London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
based band, influenced by modern
dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...
and Indian
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
classics. They are based around the songwriting partnership of Saira Hussain and Steve Ager, and the rhythms of Vikaash Sankadecha. Lead singer Saira cites influences from modern Western music through to Bollywood movies.
Career
Trickbaby's debut
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
, "Indie-Yarn" received mainstream media attention. It reached #46 in the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, and was the first Hindi language single to be playlisted at
BBC Radio One
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
. Following media support for "Neelaa" after its inclusion on the ''Asian Flavas'' album, particularly at Radio One, Trickbaby released their debut
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
, ''Hanging Around'' on their own Chachaman label. Five stars in ''
OK!
''OK!'' is a British weekly magazine that primarily specialises in royal and celebrity news. Originally launched as a monthly magazine, its first issue was published in April 1997. In September 2004, ''OK''! launched in Australia as a monthly ...
'', ''
Mojo
Mojo may refer to:
*Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* MOJO HD, an American television network
* ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film
* '' ...
'', and a good reviews in ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'' and in the main Asian press resulted in Trickbaby signing to EMI’s Far East head office in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
.
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
in the SE Asia region made Trickbaby artist of the month on their "Alert" programme, and playlisted the band's self-produced "Slipping Through Your Fingers" video (which features members of the GB synchronised swimming team). Three Trickbaby songs were used in the cult Indian
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
''Hyderabad Blues 2''. Virgin UK released a
compilation album
A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...
, ''Asian Beat Bazaar'', devised and compiled by Trickbaby and the band toured India, including a performance at MTV's Style Awards.
In 2006, Rohan Sippy asked the band for songs for his movie ''
Bluffmaster
''Bluffmaster!'' is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language crime comedy film directed by Rohan Sippy and produced by Ramesh Sippy. The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Riteish Deshmukh, Priyanka Chopra, Sanjay Mishra, Boman Irani and Nana Patekar. It is an ...
'', starring
Abhishek Bachchan
Abhishek Bachchan (born 5 February 1976) is an Indian actor and film producer known for his work in Hindi films. Part of the Bachchan family, he is the son of actors Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan and the grandson of poet Harivansh Rai Bach ...
and Priyanka Chopra, which has gone on to become one of the biggest modern Indian movies of recent times. "Sabse Bada Rupaiya/Bluffmaster", a Trickbaby track based around the original 1970’s Mehmood song became the title track, and a hit in the India diaspora. "Neelaa", "Indie-Yarn" and a reworked Hindi version of "Nine Parts Of Desire" also all had key roles in the film and featured on a soundtrack album.
Trickbaby wrote the title track to Ashok Thakeria's movie, ''
Pyare Mohan
''Pyare Mohan'' is a Bollywood action comedy film released in 2006. The film stars Fardeen Khan, Vivek Oberoi, Esha Deol, Amrita Rao and Boman Irani. The film is loosely based on the 1989 American film '' See No Evil, Hear No Evil''.
__TOC__
...
'', and they remixed two tracks for
Victoria No. 203 (2007 film)
''Victoria No. 203: Diamonds Are Forever'' is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language heist comedy thriller movie and a remake of the 1972 film, named Victoria No.203. The film was directed by Anant Mahadevan and produced by Kamal Sadanah, son of Brij Sada ...
. The band spent 2007 finishing their second album, ''Chor Bazaar'', named after a market in Mumbai famous for selling stolen goods. Featuring eleven songs and guest appearances by
Gogol Bordello
Gogol Bordello is an American punk rock band from the Lower East Side of Manhattan, formed in 1999 by musicians from all over the world and known for theatrical stage shows and persistent touring. Much of the band's sound is inspired by Ro ...
's
Eugene Hutz
Eugene may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...
, Sergey Ryabtzev (violin), and
Yuri Lemeshev
Yuri Lemeshev (born 1954 or 1955) is an American accordion player and former member of gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello.Marcella Detroit (harmonica).
To accompany ''Chor Bazaar'' the band made two videos. "To Fighter", an animation directed by Mox, and to a new version of "Nine Parts" ("Parde Ke Peeche" produced by
Ramesh Sippy
Ramesh Sippy (born 23 January 1947) is an Indian film director and producer in Hindi cinema. He is particularly known for directing ''Sholay'' (1975), which is regarded as one of the most influential Indian film ever made. The Government of ...
(director of '' Sholay'')) and starring Bollywood's Abhishek Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra.
Their music video "Nine Parts" was also screened at Deejay Ra's music video night in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, at the FILMI festival, North America's longest running South Asian film festival.
Album discography
*''Hanging Around'' (2004)
# "Nine Parts Of Desire"
# "Slipping Through Your Fingers"
# "Neelaa"
# "December Blues" (Aluminium Headz mix)
# "Dildara"
# "Three Minds"
# "Hanging Around" (Aluminium Headz mix)
# "Because you Know"
# "Sea Of Stories"
# "Lost Ones"
# "54"
# "SSS"
*''Chor Bazaar'' (2008)
# "Fighter"
# "Crisis"
# "Baja (featuring Marcella Detroit)"
# "Light Up My Life"
# "Babu"
# "Drove A Chevvy To The Devi"
# "Chor Bazaar (featuring Eugene Hutz, Sergey Ryabtzev and Yuri Lemeshev)"
# "Mujay Tujay"
# "Broken Dream"
# "Nine Parts (Parde Ke Peeche)"
# "Neelaa" (remix)