I’m sure you have all heard of the devastating earthquake that’s hit Shi Lanka and the surrounding countries.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/12/29/asia.quake/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2004/tsunami.disaster/

Don’t just watch the news and think, ah I wish I could do something. Well you can in some small way, donate some money that’s desperately required.
Red Cross
You can donate up to £1000 but I suspect most of u are like me, a bit financially fucked up. There’s a minimum donation of $15 which comes to £7.80 which isn’t too harsh and as we come closer to new years that’s just one less drink that will help us all from throwing up or passing out at 11:30. That’s Am or PM depending on weather u have Tennents with your corn flakes. Im getting a bit side tracked here….

Its really quick and easy to donate online. Please donate a lil something..
Red Cross

O and the Shiva crew who have uped sticks and moved to India to work in call centres are all well and are currently safe and sound in Goa.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! This is one of the warmest Christmas Eve's I've ever had. Mumbai has been (yet again) at once the most amazing and most fucked up place. So much has happened in the last three weeks that I can't even begin to tell the tales, as I simply don't know where to start.

But rest assured things are well, Dee's been producing some serious beats, Sunil's been documenting as much as humanly possible, our friends here from UK, US and of course Mumbai feel like family and concepts have been formed at an alarming rate. This "Notes from India" thing when we get back should be very interesting...

Oh and much love to Bobby, Nihal, Paul and Reju at Radio One for representing us and the rest of the scene out here so accurately. Nihal's djing tonight at a place called Zenzi in Bandra, Mumbai, which is badass. We're off to Goa to play at a shack called Zanzibar on the 27th and 28th with our friends Pearl and Nikhil.

Then it's back to Mumbai for New Years Eve at the Taj President. This is gonna be fun. The line up is us, Bobby Friction, Dhruva from Dhamaal Sound System and my friend Anousha will be hosting it (she's the one interviewed me last year on MTV India and who's currently shooting a film with Amithabji). I wish we could bring the whole crowd from the Diwali special down here. In the mean time here's a couple of pics from the gig we did called the Smirnoff Experience.

Peace and Love, Nerm

Cabein.com T-shirts
I've tried to get as close to your heart as possible. The method, thought the humble t-shirt. Blazed with a symbolic visual message and produced to the highest possible standard. 2 designs have just been uploaded and will be available for purchase from midnight on Monday 20th December.A limited quantity of t-shirts are currently available and a size breakdown is listed below. More t-shirts will be available in the New Year.
Infected Guru - £15
Small - 8 Medium - 22 Large - 9 XLarge - 9
Natwalal - £15
Small - 20 Medium - 38 Large - 3 XLarge - 8
To stay informed on new products send an e-mail to t@cabein.com, subject "Mailing List"
; )

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

NERM & AMITHAB BACHAN.



We made sure that Mr Bachan got one of Cabein's bad ass T-Shirts.

BRAMA - British Asian Music Awards are back and rallying up votes
http://www.brama.uk.com

This post is pure propaganda and you know what you gotta go and do...

I seriously dig this gal, Her graphic stylez are street raw...
Get yourself some of this...
http://www.miauk.com/mia_shop.html

Grey skys up-ahead
Overdrawn bank accounts
Twisted shadows of trees
and a few hours of daylight
Merry Xmas

:: MUMBAI NEWS ::

Gigs so far:

Tonight Thursday 9th Decmeber


Friday 10th December
MTV IMMIES post show party featuring Bobby Friction,Nihal, Nerm & Nu-Trix and er, Darius??!!
Marriot Hotel, Juhu, Mumbai

Saturday 11th December
SMIRNOFF EXPERIENCE featuring Badmarsh and Nerm & Nu-Trix
Citi Studio, Kamla Mills, Mumbai

Friday 17th Decmber
PEARL JAM SHOWCASE featuring DJ's Jesse and Arjun and of course, Nerm & Nu-Trix (playing experimental rock)
Sports Bar, Lower Parel, Mumbai

Wednesday 22nd December
MOOD INDIGO College event featuring Shiva Soundsystem

You know, this helps me understand the British male's freaked-out sexual psyche SO much better...

Sex-ed, Brit-style: Willy Wonky

Elio Dana Interviewed :: 26/11/2004 :: by Auntie Ji

Auntie Ji: What is your Link with Shiva Soundsystem?
Elio: I do a lot of production work with Chani (one half of production team Protein) and Dhar (aka Nu-Trix, the other half of Protein).
Dhar introduced me to Shiva Soundsystem, and I’ve been working with them ever since to bring more live elements to their nights with my band.

Auntie Ji: And what sort of music is it you make?
Elio: It’s difficult because I have three different projects. ‘Beyond Maya’ is rock oriented with Indian influences. Vimana is more chillout and Vimana Live draws more on the broken beats. Its funky, percussive, rhythmical dance music – but just good dance – and that’s the gig we are doing on December 19th at Supersonic Buddha for Shiva.




