Diamond Duggal

Diamond Duggal

Diamond Duggal
Background information
Origin Birmingham, England
Genres Pop, dance, funk, reggae, R&B, rock, Bhangra
Occupation(s) Record producer, songwriter
Years active 1990–present
Labels DesiRock Entertainment
Website www.diamondduggal.com
www.desirock.com
Notable instruments
Guitar, drums, keyboards, vocals

Diamond Duggal, also known as DJ Swami, is a music producer, DJ, songwriter and guitarist. He is also the leader of UK pop/electronic/Bhangra band Swami. An Ivor Novello and Mercury Prize nominee, he has produced and played alongside Mutt Lange on the Shania Twain double Grammy-nominated 2002 album Up!. He has won the Best Producer category twice (2005 and 2008) at the UK Asian Music Awards. He also won Best Mixed Album at the South African Music Awards in 2010.

An internationally accomplished music producer, Duggal has produced for a variety of platinum-selling award-winning artists, including Shania Twain, Pras Michel, Apache Indian, Maxi Priest, Stereo Nation, Nazia Hassan, Zoheb Hassan, Viktor Kiraly, Linda Kiraly, Meja, D.M.C., Keith Murray and China Black as well as remixing Erasure, The Beat and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. He has also performed and toured as a guitarist with Robbie Williams, Boyzone, and Blue.

His most successful solo Swami album to date was 2004's DesiRock, the title track from which has been used in a variety of films, TV shows and video games.

Biography

Born Diamond Jyoti Duggal, he grew up in the Handsworth district of Birmingham, England in a melting pot of second-generation Indian and Jamaican multi-culturalism. By the age of 12, he was already playing guitar in local reggae and rock bands. While learning the craft of music through listening to records by Jimi Hendrix, Ravi Shankar, Kraftwerk, Laxmikant Pyarelal and local Birmingham artists Steel Pulse and UB40, Diamond witnessed his first glance of a new musical hybrid and what was ultimately to become his life’s passion.

In 1991, as production duo Simon and Diamond, the brothers launched the groundbreaking production fusion sound of dancehall reggae and bhangra with the artist Apache Indian. The project received huge public and media interest due to its cultural diversity and was making huge waves in the UK, USA, Canada and India. This marked a new milestone in British Asian popular music, soon followed by a record deal with Island Records and a publishing deal with Sony Music in 1992. The Apache Indian debut album 'No Reservations' became a huge international success.

In 1997, Diamond started the group Swami with drummer and brother Simon, vocalist Taz Singh and Indian percussionist Kam Bura. The band performed a number of local and European shows before releasing their debut album Desi Nu Skool Beatz on their SubDub Records label in 1999. The album was given an international release in 2000 on Nation Records (Beggars Banquet). The guitar surfing electronic title track "Mehbooba" went on to feature in the Olsen Twins Warner Brothers movie New York Minute (2003).

Diamond took to the studio in 2002 to work with Shania Twain on her follow-up album to Come On Over entitled Up!. The album was produced by a totally international team co-ordinated between producer Mutt Lange, Simon and Diamond. Shania Twain’s Up! topped the American Billboard for six weeks in late 2002 with multi-platinum sales exceeding 15 million and received two Grammy nominations in 2004.

Swami's follow-up album was So Who Am I on SonyBMG in 2005. The title track "DesiRock" embraced clubs the world over with DJ Swami’s unique left field electronic beats and anthemic bhangra melodies and reached even wider audiences in the EA Games FIFA World Cup 2006 video game as well as the UK movie Mischief Night (2006).

In 2005, Diamond won "Best Producer" at the UK Asian Music Awards.[1]

In June 2007, Diamond (as DJ Swami) was listed in the official Guardian Glastonbury Festival Guide as one of the Top 5 acts to see at Glastonbury 2007 alongside Amy Winehouse and the Arctic Monkeys.

In January 2008, Swami's album Equalize was voted album of the year by DesiHits.com. The album features mainstream collaborations from the USA, South Africa, France, England and India.

In March 2008, as DJ Swami, he won "Best Producer" at the UK Asian Music Awards for a second time.[2]

In August 2008, Swami's "Hey Hey" music video received its Canadian premiere at Toronto's FILMI South Asian Film Festival.

In April 2010, Diamond won best Mix Engineer at the South Africa Music Awards (SAMA).

In 2013, Diamond produced the single 'Fire' for artist Viktor Kiraly reaching the number 1 chart position in Hungary's MAHASZ Top 40.

In 2014, Diamond produced the second single 'Running Out Of Time' for Viktor Kiraly featuring Run DMC reaching the number 1 chart position in Hungary's VIVA chart.

In 2015, Diamond completed album production for Zoheb Hassan featuring the legendary vocals of his sister Nazia Hassan.

Discography as DJ Swami

Production discography

1990

1991

1992/1993

1994/1995

1997/1998

1999

2000/2001

2002

2004

2005

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

References

  1. ↑ "Artists unite to celebrate British Asian Music". Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  2. ↑ Nazhat (March 8, 2008). "The UK Asian Music Awards 2008". desiblitz.com. Retrieved 24 August 2010.

External links

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