Artist description Asian Underground

Music Style Trance, Asian, Dance and Techno

Musical Influences Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Space Brothers, Paul Oakenfold, New Order, Depeche Mode

Similar Artists Paul Oakenfold, Space Brothers, Erasure, Depeche Mode, New Order

Artist History Great Wall, 1:00 am: Everyone is going crazy, but that’s the way we like it. I am in a room packed with people who are all giddy from the past three hours of dancing. The energy in the room is bouncing off the walls as people move to the music. Glowsticks and glitter are everywhere. One man’s name resounds through all the commotion: Sameer Chishty. We’re at the very exclusive release party for Resurrection, Chishty’s explosive new dance compilation. “It’s like going on a magic carpet ride through Goa, Bombay, London, and New York,” says one enthused raver at the event. I maneuvered my way through the crowd to meet the mastermind behind the album, Sameer Chishty, a popular name among South Asian youth. I found Chishty sitting back in the lounge observing the crowd go wild while bhangra blasted through the speaker system. Luckily I got him to answer a few of my questions. “What makes this album a breakthrough in South Asian music? Resurrection to me is the rebirth of South Asian Underground,” Chishty says. “I wanted to introduce South Asian music as a newly emerging part of the progressive house and trance scene. We re-mastered and edited each track and tailored the album to have one continuous flow. The beat just doesn’t stop,” he adds. Resurrection was the brainchild of Chishty and was mixed and compiled by DJ Mark D, host of The Beat (Texas’ #1 progressive dance broadcast airing live from the Club Roxy) and Mix Show Editor for 104KRBE, Houston’s premier FM radio station for progressive house, dance, and trance. “A few years ago I got together with Mark D for this project and our ideas really clicked. We both think that South Asian music is going places, and definitely moving on from all that Bollywood hype,” Chishty explained. So what’s the man behind Resurrection really like? There’s more to him than good looks and a keen ear for music. Sameer Chishty has been in the music industry for several years and began writing and composing his own music at the young age of 15. Although he was born in Saudi Arabia, he has lived in three different countries since his early childhood. His multicultural upbringing has contributed a great deal of diversity to his music, especially his South Asian, Persian and Arabic influenced melodies. Chishty’s first release entitled Aag (1998), which means ‘fire’ in Hindi/Urdu, was a maxi-single that featured mixes from TS Soundz of Chicago while Chishty did the writing, composing, producing, and singing. With sales of over 10,000 copies - not considering the numerous bootleg copies sold in South Asian stores- in the first month of release, Aag made Chishty the largest selling South Asian artist in North America. Chishty explained that ‘Aag’ is “…the passion that ignites the soul of youth. It has the power to mesmerize you, or to burn you”. The maxi-single boasts a hauntingly surreal Assassin Mix of the song Aag and Raaz, which means ‘secret’ in Hindi, a song performed live by Chishty that got Aag banned in Pakistan for its controversial content. Recently Chishty has established his own record label, SaChi Entertainment, with a vengeance to bring South Asian music to the mainstream. For an independent label, SaChi Entertainment has enjoyed great success with the release of Resurrection. More than 5,000 copies were sold within the first few weeks of release and projected sales are to surpass those of Aag, which was released under ZT Worldwide Productions. On air promotions during The Beat have allowed Chishty to reach a market that most South Asians could not, and Resurrection can be found in many mainstream stores nationwide, from Atlanta to Oklahoma City to Texas, as well as South Asian stores. Chishty says his main goal with Resurrection was to introduce high energy music to the South Asian market, a genre that had previously gone unnoticed in the South Asian music scene. Today South Asians constitute one of the fastest growing audiences in North America.Resurrection also introduced bhangra and several other South Asian and Arabic styles to the mainstream market, something which most South Asian artists have been unable to do. “South Asian music is a vital part of the global underground these days,” Chishty says, “Resurrection caters to more than just Indians. Anyone can groove to it.” The album took us all on a journey. One moment I was grooving to European club edits and next I was lost in far away sounds from the South Asian subcontinent. Each track grew into the next even though they all sounded so different. With Resurrection you get bhangra, progressive house, and trance all rolled up into one juicy mix, not to mention several edits by DJ Mark D that aren't available anywhere else. What struck me was that each track retained its original ethnic flavor regardless of being part of a nonstop compilation.I was really impressed by the mix of one of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s songs- it takes you on an ethereal flight of consciousness. Chishty says plans for a second album are still underway. We’re definitely looking forward to hearing more from this up and coming artist. Amy Richardson - Staff Writer Global UndergroundMAG

Group Members Sameer Chishty - Solo

Instruments Vocals|Sequencing|Keyboards

Albums AAG (maxi-single 1998) and Resurrection( 2000)

Press Reviews http://www.sachizone.com

Additional Info Resurrection Video World Premier

Location OKC, Oklahoma - USA

Copyright notice. All material on MP3.com is protected by copyright law and by international treaties. You may download this material and make reasonable number of copies of this material only for your own personal use. You may not otherwise reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or create derivative works of this material, unless authorized by the appropriate copyright owner(s).