)
- D-Code & Chan1 - Glitterstep SSR004 (2008)
- D-Code feat Nerm - Outlaw SSR006 (2009)
- D-Code - Annies Horn EP SSR007 (2009)