Surj, Manj Kuly - RDB
Rhythm Dhol Bass, known to the world as RDB consist of three brothers Surj, Manj and Kuly. They've been in the music scene for nearly a decade and have a lot to show for it. Their debut album back in 2001 sold over 100,000 CDs worldwide, they have won a impressive number of awards and they've performed live in over 20 countries. And now RDB are getting rather popular in a place called Bollywood...
Upcoming Hollywood movie produced by Akshay Kumar, 'Breakaway,' also being released as Bollywood flick 'Speedy Singhs,' features the hot new track 'Shera Di Kaum.' The song is a collabaoration between RDB and Grammy-award-winning artist Ludacris.
Listen to 'Shera Di Kaum.'
Surj tells us about how RDB intially got involved in the project: "We first got approached by a production company ca
lled First Take, over in Toronto where Manj actually lives now. So he got approaced from these people and it was their first production, for the film called 'Breakaway' and they've always been good friends with Manj and they said, we want to do a couple of tracks actually a soundtrack but that never happened, so we said we'll do as many tracks as possible. So we made a couple of different tracks for this film. They give us the concept of the film and from there we basically got in touch with Ludacris, because they wanted a mainstream collaboration on one of the tracks." He said.
Ludacris jumped at the oppurtuntiy. Surj tells us: "He was 100% behind backing the whole project and he wanted to be part of the track because he heard the beats and really appreciated the beats and loved the beats."
He goes on to tell us that working with the rapper was great: "He's quite directed towards work, he knows exactly what he wants and the beats that he wants and the styles he wants. He did his part in almost one or two takes it 
didn't really take much for him to get the parts done and the lyrical content he wrote for the actual piece fits so well , it worked really well together. Everything just kind of gelled together when he heard the beats and the melodies, he said yo i've got something that will fit in this nicely. And the guys quite safe to work with, and when he was at the video shoot with us, once again he was fully involved with the whole crew, with Akshay, the production team and us guys, we just gelled."
Now i know what you're all thinking, because i was wondering it too... Did Ludacris bust a few Bollywood moves, a bit of light bulb action?
Surj reveals: "To be honest he wasn't doing Bollywood steps on stage or anything not as much as Snoop did when we did our collaboration for Sighn is Kinng. He was like i want to wear the turban, i want the full outfit. But with Luda he was more like, you know he's got his own style and he wants to portray his own style on that track so it wasn't as much as going on the full Bollywood vibe but he did his part in all fairness."
The actual recording process for 'Shera Di Kaum' was done seperately, Surj tells us: "The recording was done in Luda's studio for his part, we sent over his beats to his studio as well as a melody. He listened to them, had a conference call with us guys made sure everything was fine and then he sent his lyrics over to our studios and we got it finished over in our studio in Toronto."
And then bam! One amazing cross-urban music track of the year is complete. Now it was the small matter of a video to go with it, for which the cast of the movie - both Hollywood and Bollywood were present.
Surj tells us about the video shoot, that took just one day to complete. "The video was fun, and the atmosphere behind the video was very urban, very kind of underground i mean as you can tell from the actual video footage itself. The track gelled so nicley with the style the director had for the video. And we had a whole host of people there, there were models and big stars like Rob Lowe, Russel Peter, Camilla Belle, and they were just like fully into it, the whole concept of the video, nobody was stuck up thier own a*se. Everyone was involved with everybody."
Some of the other Bollywood movie's that RDB have featured in are: 'Kambakkht Ishq,' 'Namastey London,' 'Yamla Pagla Dewana,' and of course the most popular 'Singh is Kinng,' where the phenomenal Snoop Dogg joins the boys too.
So will RDB venture into Bollywood on the acting front or will they stick to singing? Surj isn't too sure and decides that at this moment in time probably not: "We've recently just got into the whole music aspect of the films and to throw all our eggs in one basket and start acting - not that we can act anyway. Surely we'd give it a go, i'd like to personally give it a go. It's not something that's crossed our minds but maybe in the future, as of yet we're concentrating on what we do best and that's making music." He said.
How did the all-brother group actually get into Bollywood in the first place? Was it a trip to India where they were suddenly discovered? A promo track sent over to a big Bollywood head? Or maybe it was an audition for the chance to feature in a movie song? Nope. Akshay Kumar simply rang them up one day.
Surj laughs as he remembers what happened: "It's a bit of a funny story how he approached us. He was over in Toronto, and he had a show but it got cancelled, and one of the promoters there was listening to CD's and half of the tracks were all RDB tracks, and the promoter said to Akshay i know these guys and Akshay goes give them a call."
Surj adds: "So the promoter gave Manj a call and gave the phone to Akshay, and he spoke saying, hi this is Akshay Kumar. And obviously Manj not expecting a call from Akshay Kumar, just goes yeah yeah, alright mate, Shah Rukh Khan called me yesterday what do you want? And then Akshay was like no this is really Akshay, please explain so he passed the phone back over to the promoter and he goes that it is really Akshay Kumar. And Manj was like sh*t i'll apoligise mate. Sorry about that! So from there he came to London and met up with Kuly and at that time they were shooting Nasmastey London and he wanted us to do a song on that. So we went up and worked with Himesh Reshammiya, and did Rafta Rafta, and that was our debut in the Bollywood industry."
Akshay Kumar is someone who the group have worked with on many occasions now. What does Surj make of the Bollywood star? "He's great, he's very work orientatated. He's fully into his work and every part of it as well, not just one part. In terms of the music, the filming, the production, the finances everything he is fully involved. He's absolutely amazing to work with and because we've been working with him for so long he's now a dear friend of ours as well."
