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News piece taken from MIXMAG UPDATE, 31at August 1996
ASIAN sound-clash crew Joi are set to return after over a year in limbo, having finally negotiated a rather tricky deal with Nation Records. The problem arose from a clause inserted in the contract with Nation running thus:
‘Clause 9.15: Joi will not take any drugs, alcohol, any illegal substances, will respect the reason why they were circumcised in the first place and all Muslim values as expressed in the Holy book. In the event that they do not adhere to the above it is understood and agreed that they will spend ten thousand years in Hell allowing the Devil to burn them from the inside with boiling pig sperm.’
Joi, who are rumoured to enjoy the odd tipple, were understandably reluctant to sign the contract, but according to the band’s Farook Shamsher, the matter has been resolved. The single, entitled ‘The Bangladesh EP’, is out on October 7th.
“Apparently the pigs in question have been locked in an attic by Nation,” explained Farook, “though quite how they extracted the sperm I don’t know. It all comes from the fact we were trying to swindle some fizzy wine out of Nation. We do like a drink.”
“It was just a joke,” claims a Nation insider, “It shows Muslims can have fun too.”
‘Clause 9.15: Joi will not take any drugs, alcohol, any illegal substances, will respect the reason why they were circumcised in the first place and all Muslim values as expressed in the Holy book. In the event that they do not adhere to the above it is understood and agreed that they will spend ten thousand years in Hell allowing the Devil to burn them from the inside with boiling pig sperm.’
Joi, who are rumoured to enjoy the odd tipple, were understandably reluctant to sign the contract, but according to the band’s Farook Shamsher, the matter has been resolved. The single, entitled ‘The Bangladesh EP’, is out on October 7th.
“Apparently the pigs in question have been locked in an attic by Nation,” explained Farook, “though quite how they extracted the sperm I don’t know. It all comes from the fact we were trying to swindle some fizzy wine out of Nation. We do like a drink.”
“It was just a joke,” claims a Nation insider, “It shows Muslims can have fun too.”
JOI TO THE WORLD
Interview taken from EAST, 10th January 1997 - Words: Kausar Butt
THE EAST-END BEAT BOYS ARE BACK WITH A VENGEANCE. KAUSAR BUTT SPEAKS TO THE JOI BROTHERS ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ASIAN…
SEATED opposite me in a local East-End kebab house are Haroon and Farook Shamsher – the Joi crew. Known for their experimental music from trip-hop through to techno, the brothers are back.
They started their musical career alongside their dad fifteen years ago, jamming with Asian artists trying to make jazzed-up traditional music. Having made a comeback with their ‘Bangladesh EP’ after a three year break, they are ready to re-launch their musical careers.
As we order nan and kebabs from the curious waiter, who seems more interested in my Dictaphone than taking our order down, Haroon and Farook take me on a musical journey and explain what Joi is all about.
Their repertoire of ‘Way out East’ dance music-fusion, incorporating trippy hip-hop, techno and house with traditional Asian music, has seen Joi going down a storm at London’s trendy Whirl-Y-Gig (http://www.whirl-y-gig.org.uk/) and Megatripolis. But they have since progressed into writing and recording their own music, developing a unique style.
Some may be familiar with the brothers through their original name, the ‘Joi Bangla Sound System’. The original crew set up in the mid-1980s and grew out of the Bangladeshi youth movement. So what has changed for the duo who are still loyal to their Bengali roots and the Asian community in the East End of London?
“Things haven’t changed that much. We are still promoting Asian culture through supporting our local community,” states Farook, the elder member of the crew. “The league of Joi Bangla was set up to publicise Bengali culture through art exhibitions, play schemes for local kids and musical events which fuse East and West music. We hoped this would help kids from the East End to understand and reclaim their heritage.”
Gaining recognition for Asian contributions to British society is a topic that make the duo express their unrest eloquently and with firm directness.
“Take Goan trance music. This has become a hip scene full of white Europeans playing and making techno music. It’s a real corrupt scene and these people have found a beach in India and started blaring out trippy music. They may be influenced by the clothes and bindis, but this is as far as it goes. It’s just a fashion statement when it should be encouraging our own people to get involved. These people who have taken over Goa just want to get off their heads and hold raves. But it has nothing to do with Goa itself. The place had an East/West fusion going back for centuries, back to the days when it was a Portugese colony, and the hippies and New Age people are only bringing out these ideas and traditions. Many of them are getting misinterpreted, but at least people are learning something.”
