Shaanti

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Shaanti is an Asian electronic music event in Birmingham England. It is an award-winning UK institution where live performers, producers and turntable terrorists create a blueprint for the future for Electronica, Eastern and Desi dance music.

This is the reality of the leftfield - here sound and speaker technology combined with the digital DJ pioneers of the Asian Underground, Eastern Fusionist, Desi Electronica, House and Street Sounds.

In '99, in the backstreets of Birmingham, a club night exploded and Shaanti was born. Spearheaded by Manga, Shaanti has developed from a small underground movement to a mainstream commotion and has grown into an international, pioneering, innovative brand.

Within the last 5 years, Shaanti has expanded and managed with significant success to rise above musical and cultural obstruction and most importantly of all, represented and championed the toughest sounds of Eastern and Desi Dance Beats across the globe. This crew are for real! Whilst other collectives have faded into oblivion with short-lived success, Shaanti have remained consistently strong. Their diary is forever busy as ever securing dates at top clubs such as Fabric, Cargo, The Medicine Bar and Miss Moneypenny's.

Having been at the forefront of this club-explosion Shaanti have created and pioneered a unique culture: defying convention for every Eastern and Desi Dangling Dance Beat. Past guests at Shaanti have included Nitin Sawhney, Panjabi MC, Brand New Heavies and Ian Brown's Percussionist, Adam Regan – Leftfoot, Jay Stuart – Acid Jazz, Ben Ayres – Cornershop and Talvin Singh to name just a few.

Having firmly locked down the club scene in the UK, in '02 the crew travelled to Poland to set up the first monthly Desi club-night in Europe. Every month Shaanti would host a 3-day club tour, which banged out Desi Dance Beats hard on the European streets.

In November '01, Shaanti was approached by Radio 1 for a full live broadcast. The collective rocked it at the legendary Que Club for "One Live in Birmingham" as well as "One Live in Nottingham" the following year. Shaanti set the standard for not compromising Asian sounds as they presented Desi Dance Beats loud and direct across the airwaves first on Radio 1.

Following on from the success of the live broadcast, they were then again approached by the station to help to put together an Asian show. Manga, of Shaanti was asked to do a pilot for the show (alongside others) and had to recommend anyone else he felt would be good to represent Asian music. He recommended friend and resident DJ, Bobby Friction who went on to secure a slot.

In May '03, in conjunction with dance label Ministry of Sound Shaanti released their first album "Urban Underground". The crew blasted it out to stir their creative juices whilst experimenting and redefining their club sound. Urban Underground oozed Desi Urban cool and yet at the same time had a huge dance floor impact.

In Oct '03, Shaanti won Best Asian Underground/Fusion Act at the first UK Asian Music Awards and other awards in the past have included Best Club Night at the Asian Pop Awards 2001, Best Alternative Club Night by Muzik Magazine '01 and Best Club Night by the readers of Snoop Magazine '99.

As time went on, so did the club nights and Manga felt the need to branch out and create a whole new vibe. In Nov '03, he launched an exclusive night called Funkshaan — a second night to join the club collective. The night was designed for true music enthusiasts who require a stylish "up for it" clubbing experience with the highest quality of music from the biggest names in the business.

November also saw Manga join the weekend line-up on Galaxy when the show Urban Fusion was first launched. He presented the show every fortnight back to back with RDB but from October '04 he went weekly with his very own show. With the rise of Asian music into mainstream arena, it's just another wicked step to witness stations like the Galaxy Network who programmed a slot to the award winning collective.

Manga said: "We're thrilled to be the first Asian club night to be given our very own show in radio history. Shaanti have always been at the forefront of championing new ideas and sounds. We're relentless in our pursuit to present the finest talent, an eclectic mix of sounds as well as presenting the baddest names from the universal underground Desi dance scene every week to clubbers on their way home. For those who have yet to buy our beats or attended our club nights, this new show will let them see just what they've been missing out on!"

Manga from Shaanti presents... kicked off every week on Galaxy Network nationwide. If that wasn't enough most recently the collective introduced another night to the scene dedicated to all things Bollywood and House. In September '04, the first Desi-House night was launched and Disco Divas was formed.

Next year also see the release of Desi Dance Beats 01, their first album to come out from their record label Shaanti Play Records.

External link

[Official site]

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