Akshay Kumar a dear friend eh? Next they'll be having tea with Shah Rukh Khan! (I hope i get an invite!)
So they've made their mark in Bollywood which is sure to give them another string of hits and what's more, is that this is just the start of a new chapter for the boys. RDB fans have much to look forward to including more Bollywood projects and their brand new album 'Worldwide' which will be released in the next few months.
Surj explains how each track has a totally different feel to it and that the album will feature collboartions with international artists ranging from India to America to Pakistan. The boys have also got their own record label called 'Three Records' which feature two main artists. One of them being Surji's sister-in-law - Manj's wife, Nindy Kaur!
Coming to the end of our chat Surj passes a message to all you fans reading this: "I appreciate all my old fans who have been following us from day one and all the new fanbase as well. Without them we'd be nowhere to be honest and i think it's all really down to the music that we make, as long as we keep making music that people appreciate they will respond to us and appreicate us even more. So that's what we're going to continue to do as long as we keep the support of all the people, that's our aim of the game."
Of course i've been a RDB fan myself, since the group first came out in 2001. So when Surj asked me what's my favourite RDB track? My answer was that i love all the classics especially Ajaa Mahi. To which he said: "I know what you mean, all these tracks that we've been doing for so long are the tracks that people appreciate more."
Does he get fed up of singing the classics again and again and.. again?
"Some of them, not all of them. Songs like Ajaa Mahi you can never get fed up of singing and performing and to see crowd reaction, it's amazing. When we're on stage and everyone is singing the song with you it's a feeling you can't really express. All the other songs are just great, we make them, we perform them, sometimes it's like, okay we've got to do the track again and again but it's great when your're on a stage and your performing because you get to see new reactions everytime. He said.
Have you had a listen to 'Shera Di Kaum' yet? Leave your comments below and let us know what you think of RDB's latest Bollywood collaboration.
Movie 'Breakaway' will be released on the 30th September 2011.
It's Indian counterpart 'Speedy Singhs' will be released a week earlier on the 23rd September 2011.
Female First Haleema Shabir
Rhythm Dhol Bass, known to the world as RDB consist of three brothers Surj, Manj and Kuly. They've been in the music scene for nearly a decade and have a lot to show for it. Their debut album back in 2001 sold over 100,000 CDs worldwide, they have won a impressive number of awards and they've performed live in over 20 countries. And now RDB are getting rather popular in a place called Bollywood...
Upcoming Hollywood movie produced by Akshay Kumar, 'Breakaway,' also being released as Bollywood flick 'Speedy Singhs,' features the hot new track 'Shera Di Kaum.' The song is a collabaoration between RDB and Grammy-award-winning artist Ludacris.
Listen to 'Shera Di Kaum.'
Surj tells us about how RDB intially got involved in the project: "We first got approached by a production company called First Take, over in Toronto where Manj actually lives now. So he got approaced from these people and it was their first production, for the film called 'Breakaway' and they've always been good friends with Manj and they said, we want to do a couple of tracks actually a soundtrack but that never happened, so we said we'll do as many tracks as possible. So we made a couple of different tracks for this film. They give us the concept of the film and from there we basically got in touch with Ludacris, because they wanted a mainstream collaboration on one of the tracks." He said.
Ludacris jumped at the oppurtuntiy. Surj tells us: "He was 100% behind backing the whole project and he wanted to be part of the track because he heard the beats and really appreciated the beats and loved the beats."
He goes on to tell us that working with the rapper was great: "He's quite directed towards work, he knows exactly what he wants and the beats that he wants and the styles he wants. He did his part in almost one or two takes it didn't really take much for him to get the parts done and the lyrical content he wrote for the actual piece fits so well , it worked really well together. Everything just kind of gelled together when he heard the beats and the melodies, he said yo i've got something that will fit in this nicely. And the guys quite safe to work with, and when he was at the video shoot with us, once again he was fully involved with the whole crew, with Akshay, the production team and us guys, we just gelled."
Now i know what you're all thinking, because i was wondering it too... Did Ludacris bust a few Bollywood moves, a bit of light bulb action?
Surj reveals: "To be honest he wasn't doing Bollywood steps on stage or anything not as much as Snoop did when we did our collaboration for Sighn is Kinng. He was like i want to wear the turban, i want the full outfit. But with Luda he was more like, you know he's got his own style and he wants to portray his own style on that track so it wasn't as much as going on the full Bollywood vibe but he did his part in all fairness."
The actual recording process for 'Shera Di Kaum' was done seperately, Surj tells us: "The recording was done in Luda's studio for his part, we sent over his beats to his studio as well as a melody. He listened to them, had a conference call with us guys made sure everything was fine and then he sent his lyrics over to our studios and we got it finished over in our studio in Toronto."
And then bam! One amazing cross-urban music track of the year is complete. Now it was the small matter of a video to go with it, for which the cast of the movie - both Hollywood and Bollywood were present.
Surj tells us about the video shoot, that took just one day to complete. "The video was fun, and the atmosphere behind the video was very urban, very kind of underground i mean as you can tell from the actual video footage itself. The track gelled so nicley with the style the director had for the video. And we had a whole host of people there, there were models and big stars like Rob Lowe, Russel Peter, Camilla Belle, and they were just like fully into it, the whole concept of the video, nobody was stuck up thier own a*se. Everyone was involved with everybody."
Tagged in Ludacris