Hear Ravi Sookhoo from N2 The Band explains how his band fuses West Indian and Trinidad music with Bollywood music. This is one #MonsterArtist Development (MAD) episode that you won’t want to miss!
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N2 THE BAND
N2 The Band is a fusion Indo Caribbean Band. They do all genres but specialize in Bollywood / Hindi Remixes.
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EntertainmentHear Ravi Sookhoo from N2 The Band explains how his band fuses West Indian and Trinidad music with Bollywood music. This is one #MonsterArtist Development (MAD) episode that you won’t want to miss!
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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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