0:02

[Music]

0:13

>>Ravi: Hi I’m Ravi Sookhoo, I’m from the 
band N2 and you’re watching MAD.

0:18

[Transition Music]

0:23

We’re an Indian band we started out 
in the temples

0:26

and playing you know Indian music and stuff but we’re obviously West Indian.

0:30

The music industry for this kind of music is a little different here

0:33

but in Trinidad music is a 
little more serious there it was too

0:36

at that time at least.

0:38

That’s obviously where my background’s from

0:40

and I always wanted to live there anyway
so one day I just picked up and I left.

0:43

And I just got myself into the 
music industry down there  

0:45

eventually everybody got to know me.

0:48

It’s been quite a journey,
out here is obviously a different market,

0:51

a different scene, different 
everything to what Trinidad was. 

0:55

To be honest this is the first time we’ve  
done a Bollywood show.

0:58

I’ve tried to get into uh some Bollywood festivals.

1:01

I was kind of made to 
feel that we weren’t Indian enough.

1:04

It was something really nice when you guys reached out to us,

1:06

they give us a call to come and do this kind of music.

1:09

My ancestors left
India how many generations ago

1:12

and all this time we kept our traditions, we kept our music.

1:15

When Indian people see us and they see
oh you guys do your pujas and everything,

1:19

it’s still the traditional way, 
you guys have all these

1:21

really old Indian names and everything,

1:23

yeah because we kept everything. 

1:25

So that initially made me even more proud to be

1:28

a West Indian and it made me proud to
represent that part of the culture.

1:33

So that’s why we do our Indian music,

1:35

our Bollywood stuff,
we mix it with our real west end.

1:40

[Music]

2:07

[Singing in another language]

2:50

>>Ravi: We’re a kind of a fusion band, with a Caribbean fusion band

2:53

because most of the members are from the Caribbean.

2:56

But I also studied in music 
in India where we do our Indian music so  

2:59

it’s…we do something that a lot of 
people have never heard before,

3:03

but it works well.

3:05

We do a lot of Bollywood remixes with
um a Caribbean flavor.

3:10

I’m originally from, yes, Toronto

3:13

but um my parents are from Trinidad and Tobago. 

3:17

I went back and lived there for quite a while, when I finished school here,

3:20

and I ended up coming back. 

3:22

I actually lived in India for a little while for a little bit too, to do my music and whatnot

3:27

So I’m 
very proud of my Indo-Caribbean heritage.

3:31

A lot of good things happened for me in Trinidad.

3:33

I’m…that’s where my music career kind of took off

3:35

because music is taken a little more seriously in Trinidad.

3:38

In Canada, for instance, so if we
get a gig with this kind of music per se,

3:42

South Asian or Indian music 
or even West Indian music,

3:44

you know you get a gig, once in a while there’s an event,

3:47

but in Trinidad you…people
don’t have a wedding without a band.  

3:51

People don’t have a birthday without a band.

3:54

You know, so every weekend
there’s there’s something going on.

3:57

But you see our culture is a little, 
a little different per se like um we do the  

4:01

Indian music stuff but West Indians for the last two generations

4:04

so most of us don’t even speak Hindi right.

4:06

Prior to COVID19 we spent a lot of time in
the band room, all the guys gelling and  

4:10

working out arrangements and trying to

4:13

make Bollywood music sound different
cause to be honest with you

4:16

…and to um…like the band we’re 
bringing there…me and my wife

4:21

and maybe one of the other members are the only ones that are Indian.

4:24

This is the first time

4:25

we’ve had an opportunity to

4:27

to be part of a real, real Bollywood
um you know

4:31

kind of Indian festival like this,
usually we don’t get that opportunity.

4:35

I’m actually looking forward 
to to kind of present something new,

4:39

that’s Indian

4:41

to uh to your viewers here that they might 
not have been exposed to before.

4:45

I wasn’t sure what to expect

4:47

before, but now um…now that we’re in it we’re seeing

4:49

that you guys do so many wonderful things to help out the community

4:52

and it’s not…it’s not just, 
just this one big concert.

4:55

It’s not that, it’s apparently a lot more to it.

4:58

I’m really excited to be a part of it.

5:00

We like to take old film songs and redo them like, for instance,

5:03

one of 
our favorites we like to do is this is

5:05

Lotta G’s favorite um

5:07

song Lagaley.

5:09

I don’t know if you’re
aware of that song but um it’s, it’s a really

5:13

slow like it’s like a lullaby kind of song.

5:15

We just threw a whole reggae vibe
into it so it still has its beautiful melody,

5:19

everything, but it just have a nice groove
to it, a nice Western flavor to it.

5:25

[Music]

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