#shabads

Ami Dang is a vocalist, sitarist, and composer/producer from Baltimore and New Delhi. Her sound ranges from North Indian classical fused with noise/ambient electronics to experimental dancepop that comes together to create a new genre she calls “Bollywave.”

Ami your music is so unique. Tell us what inspires you?

Thanks, and I'm glad that you're enjoying the music.  Firstly, I am inspired by the powerful, positive energy that results from a group of people coming together to create, motivate, receive, discuss, or simply live their lives.  This could be manifested by a political movement, a partnership, the birth of a child, a piece of artwork, a performance, a traffic pattern, or a spiritual exchange.  I'm also very inspired by cultural translations, that is, how someone understands something foreign and the exchange that may transpire.  I am inspired by things that make me feel extremely excited and by things that make me feel very sad or frustrated.

Why was it important to you to participate in the Beats for Bangladesh benefit album?

I was devastated by the factory collapse in Bangladesh.  Firstly, the fact that the factory employees were working under unsafe conditions and for little pay is simply wrong.  It is awful that Wal-mart and many other large retail companies commission commodities to be manufactured abroad by people who are subjected to terrible working conditions.  I am a huge advocate of purchasing American-made or secondhand clothing and objects as much as possible until these companies start mandating better conditions for factory workers abroad.

I understand that purchasing domestic-made clothing and objects comes at a higher prices, and I know that I am lucky enough to (sometimes) be able to afford these items.  If more people, however, purchased their everyday items in correlation with their own values, prices would come down, and/or factory conditions would improve.

 I also recognize that, in this day and age, this approach is not always possible.  For example, I lament that I'm so dependent on my android cell phone, my computers, and other electronics made in China and by workers who often experience repetitive stress injuries in their teens or early 20s because they work long hours to meet demands.  Furthermore, these people are subjected to awful chemicals that we don't permit in the United States.

I suppose we have to pick our battles, but I'm still fighting this one.

Can you tell us more about Sublimate, the track you contributed to Beats for Bangladesh?

Sublimate is a shabad written by Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the first guru of the Sikh religion.  I interpret the main line of the shabad to mean: everything and all of creation are in your power, God/universe.

It's important to note here that my interpretation of "God" is the universe, which implies that each and every individual is a part of the universe and the divine. With this meaning, we need to take responsibility for what we have created, every action that we take in life.  We must keep in mind that what one does every day affects someone else, your community, the earth, and our universe.  We are all a part of a whole.

It seems you are using more Sikh shabads in your music, what inspires your use of shabads?

I have been singing Sikh shabads since I was a child, and the Sikh religion and culture in general are a huge influence on my life and my work.  Honestly, I don't claim to be very religious, rather, I'm a spiritual person, but shabads are a source of inspirational scripture, and it's easy to be motivated to create music to accompany a motivational message.  I have performed countless shabads throughout my life in both traditional and avant garde arrangements, and I record and release the ones that are most interesting to me, in terms of message and music.

What is coming up next for you?

I completed a full-length album called Sun On Our Skins last year, and I would like to release it sometime soon.  I'm touring the northeast and midwest USA from mid-September to October.  I also perform in New York roughly once a month.

I'm also working on an album of shabads, or kirtan, as Sikh music is referred to, and I look forward to further exploring my roots and connecting with a broader Sikh community.

If you were to describe yourself as a spice or an herb what would it be and why?

Oh, that's hard!  Well, I might bend the rules a bit.  I have a wrapper of a chocolate bar by the Belgian company Dolfin pasted on my wall because the flavor is "milk chocolate with hot masala."  It's a really tasty chocolate, and also, it represents me because it uses global fusion to create an delicious, spicy, sweet, and smooth flavor.

It's interesting because this chocolate is another consumable that is a direct result of globalization.  There are pros and cons to globalization.  Even my existence in the US is a direct result of globalization so I can't really say only negative comments about it!  Again, we must keep in mind that, with the good, comes the bad.  What we enjoy often is a result of someone else's drudgery.