Singer Jasbir Jassi, who collaborated with his two sons, Simba and Jerry, for their debut song Liar, says it is a combination of their technological knowledge and his fascination of folk tunes

Think Jasbir Jassi and memories of Dil Le Gayi Kudi, Koka and Laung Da Lashkara come flooding back. We loved those songs and we loved the man who sang them. So, when we were invited to interact with the singer, who gave so many hit Punjabi numbers, in Mohali recently, we were excited. PHOTO: Vicky

Sheetal

This meeting, however, turned out to be not about Jassi but his sons — Simba Sing and Jerry Singh — as it was the launch event of their song Liar. For the first time, we got to see Jassi as the beaming father, proud of the fact that his sons decided to follow in his footsteps and what’s more, the two budding singers collaborated with their famous father for their debut album!

Jasbir has co-written the song with his sons, which is released under his music label, JJ Musics. In fact, Jassi and Jerry have composed the music and the whole album, while Simba has sung the songs. The EP East West Boy consists of six songs showcasing sensibility that aligns with — ‘Eastern heart, Western mind’.

Shared Jassi, “There’s no bigger subject than music to bond with my sons. I have always been interested in sounds and instruments all my life. Even though I am glad they have studied the same from the best of schools in the West, where you cannot get in without auditions, I still have better knowledge about Indian local instruments and folk music! Of course, they have become masters of advanced technology of sound, but I would love to see how they incorporate all that knowledge in Punjabi music.”

No shortcuts

Unlike many others, Simba and Jerry didn’t take a shortcut to enter the industry. Simba went to Berklee College of Music in the US to train himself and Jerry learnt music production from Point Blank in London.

“I wanted to train them in sound the moment I had the idea they wished to pursue music. There was always an environment of music at home and my sons picked on that. Today, music changes every two months and that’s because of sound advancements. I have a big library where I have recorded songs from different folk artistes and regional instruments of different parts of India,” he said.

On Chamkila

As the trio animatedly discuss how they ‘have the intention to bring something fresh for the Punjabi audiences’, we ask Jassi for his opinion about the controversial Punjabi singer Amar Singh Chamkila, as Imtiaz Ali’s recent biopic has brought him back into conversation once more.

Jassi feels Chamkila was an outstanding artiste even though he chose to sing on some vulgar subjects. However, he was so much more than what the latest film, Amar Singh Chamkila, would have us believe. He said, “Often when a biopic is made or somebody says something, it’s perceived differently by audiences. And I fear that many who binge-watched the film will associate Chamkila with Punjab’s culture, which would be a very wrong interpretation. Bollywood has sold Chamkila as Punjab’s culture, but he was one of many Punjabi artistes. It’s a problem with Bollywood; it picks one popular face of a state or city and presents it to the world as that region’s culture. Later, people form stereotypes. They didn’t show Chamkila, but more so represented him as ‘Sexila’! It was wrong presentation of an artiste.”

Papa don’t preach

Bringing back the conversation from Chamkila to the LP, that has songs like Aat, Psycho and Liar, all based around the dating culture, we ask Jassi if his boys were comfortable discussing their dates with him. Jassi replied, “It’s actually the other way. I would discuss anything and everything under the sun with my sons, but they shy away at times.”