Bombay Vikings

Bombay Vikings' are a pop group that combine Indian filmi and classical music, formed in 1994 in Stockholm, Sweden. The band was started by Neeraj Shridhar, Oscar Söderberg, and Mats Nordenborg, and became popular with remixes of old Bollywood hits such as "Kya Soorat Hai", "Woh Chali" and "Chod Do Anchal".


The group was popular both in India and Pakistan, as well as overseas among the Indian music community, due to its unusual combination of classic Bollywood style and European experimentation. It was the first group to sing in Hinglish, a mix of Hindi and English, a brainchild of its front-man, Neeraj Shridhar.

Contents

• 1 History
  • 1.1 Formation
  • 1.2 Kya Soorat Hai (1999)
  • 1.3 Woh Chali (2000)
  • 1.4 Hawa Mein Udata Jaaye and Best of
  • 1.5 Chhodh Do Aanchal Zamana Kya Kahega and Fusion Remixes (2004)
  • 1.6 Zara Nazron Se Kehdo (2006)
• 2 Discography
• 3 External links

 

History

Formation

Bombay Vikings were formed in 1994 in Stockholm, Sweden. The three experienced musicians met when Mats introduced Neeraj Shridhar and Oscar Soderberg to each other. The band was born primarily due to a common interest of Indian melodies from sources such as Hindi films and classical music. Neeraj became the lead vocalist and back-up guitar, and also composed pop rock, jazz, hip-hop, soul, and reggae songs. Mats played the saxophone; as a jazz specialist, he used this knowledge while composing for the new band. Mats and Johan Folke, keyboard specialists, used their years of exposure to the different genres of music on the synthesizer. They were soon joined by Morgan on the drums, Par on the bass, and Staffan as the lead guitarist. Bombay Vikings began performing live shows in Sweden and Norway. When all the musicians got together and began jamming, they didn't know they would be coming out with a new form of music, but they wanted to do something creative for India.
 

The leader of Bombay Vikings, Neeraj Shridhar, is from Jalandhar in Punjab, India. He moved to Sweden when he was 13, where he developed his interest for music. He enjoyed listening to western and Indian classical songs. He formed Bombay Vikings in 1994 and performed at many places in Europe. The band mainly performed English songs with Neeraj adding an Indian influence. After a few years, most of the band members disbanded, but Neeraj chose to keep the name of the band and form another band with the remaining members.

Kya Soorat Hai (1999)

Neeraj produced his first album, Kya Soorat Hai, in 1999, after stopping the project for almost four years. Most of the Indian music companies didn't think the album would be popular among the Indians due to its strong English and Western influence and demanded changes. Finally, Sony BMG agreed to produce the album in India without any changes. The album consisted of eight tracks, all of which were remakes of old Indian songs. Every song was recorded primarily in English, with two to three songs containing a few lines of Hindi. In spite of this, the album was a huge success in India and opened the doors for westernisation of music. The songs "Kya Soorat Hai", "Mona Re" and "Night Is So Perfect" were popular among teenagers. The video of the song "Kya Soorat Hai" starred South-Indian star Prabhu Deva's brother Raju Sundaram, and was a hit due to its hip-hop sound as well as its comical style. The song "Mona Re" was also made into a video.

Woh Chali (2000)

Soon after the success of their first album, Bombay Vikings recorded another successful album, Woh Chali, in 2000. The album contained four remakes of old songs and five original songs, in which Neeraj Shridhar, who wanted to be known as a modern music composer, attempted to silence the critics who said he simply "copy and pasted." All of the songs on this album were hits, especially "Woh Chali", "Jambola", "Angel Eyes", and "Jump Up". "Angel Eyes" was also an international success.

Singer Lata Mangeshkar was impressed with the remake of her song "Main Chali" and invited Neeraj to perform at her birthday function.

Three songs of the album were made into videos: "Woh Chali", "Jambola" and "Angel Eyes".

Hawa Mein Udata Jaaye and Best of

In 2002, Bombay Vikings released another album, Hawa Mein Udati Jaaye'. This album again revived old songs in a modern way, making the youth admire the beauty of the old songs. This time, Neeraj worked with guest singers Linnea Spores and Falguni Pathak to produce songs. The videos of the songs "Hawa Mein Udati Jaaye" and "Tera Mera Pyaar Sanam" became hits. In the same year, the album The Best Of Bombay Vikings was released, with a playback song of the film "Rules: "Pyaar Ka Superhit Formula, in which Neeraj sang "Kabhi Phool Dena" for music director Sandesh Shandilya.

Chhodh Do Aanchal Zamana Kya Kahega and Fusion Remixes (2004)

In 2004, Bombay Vikings came up with Chhodh Do Aanchal Zamana Kya Kahega. The title track had the main lines sung again by Linea and was a hit along with its video, which was played on every music channel in India for almost a year. The youthful songs "Ik Badal" and "Aa Raha Hoon Main" were "milestones", and the video of the song "Aa Raha Hoon Main" was a commercial hit. In the same year, Neeraj produced a single titled "Hum To Anything Karega', a remake of the song "Hum To Mohabbat Karega'. This song with Neeraj's previous few hits, and the songs of other artists such as Falguni Pathak, were released in the album Fusion Remixes.

