What does the didgeridoo; the Greek bouzouki, the violin and the bohdran have in common? They are all used by Dya Singh to get the message of Sikhism across to all in the ever-changing modern world. Dya Singh and his “World Music Group” are just 10 years old but in that time have played in places varied as Carnegie Hall and Japan. They have won various awards during their ten years and in that time have released ten CDs and touched millions with their work.

On first sight Dya Singh looks like any other Sikh man. However this changes as soon as he treats his audiences to his laid back Australian sense of humour telling them that they are allowed to clap along, as they are not in a Gurdwara. Classifying his music is hard but all his items are fantastic and most importantly convey the Sikh message.

His two hour concert is a spiritual journey taken by plane, boat and train. Dya’s appreciation of all styles of music are apparent as didgeridoo combine with tabla and bouzouki blend with violin to create multicultural kirtan. Considering that today’s Sikhs live all over the world, Dya Singh’s approach is much needed. Dya Singh does not aim his music at just Sikhs, but many other religions too. He has described his concerts as multi racial and multi religious events.

In Leicester Dya Singh was accompanied by Dhiraj Shrestha, Andrew Clermont and Keith Preston. Dhiraj plays tabla and his hands were often blurred as he kept time. Andrew Clermont plays violin, didgeridoo, acoustic guitar and mandolin. As well as playing bouzouki, bohdran and santoor, Keith Preston is the group’s manager.

Dya Singh plays and creates spiritual music incorporating blues, jazz, folk, country and western, Australian indigenous, bush and more. While playing his music, Dya Singh conveys the universal spiritual messages of truth, love, peace, harmony, equality and justice. In today’s troubled world these messages need more than ever to be conveyed. Dya Singh does this in the world’s universal language of music. Dya Singh’s concert was not only a journey but also an exploration of emotion.

Overall, this was an enjoyable and first-rate concert for all interests of music and Sikhism.

By Dalvinder Kaur Kular (16) and Immerjeet Singh Kular (12)
Swindon UK

On Tuesday 13th August 2002, Dya Singh Ji and his World Music Group gave an intoxicating evening performance at Ramgarhia Community Centre in Leicester (UK). People came from all over UK to see the musical maestro.

Dya Singh’s World Music Group are currently celebrating their 10th anniversary of being together as a group. The members of the group who performed at the concert were Keith Preston (Bouzouki, Santoor, Bohdran - also Group Manager), Andrew Clermont (Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin, Violin, Didgeridoo, Dheeraj Shresta (Tabla, Nepalese Drums), and of course Dya Singh (Vocals, Harmonium, Australian Clap Sticks. The group have come from different parts of world with differing backgrounds but it’s their solidarity what drives them to produce such spectacular music.

“My mission, by bringing diverse music traditions together through the “World Music Group” is to show that the language of music is universal. “ - Dya Singh.

Dya Singh and his group produce wonderful devotional music due to their deep spirituality. He strongly believes that the beauty and relevance of the Gurus’ universal message, for the benefit of humankind, should be shared by all. Furthermore, he believes that in this present age of ‘kalyug’, spiritual music can bring real peace and harmonious co-existence in this troubled world. (So says the Guru: “Kalyug meh kirtan pardhana”.)

His message of choosing the right direction on the one way road to getting closer to God was incredible; this was even represented musically as well as verbally! Tabla extraordinaire and “pilot” Dheeraj Shresta took the audience on a memorising train journey upon the rickety rails of India – a journey complete with Andrew Clermont’s violin produced train horns as well as Dheeraj’s “chug chug” tabla accompaniment. Dya Singh explained that the journey represented life. Life has its ups and downs (rickety track), and sometimes in life you find that you are lost and alone but if you carry on in the right direction and thrive on spirituality there is always a way out and hence, “a light at the end of the tunnel”.

As you go through the journey of life, your surroundings become very important to you. Dya Singh explained that, in respecting your surroundings you are respecting Guru Ji, and if you damage your surroundings you are ruining your relationship with Guru Ji. This represents the Gurus’ Environmental Message.

Dya Singh’s music is very accessible. As teenagers we are drawn to listening to his CDs of the Gurbani than the other ragis. This is primarily due to the fact that he explains the Guru’s message in English with a comfortable and easy nature. We recall him talking about heroes and how we can aspire to them. Dya Singh explained that we can become a more spiritual person in this world if we can do Nam Simran everyday and start the day by saying “Satnam”. (He also said we could spend less time in front of the “Idiot Box” a.k.a. TV!!)

