born and raised in Montreal, Canada. Raised in a practicing and
religious Sikh family, his first experience with music came from the
Gurdwara’s (Sikh Temple). As he was never truly trained in the
instrument, by listening to professional ragi’s, at age 6 he slowly
picked up the Tabla. His mother used to regularly sing at the
Gurdwara, so he used to help her practice by providing the tabla
beat as she sang on her harmonium. Eventually as he played with more
people, he learned a freestyle method of playing the instrument and
learned different beats from the different ragi jathas that would
come to town. His natural progression in tabla lead to always being
close to the harmonium. Thus, he learned how to sing hymns on the
harmonium, and combined with the Piano lessons he had been taking
for 5 years, he was able to learn the instrument rather quickly.
Thanks to his upbringing in Sadh Sangath and guidance of illuminated
souls, Rup uses the music medium to share his thoughts of philosophy
and spirituality in Josh’s albums. Rup’s musical influences include
Indian ragas, North American mainstream pop music, Nusrat Fateh Ali
Khan, and Michael Jackson. Pursuing his education in Montreal,
Canada, Rup completed his Bachelors degree at Concordia University
in Economics. He has been working in the software business for over
six years and moved to New York City in 2000. Currently, he works
out of New York and Montreal.
As an original member, he along with Shazi Hussain and his brother
Rik, began a band called JoSH. Josh initially started as a band that
performed covers of any type of music including popular Punjabi,
filmi, kawali, or ghazals. Josh impressed its crowds with its
versatility. Rup’s main role in Josh at that time would be as a
back-up singer as well as a percussionist. Over time, as the group
improved its skill set, Rup has become a lead singer, as well as
music arranger and co-producer with his partner and best friend, Q.
Today JoSH, comprising of Q and Rup, has pierced through the
difficult mainstream walls and have succeeded to perform with major
artists including Sukhbir and Nelly Furtado. Recently, the duo has
produced hit remixes for Nelly Furtado’s album Loose. The
Promiscuous Girl and Maneater “JoSH Desi Remixes” have taken the
music markets by storm and are played in the biggest clubs in North
American. Josh released their first album ‘Main Hoon Tanha’ in 2001
and smashit 2nd album ‘Kabhi’ in 2004 with Universal Music.
They are now set to release ‘Mausam’ also with Universal Music India
which adds yet another dimension the original JoSH sound and
features amazing remixes by none other than Rishi Rish and RDB.
With his musical and business backgrounds, Rup takes care of most of
the business dealings with record labels and distributors that JoSH
works with. Under the Josh Entertainment umbrella, Josh has begun
producing several artists, which will soon be releasing in various
Indian Music markets around the globe.
Q (Qurram Hussain) joined Josh once the band was already
established. They had already done a number of key shows, gaining
exposure with the South Asian audiences in Montreal, and were
starting to make a name for themselves. q’s arrival only helped to
solidify the band and he brought with him a unique perspective on
fusion.
A product of the 80’s glam rock era, q’s earliest influences include
bands such as Guns’n’Roses and Europe. “I remember listening to
these bands and thinking, I could do this. I can be Slash” he
recalls. Those desires faded away to make room for the love of more
Alternative vibes such as Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Stone Temple
Pilots. This was also the time when q decided to explore music as an
art form and joined an alternative band called “Black eyed Susan” as
the lead singer and guitarist. Short lived as that was, it was his
first exposure to the thrill of performing music live.
Somewhere along his musical journey, q’s interests started to change
and he found himself more and more interested in a variety of
musical genres including R&B, Hip Hop, Drum n’ Bass (à la Talvin
Singh), and qawwali such as that being created by Nusrat Fateh Ali
Khan. The music industry in the UK was experiencing releases of CDs
like “Anokha : Soundz of the Asian Underground” and there was a buzz
in the industry of what the next interpretation of fusion was going
to sound like. In the midst of all this, q was busy finding his own
sound, his own interpretation of all his various influences and
defining his own art. That gave birth to one of his first
compositions for Josh, Main Hoon Tanha, which also ended up being
the title track for their extremely successful debut album. That
spark got the creative juices flowing, and he was able to explore
more ideas, eventually ending up with 8 songs that defined Josh’s,
“Main Hoon Tanha”.
Teaming up with Rup has given q the ability to explore his love for
the music arts, and to explore it with a partner that understands
him completely. This musical journey has led to the creation of “Kabhi”,
Josh’s much-anticipated 2nd album, as well as various other projects
including a remix of Grammy winner Nelly Furtado’s latest singles,
“Promiscuous Girl” and “Maneater” . “The influences keep changing,
the ideas keep evolving. “I’m just lucky that I’m able to find the
interpretations of all this from time to time and continue making
music that I enjoy listening to”. Watch out for “Mausam” to be
released by Universal Music India in November of 2006.
Album:
Josh - Mausam
Aye
Mausam.wma
Gal
Sun.wma
Jano-na-Jano.wma
Khalakh
Yemeh.wma
Kuri
Gori.wma
Mahive
Remix.wma
Mahive.wma
Mari
Kamzoori.wma
Muskarte
Raho.wma
Teri
Aaankhaon Ne.wma
Teri
Ankhon Ne [slow].wma
Tohray
Anjnay Remix.wma
Tohray
Anjnay se.wma
Album:
Josh - Kabhi
Gharee
(with Apache Indian).mp3
Jaane Do
(josh).mp3
Jal Jaayen
(josh).mp3
Josh Naal
(dj Jiten Mix).mp3
Kabhi (dj
Doqter Groove Lab Mix).mp3
Kabhi.mp3
Meri Jaan
(inside Outside).mp3
Meri Nazar
(josh).mp3
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