Zara Nazron Se Kehdo (2006)

The success of the band continued when they released their most recent album, Zara Nazron Se Kehdo. This song and its video, which starred Bollywood actress Celina Jaitly, was a hit. The song "Mere Dil Ne" was made into a video. After this album, Neeraj chose to take a short break which has become an extended break. Bombay Vikings has announced a forthcoming album entitled "U n I" but a release date has yet to be announced. Neeraj started working as a Bollywood playback singer in 2006, and has sung for many Bollywood films.

Discography

• Kya Soorat Hai (1999)
• Woh Chali (2001)
• Hawa Mein Udati Jaaye (2002)
• The Best of Bombay Vikings (2002)
• Hum To Anything Karega: Fusion Remixes (2004)
• Chhodh Do Aanchal (2004)
• Zara Nazron Se Kehdo (2006)
• U n I (2011)

External Link

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

Aasma (Band)

After Viva, the SECOND pop band produced by Channel V, initially called Popstars 2, has finally decided to name itself `Aasma'. The idea is, as all the four members of the group concur, "to aim towards reaching for the skies". And hence, "an apt description of their limitless ambitions".

The band members, Sangeet Haldipur, Neeti Mohan, Vasudha Sharma and Jimmy Felix, however, found the name-choosing task quite hard. Apparently, whoever had an idea put it on a board, and finally, the right word surfaced.

"Naming a band is perhaps the hardest thing that we have done since coming together. This will be our collective identity from now on and we had to ensure that all of us were comfortable with the name we chose. We explored several names, and finally chose Aasma, because it essentially means limitless, which is what our horizons are," the members said. For them, the Channel's Popstars 2 platform has come as "a wonderful canvas on which to paint our musical dreams, where there are no definitions or limitations." No wonder then, the title song of their debut album talks of Aasma too.

Four musically talented youngsters namely Sangeet Haldipur from Mumbai, a professional pianist, singer, composer and lyricist; Neeti Mohan from Delhi, an exemplary singer, dancer and actor and Jimmy Felix from Jaipur who was involved in creating and performing music even while a child formed India’s first male-female vocal pop band entitled Aasma. The band also comprised of Vasudha Sharma from Delhi who is multitalented in guitar, keyboard and also has an adaptable voice.

The band was brought to the limelight through a nation wide talent hunt conducted by a music channel. This band’s charm has not only mesmerized the Indian music industry but also all the youth who are actually living in hip and happy go way.

Aasma's first time rocker Chandu ke Chacha made people Get up, Get up and Dance. Three years down the line, the now mature artistes and performers, Jimmy Felix, Neeti Mohan, Sangeet Haldipur  and Vasudha Sharma feel it's their ability to gel with one another that has made them rock.Their introductory performance through the song 'Chandu ke Chacha' thronged the hearts of nearly 40,000 who danced and sang along with their tunes and also went mad behind their names. The second album entitled Aasma- The Infinite, had them compose and co write the lyrics of ‘Luv In Da Club’ with Costantino Francorsi.

Composition, originality, Bollywood songs, remixes, live shows... a lot seems to be on their mind. In the city recently to perform at VJTI Institute of Technology, they set the place on fire with different genres from Tumse he pyaar karna hai, to Ban ja mere balma, to Rubabru, from the Rang de Basanti to the hip and happening Kajarare and finally building up the crescendo with Chandu ke Chacha Ne Chandu ke Chachi.

Now they have set their eyes on Bollywood numbers with one music video of a yet to be released film  Mirror that has been composed and sung by them.

"We will have to find our own path," says philosophy graduate Neeti, the lady who was chosen by dance as she puts it. What makes them stage pyromaniacs is not their songs but their inner harmony. "None of  us has ever done that consciously, whatever we do on stage is what we are," explains Jimmy.

Vasudha, youngest and a maniacal lyricist, says, "It also has to do with our relationship with each other, and the kind of space we give to each other."

The band has also sung for the music director Shamir Tandon in Corporate. They are fanatically awaiting the opportunity to work with maestro A.R. Rahman.

The unique feature of Aasma’s music is the fresh energy, vigour and the  harmonious tunes. Their work is  even more glorified as they have had the chance of getting most of their lyrical compositions done by  leading Bollywood composers such as Aadesh Shrivastav, Salim and Sulaiman Merchant and Pritam.

Discography :

Albums :

2003 - Aasma
2005 - Aasma: The Infinite

Trivia :

Have opened the show for Bryan Adams in Mumbai and New Delhi.

Have recorded songs with famous artists like Asha Bhosle, Abhijit, Sunidhi Chauhan, Udit Narayan etc. for  the album WAVES which is a tribute to the Tsunami disaster and have performed a single number in the  album.

Shot to the top of the charts across the country with the hugely popular ‘Chandu Ke Chacha’.