April 24,04 Interview with James Asher
We talk to Mr James Asher about his music career, diversification to Indian music, and involvement of Indian musicians such as A R Rehman and Sivamani.
Music from album "Drums On Fire" by James Asher and Shivamani
James Asher is one of the first British musicians to explore music from the Indian subcontinent. He
is a London based music director with well established career in soundtrack to music compilation. James Asher was
fascinated by Rajasthani music while he was on vacation in India, and he started using music from this part of the world in his works, and the rest is history. Now the so called underground or garage music from England has crossed over the Atlantic and is getting a grip over American audiences. The Bhangra beats, the folk vocals are nowadays commonly heard from commercial musicians to night clubs. Early fusion music of James, such as 'Tigers of the Raj' to the recent production 'Drums on Fire' has an excellent mix of western instrumental and Indian rhythms. Though Indian percussion is what catches your attention, a good mix of many other Indian musical instruments are heard in James work. In this interview we talk to Mr James Asher about his music career, diversification to Indian music, involvement of Indian musicians such as A R Rehman, Sivamani and other musicians from Indian
origin, and future of fusion music.
More details about James Asher are available on his website http://www.james-asher.co.uk
