- Title: UNITED KINGDOM: ASIAN SINGER TAZ RELEASES HIS SINGLE LAILA
- Date: 2nd October 2001
- Summary: LONDON, UK (OCTOBER 2, 2001) (REUTERS) SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) TAZ SAYING, "I think you can come across some barriers sometimes, for example, Laila , the single, it's sung in English and in Spanish and there is a hint of Swahili, cos I am heavily influenced by African music too. It's about not making it too alien to the mass market and trying to strike that balance can
- Embargoed: 17th October 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LONDON, UK
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA24Y7PZCDU08X29FIE2LO9Z6LI
- Story Text: Fondly known as the Prince of Asian Pop, Taz is a platinum selling recording artist in Asia, despite being born and bred in Coventry, England. With his single Laila due for release in his native country, Taz is hoping to build on his loyal UK fan base to achieve the same at home At the forefront of the Asian fusion music scene, Taz, also known as Stereo Nation, is the darling of hte Asian music press - he's even been touted as the most successful Asian pop act in the world. Although his music is infused with a distinctly western pop sensibility, his range of musical influence is extensive.
"My influences come from a range of different artists, I grew up primarily on Indian music, Bollywood music, the film industry music and Punjabi folk music, and up until the age of 15 I was listening to that sort of stuff and then I got into more Motown, the Temptations, Supremes, Diana Ross, the Drifters, Commodores and all that sort of stuff, so heavily Motown. Fortunately I have been in the position over the years I have had opportunities to travel, so I have been drawing influences from Arabic music, Turkish music, Latin American music, Spanish and stuff like that, And I am interested in languages so I try to encompass those in my music as well, so it's all good. "
"I think the common element is, I am Anglo-Asian, born in the UK, and the fact that in the community that I live in is a melting pot of different cultures anyway, and I think that the common element is the vibe, there are no barriers in what I do, and I am just fusing a vibe together to create something new, something different to everyone else."
His new single, "Laila" is a classic example of his fresh crossover sound, accessible without being bland, "Lalia"
displays Taz's musical and linguistic talents to the full.
"I think you can come across some barriers sometimes, for example, Laila , the single, it's sung in English and in Spanish and there is a hint of Swahili, cos I am heavily influenced by African music too. It's about not making it too alien to the mass market and trying to strike that balance can be very difficult because it has to be understood, and so you do face barriers in some ways and it is important to keep it as simple as possible."
Although Taz has a strong UK fan base among the Asian community, his album "Slave II Fusion" was at the top of the UK Asian pop charts for 36 weeks, it is in India and the Indian sub-continent where he has astonishing mass appeal.
"Let's take India as an example in terms of my music, the Indian market for example went through a phase where the kids are growing up in India and society there is becoming more and more westernised and accustomed to MTV and stuff like that, so the market was screaming out for something new and something fresh, because what they are used to listen to is the film music, the Indian film music, and my music happened to, obviously it had that crossover appeal, and also I am singing in Hindi and Punjabi, so it had that appeal to those people, it was like a breath of fresh air for them, apart from it being uplifting anyway, so that's probably why it worked."
His live shows have been known to attract audiences of over 30,000, and no-one who sees Taz perform live leaves disappointed.
"Performing live is my first love, and I give my best on stage, I love performing live to audiences , and audience participation is crucial. Why did I choose an animated video? Well, I think that having done so many videos in the past it was just one of those spontaneous decisions where wanted to do something different, and I had a great team of people working on the video, and I said let's give it ago, you never know, it might come out quite well, and much to my surprise it did, so I was really pleased."
But does a truly global artist like Taz notice differences between his fans in different countries and cultures? "Good question, I find that generally speaking audiences abroad are a little bit more open minded, more receptive, Not to say, when I perform in the UK I have a great fan base here, I think audiences here are a bit more reserved in showing what they really feel, unless you've had ten top twenties or number ones in the charts, they have their reservations, prove it, let's see what you can do, they have this little bit of attitude, but I love performing anywhere and I have a great time doing it."
"Laila" is available in the UK on October 15.
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