Joi’s talent for fusion was powerfully demonstrated on their first major vinyl outing ‘Desert Storm’ which was about the Gulf war. It earned them single- of-the-week status in NME where the song was described as “one of the most inventive dance records ever made.”
The world that Joi conjured up could be experienced at the club night that Farook and Haroon ran at London’s Bass Clef (now the Blue Note) during 1993. They appealed to to a crowd as diverse as the various elements in their sound.
“Asian music should be accepted just as reggae and hip-hop is, but this has not happened yet. This is why we cross over into different markets and make all forms of Asian music, from ambient to computer game soundtracks to techno. We have so many different influences and the best way to describe it would be technological fusion.”
Having caught up with Joi at the Subterania club, the audience seemed to be tranced out with the live set. The crowd, made up of hippy types and Asian trendies, seemed to get caught up in the whirlwind of hard techno and angry sounds.
“We have moved away from purely DJing to doing live acts sometimes with dancers and other visual effects. We can no longer hide behind our DJ box, but we feel comfortable with interacting with the crowd,” says Haroon.
Joi express unrest through their music and Haroon, the quieter of the two brothers, enters into the debate between bites of his kebab.
“I myself feel the unrest, there is still lots of racism in the East End. I use the thrash guitar to reflect this feeling through our music. Asian music has been quite soft and we want to express the anarchic side. Our music is tough and hard with good composition. I don’t purchase music any more because there is a lot of stuff out there that I don’t like. I would rather make something that I enjoy.”
‘The Bangladesh EP’ was Joi’s first release on the Nation label last year. Tablas and sitars lie over furious break-beats. The EP is a trip into spirituality, exploring the historical influences on Bangladesh. Farook says: “I wanted to put Bangladesh back on the map. In the East, spirituality surrounds us but in the West we are told to conform to society. The West has treated us very badly and they are still trying to condition us.”
“The track ‘High Times’ is about our culture being diluted. We went back to Bangladesh after our father’s death. We felt really welcome and everyone was more than hospitable. It was good to find out how our father was brought up. Our relatives kept giving us Coke to drink, even though it cost more than a week’s wages, because this is what they thought we were used to. This is the beauty of our people. If we can show any of this in our videos or music then we are happy.”
The Joi crew want to spread a little joy in the world through their music and remain committed to helping those close to them. The East End will always be their home, amongst the array of Asian music shops, cafes and bagel joints.
As we finish our snacks, Haroon tells me he is preparing to club it up all weekend, starting with Megatripolis, while his brother heads straight home.
They started their musical career alongside their dad fifteen years ago, jamming with Asian artists trying to make jazzed-up traditional music. Having made a comeback with their ‘Bangladesh EP’ after a three year break, they are ready to re-launch their musical careers.
As we order nan and kebabs from the curious waiter, who seems more interested in my Dictaphone than taking our order down, Haroon and Farook take me on a musical journey and explain what Joi is all about.
Their repertoire of ‘Way out East’ dance music-fusion, incorporating trippy hip-hop, techno and house with traditional Asian music, has seen Joi going down a storm at London’s trendy Whirl-Y-Gig (http://www.whirl-y-gig.org.uk/) and Megatripolis. But they have since progressed into writing and recording their own music, developing a unique style.
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“Things haven’t changed that much. We are still promoting Asian culture through supporting our local community,” states Farook, the elder member of the crew. “The league of Joi Bangla was set up to publicise Bengali culture through art exhibitions, play schemes for local kids and musical events which fuse East and West music. We hoped this would help kids from the East End to understand and reclaim their heritage.”
Gaining recognition for Asian contributions to British society is a topic that make the duo express their unrest eloquently and with firm directness.
“Take Goan trance music. This has become a hip scene full of white Europeans playing and making techno music. It’s a real corrupt scene and these people have found a beach in India and started blaring out trippy music. They may be influenced by the clothes and bindis, but this is as far as it goes. It’s just a fashion statement when it should be encouraging our own people to get involved. These people who have taken over Goa just want to get off their heads and hold raves. But it has nothing to do with Goa itself. The place had an East/West fusion going back for centuries, back to the days when it was a Portugese colony, and the hippies and New Age people are only bringing out these ideas and traditions. Many of them are getting misinterpreted, but at least people are learning something.”
Joi’s talent for fusion was powerfully demonstrated on their first major vinyl outing ‘Desert Storm’ which was about the Gulf war. It earned them single- of-the-week status in NME where the song was described as “one of the most inventive dance records ever made.”
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“Asian music should be accepted just as reggae and hip-hop is, but this has not happened yet. This is why we cross over into different markets and make all forms of Asian music, from ambient to computer game soundtracks to techno. We have so many different influences and the best way to describe it would be technological fusion.”