Auntie Ji: So tell us a bit about Vimana Live.
Elio: Well, Vimana means UFO in Hindi – it’s a sound from outer space.
We fuse the music of Indian culture with rock, funk and the blues. We’re also bringing Spanish and Italian vibes (where I come from) and an added electronic vibe from Stephano, who’s worked with people like Kruder & Dorfmeister.
So you get chillout mixed with Indian and jazz elements; Jackson on piano adds the jazz elements and Renu adds the Indian element on the tabla.
I play electric guitar, but I also play bass guitar and piano, and I’m planning to teach myself sitar, which I’m hoping to pick up in India.
We have one, two, three, minds working together. Then we have lots of different musicians and elements. It’s always me and Dhar or me and Stephano, so we come up with lots of ideas, which we bring all together with the musicians.

Auntie Ji: How has the Indian influence developed?
Elio: I don’t know! I came to London to set up a rock bank and I ended up setting up a fusion, space, dance funky band which varies all the time. In London there is such a huge Indian community. I just got hooked in when I came here.
It’s just being in England the past three years that has gotten me into it and my predisposition to India because of my uncle.

Auntie Ji: And how do the Indian and the Spanish influences work together?
Elio: They are very close. In fact a year ago I went to learn flamenco in Spain and I learnt that all the gypsy music actually comes from India. The gypsies, who traveled from India to Romania, developed Indian music into something that forms the current day flamenco. And when you examine it musically, the raags and modes of the scales in flamenco are the same as those you find in classical North Indian music.
In fact, the first music in the world comes from India so you could say that all music has an Indian influence.
I think Italian and Indians are very close culturally too, they have a lot to share - culturally and musically. Traditional Italian music, which comes from the south, (Naples and Sicily) is all influenced by Indians. Also the way they teach the music is very different from the west, where you have books and history. With Spanish and Italian music it is always taught from one person to the next, father to child; teacher to student, just like in India.




Auntie Ji: How did you get into music?
Elio: I started playing piano when I was five years old. My uncle was a famous musician in the seventies. His band was fusion rock of the seventies, space rock – Zakhir Hussain on the tablas and congas, Phil Collins playing percussion, Michael Waldon on drums, sax and flutes. My uncle’s name is Elio Danna, like me. He has been the greatest influence in my life and convinced me that it is possible to do what you love completely and enjoy what you’re doing and make other people enjoy it as well.

Auntie Ji: Who or what are your main musical influences?
Elio: Maha Visional Orchestra, John Mclaughin, and all the grunge rock and lately more electronic music. The Indian influences are artists such as Zakhir Hussain, Ustad Nishna Khan who plays sitar and Jan Garbarek, a sax player.

Auntie Ji: And has your uncle contributed to your work at all?
Elio: He hadn’t played the flute in fifteen years and I asked him to play on a track, that’s being released, called ‘In your eyes,’ and is being released in Feb.

Auntie Ji: How do you find working with someone who is a drum’n’bass producer?
Elio: It is interesting because Dhar and me have this relationship where he looks after the beats. He is really amazing with everything that has to do with drums. Chani looks after the engineering side. I take care of the musical side in terms of bringing elements that can work into pop music and rock. So we get the big sounds of drum’n’bass and interesting Indian beats but fused with nice melodies and something that can be catchy that is popular and accessible.

Auntie Ji: Who writes the songs?
Elio: Usually it’s Dhar and me. Other songs I write with Stephano and some I write on my own.

Auntie Ji: How does your music go down in Italy?
Elio: We’ve never played together in Italy but I play every summer, gigging all over the beaches of Italy.

Auntie Ji: Would you take the Indian collective to Italy?
Elio: It’s not that popular in Italy. Italy is a mirror of America; they want to have that American efficiency and want to look American, and the rock sounds ‘good’ if it sounds American.
Even when I was in America I was in Berkley at the college of music, which was one of the most prestigious musical colleges, and I remember that they had no Indian music training there at all.

Auntie Ji: Have u been to India?
Elio: No, but I am about to go in December. I’m so excited! I’m going soon to play some gigs and breathe the air over there, and buy tablas and a sitar. I’ll be with Nerm, Dhar and Sunil and I’ll be doing some live programming with my guitar and computer.

Auntie Ji: So what do you have planned next?
Elio: I’m releasing a CD, ‘Beyond Maya,’ the name of the rock band, which is being released globally with Amiata records.



Catch Vimana live at Supersonic Buddha on December 19th, at the Vibe bar, Brick Lane, E1.

After chattin to “The Finger” iv been persuaded to share a short story with my fellow friends/bloggers/nerds.



There was once an uncle and auntie from India
They moved to Zimbabwe
(no this story doesn’t rhyme)
They had 8 children
2 girls
6 boys
The happening 70’s
All 1 2 3456 boys were into music and played instruments....
So they formed a band
The Brotherhood Band
Brother 2 ended up becoming the manager
First dudes to own a Fender Guitar in southern Africa
Not 1 but 2
Jamming old skool hindi tunes, beatles 60’s –70’s classics
They had a white camper van with a huge Revival logo on the side
Revival was the name of the record store of one of the brothers
3 of the brothers were problems and went out almost every night partying
And then went to open shops in the mornings
Brothers eventually got married , got jobs…
But they kept playin for a good couple of years
The end.

The early days
(6 brothers?... one went shopping so someone had to take the picture, ok)

http://www.pendoo.co.uk/ far from a brilliant site in content, yet featured on ch4 site for Origination. Highlighting silly stereotypes.... am i bieng too serious?

i fu*kin love how tripped out this is, respect