Wish I could say Manj, me grew stronger together: Surj RDB

By Little India Desk | September 3, 2017

The NRI bhangra band, RDB, will be back soon with new music, says singer Surj RDB, who had taken a brief hiatus after the birth of his daughter.

Surj RDB (Surjeet Singh), who had a fallout with his brother Manj (Manjeet) Musik after the death of their eldest brother Kuljeet Ral (Kuly) in 2012, says things have not been the same since they lost him to brain tumour.

The popular music band, RDB (acronym for Rhythm, Dhol, Bass) was initially formed by the three British Sikh brothers in 2000. They gained an immense following with their style of music that blended western beats with traditional Punjabi rhythm and vocals, and came to be known for their British bhangra. After Kuljeet passed away, the two younger brothers decided to go separate ways. While Manj went on to pursue a solo career in 2014,

Surj now leads RDB along with his team of singers, performers and composers.

Asked if things are now fine with his brother, Surj RDB told IANS over e-mail: “Since Kuldeep paaji’s (brother) passing, it’s not been the same, both musically and personally. I wish I could say that after his demise me and Manj grew stronger together.”

He referred to the legal case that Manj filed against him in UK and India in 2014, and said that he later withdrew the lawsuit in 2016 “due to lack of argument”. “He still isn’t on talking terms with me or my parents,” Surj RDB revealed.

Was there any impact on the productivity of the songs after the split ?

“There no doubt that Kuly had a major part in the production of songs in the group as he was a true genius in the studio, but continuing his legacy on and on under the RDB banner has now fallen upon my shoulders which I’m trying to uphold by spreading his original created hits and sound by conducting shows across the globe and entertaining thousands of our RDB fans,” he added.

Surj RDB has worked on foot-tapping numbers like Tamanche pe disco, Rafta rafta and Saadi gali, among many others.

He says he has taken a back seat from the music scene as he became a proud father of a daughter earlier this year.

“But now as the demand for better music in the Bollywood industry has increased, RDB is back and will be realising on some brand new anthems very soon,” he said.

How does Surj see the taste of youth’s evolution in terms of music over the years?

“I love the fact that music is growing and youth is more and more keen to listen to new diverse sounds, from soulful numbers of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan to dubstep DJ anthems by Nucleya,” the musician says.

But adds: “My only regret is that as much as the youth listeners are growing, so are wannabe artists who seem to be in the game for all the wrong reasons.” – With  inputs from IANS