(http://www.nirajchag.com/)
BBC Radio 1 DJ Nihal recently described Niraj Chag as an artist whose music 'resembles a prayer in it's power' adding that &some of the most beautiful British-Asian music ever created has come from this man.&
Today Niraj is one of the key modern interpreters of Asian classical and folk styles but that journey began when he had his first job making tea in Mark Hill's music studios in Southampton! From there Niraj began experimenting by mixing modern production with western and eastern classical styles. His work was spotted by Nitin Sawhney leading to his first record deal with the Outcaste label in its heyday. Self-taught in music, Niraj continued developing his style over a number of years while working on musicals, scores and dance productions. All this culminated in 2006 with the release of his critically acclaimed debut album 'Along the Dusty Road'.
'Along the Dusty Road' took Niraj three years to complete, and the painstaking detail was appreciated by both critics and fans. Featuring six languages, the album was championed by the BBC, leading to an atmospheric live set at the Roundhouse as part of the Electric Proms and also resulted in Niraj picking up the 'Best Underground Act' award at the UK Asian Music Awards, 2006.
2009 sees Niraj releasing the follow-up album 'The Lost Souls' which once again sees him moving the major styles of South Asian music into new settings over 13 tracks. Tackling the classical sargam style on Trace, he renders it into a breathy and sensual new language, while on Baavaria the loneliness of a Hindi song is accentuated by combining over fifty layers of vocals.
In Niraj's own words the inspiration behind the new songs comes from &my own realisation that it is totally necessary to live in the moment... politics, religion, science, none of these things provide certainty for me any more. I don't know whether that's a reflection of our own times or just a place I've reached philosophically... it's a bittersweet feeling.&
Despite having such strong foundations in an emotional inspiration The Lost Souls will also be of interest to all those who appreciate the finer technical points of traditional and world music. European and African instruments are used subtly, and with his intense use of melody and layered rhythms Niraj consolidates his reputation as the most skillful and provocative contemporary Asian composer working in the UK today. As well as his stand-alone work, Niraj has built a reputation as a unique soundtrack composer. He created his first musical (Baiju Bawra) aged 25. His work since then has included Mahabharata (BBC Radio 4) the Bafta nominated Simon Schama's 'Power of Art' series (BBC2) and the 2008 TV series 'The Age of Terror'. In 2009 he created and produced the score for the BBC series of programmes Darwin's Dangerous Ideas, presented by Andrew Marr. Niraj has worked on more than twenty dance productions including ‘Awaz’, 'Bells' and 'Daredevas' (Akademi) He has also produced a wide variety of original work for TV and radio such as HBO’s ‘Sex and the City’ and for plays, including the recent Olivier Award winning ‘Rafta, Rafta’ (Royal National Theatre). With the 'Reel Bollywood' project Niraj toured the country running workshops for young people and in 2008 he put together an eclectic score for the official Olympic Torch event on London's South Bank featuring 600 vocalists, opera singers and a 40-piece brass band.