Dya Singh aims to appeal to young people and this is hugely driven by his refreshing new approach to Gurbani sangeet in all its rich variety. This is done through renditions of various music styles – classical Indian raags, jazz, blues, bush music etc. At the concert, this was done effectively through the Didgeridoo, Greek Bouzouki, Santoor, Harmonium, Tablae, Violin and Guitar. As each instrument had its own uniqueness, those expecting an incoherent and undisciplined noise had to think again.

Another favourite with the audience was when Dya Singh and Dheeraj were competing to see if Dheeraj could translate Dya Singh’s voice on the tabla. Audiences sat wonderstruck as he took off at Dya Singh’s signal and ran his fingers over four different tabla size pieces (Nepalese drums combined with traditional tabla) in a flash at a fast beat. Our personal favourite was when Dya Singh and the group performed the ‘Qawali’ - “Dam Must Mast”, the rhythm and the orchestration of the music was phenomenal. The audience both young and old were enthralled by the group’s performance throughout the concert.

We have seen Dya Singh’s World Music Group twice and the vitality of Dya Singh’s voice struck chords unlike any other kirtan performance. We are both truly impressed by the strength of the dynamic performances we have seen, and we are looking forward to seeing them again next year.

By- Simran Kaur Basson (16) and Amarjot Kaur Basson (15)
Leicester UK

On 13 August 2002, Ramgarhia Board Leicester hosted a concert by The World Music Group from Adelaide, South Australia, at the Ramgarhia Board Community Centre on Ulverscroft Road, Leicester. The band consisted of four musicians: Keith Preston, the band manager who is of Irish origin but grew up in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. He played the buzouki, and the guitar. Andrew Clermont, the only Australian born member of the band played the electro- acoustic guitar (sometimes with aid of an amplifier), the Irish fiddle, the violin, and the Aboriginal Didgeridoo. Dheeraj Shrestra was the amazing tabla player originally from the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu. And finally, the lead vocalist and also playing the harmonium, Dya Singh, the man who got most of the attention, focus, limelight, and praise, and maybe unjustly considering the talent and flair of his other colleagues. The son of a ragi, he moved to Australia after growing up in Malaysia.

This group put on a superb show of music, which was for the audience "spiritually intoxicating". What I found intriguing was how the group incorporated these different instruments not originally used in kirtan in such an effective way. And they did not only play shabads, Qawali being another type of music they performed, as well as many other styles which they incorporated into the music. The performance of the famous Qawali song "Dham Mast" was performed in a quite unusual way. With the different types of music they play from different parts of the world, and the different instruments from different parts of the world they use to play this music, it is no wonder why they call themselves, The World Music Group. It really is multicultural music, performed by a multi-cultural group.

I think Dya Singh's message is great to the youngsters, to learn about Sikhi and about how it is our responsibility to do so as the next generation. It is pleasing to see that he is taking a more lively approach to ensure that Sikhi is not boring. He is also encouraging non-Sikhs to listen to the Guru's word, which is shown by the fact that the group is performing more often to non-Sikhs than they are to Sikhs.

Another concept, which I find brilliant, is encouraging non-Sikhs to help play shabad and shows how multi-cultural the developed countries of the world have become. This is also shown by the popularity of The World Music Group's tours to perform for audiences in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA, UK, Europe, Malaysia, India, and Japan. Their popularity is growing and hopefully enhancing that of "Sikh Spiritual Music", especially among young "westernised Sikhs" and non-Sikhs.

One technique which he used to help not just the audience to understand the shabad, but also his group, is to explain and narrate parts of his kirtan in English which was the preferred language in our mainly UK born audience.

I would say most people enjoyed the performance, I certainly did, but not all did. And if there was a flaw in the concert, it was the arrangement of the seating plan. Dya Singh's message is aimed more firmly as inspiration for the children and I felt they should have been sat at the front. The reason why many younger children sitting around me lost interest was because they were too far back, and since they were quite short, could not see what was happening. SO, if the group does revisit us next year in Leicester, like they promised, I would like to see the young children, especially those of 5 -12 years of age sat at the front. (Make that 16 years, so that I am still eligible for a prime viewing seat).

So anybody who was not there or did not see any of the World Music Group's performances, I strongly urge you to come to see them in action on their next tour of the UK, and join us in Leicester (fingers-crossed).



Dya Singh CD’s available for sale now at www.ethnicisland.com

By- Harvir Singh Bhogal (15)
Solihull, Birmingham UK