Having caught up with Joi at the Subterania club, the audience seemed to be tranced out with the live set. The crowd, made up of hippy types and Asian trendies, seemed to get caught up in the whirlwind of hard techno and angry sounds.
“We have moved away from purely DJing to doing live acts sometimes with dancers and other visual effects. We can no longer hide behind our DJ box, but we feel comfortable with interacting with the crowd,” says Haroon.
Joi express unrest through their music and Haroon, the quieter of the two brothers, enters into the debate between bites of his kebab.
“I myself feel the unrest, there is still lots of racism in the East End. I use the thrash guitar to reflect this feeling through our music. Asian music has been quite soft and we want to express the anarchic side. Our music is tough and hard with good composition. I don’t purchase music any more because there is a lot of stuff out there that I don’t like. I would rather make something that I enjoy.”
‘The Bangladesh EP’ was Joi’s first release on the Nation label last year. Tablas and sitars lie over furious break-beats. The EP is a trip into spirituality, exploring the historical influences on Bangladesh. Farook says: “I wanted to put Bangladesh back on the map. In the East, spirituality surrounds us but in the West we are told to conform to society. The West has treated us very badly and they are still trying to condition us.”
“The track ‘High Times’ is about our culture being diluted. We went back to Bangladesh after our father’s death. We felt really welcome and everyone was more than hospitable. It was good to find out how our father was brought up. Our relatives kept giving us Coke to drink, even though it cost more than a week’s wages, because this is what they thought we were used to. This is the beauty of our people. If we can show any of this in our videos or music then we are happy.”
The Joi crew want to spread a little joy in the world through their music and remain committed to helping those close to them. The East End will always be their home, amongst the array of Asian music shops, cafes and bagel joints.
As we finish our snacks, Haroon tells me he is preparing to club it up all weekend, starting with Megatripolis, while his brother heads straight home.
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NOT FORGOTTEN
On the morning of Friday 9th July 1999, we were extremely shocked and saddened to learn of the unfortunate death of Haroon Shamsher, founder member of Joi.
Haroon and his brother Farook have been pioneers on the world-fusion scene since the mid-80s, from humble beginnings as the Joi Bangla Sound System, long before Nation or the ‘Asian underground’ was even thought of. Though their musical output during the ‘90s was sparse, their music has always been creative and full of new ideas which have set standards for a style of music which they more or less created, albeit unknowingly, and it was at their club nights where Joi really made their name, playing at regular venues across London – the ideal place to test their material. As a live band, they’ve played untold gigs, festivals and clubs worldwide and, in February 1999, they celebrated the release of their debut album “One And One Is One” on the Real World label. Nation has been involved with Joi since we began in 1989 – we even had the honour of releasing their “Bangladesh E.P.”, a tribute to their homeland – and we can honestly say that Haroon was an extremely nice guy to work with – very laid-back but focused and dedicated to his music.
Haroon – we’ll miss you and hope that you’re having an even better time up there than you did down here. Save us a seat – we’ll see you soon.
Farook and the rest of Joi continue to perform as a band – we know it’s a cliché but it truly is what Haroon would have wanted – so if you’ve never heard or seen before, do yourself a favour – buy their album, catch one of their shows, elongate your mind and discover one of the best groups around.
Haroon and his brother Farook have been pioneers on the world-fusion scene since the mid-80s, from humble beginnings as the Joi Bangla Sound System, long before Nation or the ‘Asian underground’ was even thought of. Though their musical output during the ‘90s was sparse, their music has always been creative and full of new ideas which have set standards for a style of music which they more or less created, albeit unknowingly, and it was at their club nights where Joi really made their name, playing at regular venues across London – the ideal place to test their material. As a live band, they’ve played untold gigs, festivals and clubs worldwide and, in February 1999, they celebrated the release of their debut album “One And One Is One” on the Real World label. Nation has been involved with Joi since we began in 1989 – we even had the honour of releasing their “Bangladesh E.P.”, a tribute to their homeland – and we can honestly say that Haroon was an extremely nice guy to work with – very laid-back but focused and dedicated to his music.
Haroon – we’ll miss you and hope that you’re having an even better time up there than you did down here. Save us a seat – we’ll see you soon.
Farook and the rest of Joi continue to perform as a band – we know it’s a cliché but it truly is what Haroon would have wanted – so if you’ve never heard or seen before, do yourself a favour – buy their album, catch one of their shows, elongate your mind and discover one of the best groups around.