"We Didn't Come to Build Walls, We Came to Knock 'em Down:" An Interview with Cornershop's Tjinder Singh

Summer Akhter

Dynamic duo for a New Generation. "I wouldn't be influenced by anybody but I just didn't listen to a lot of stuff because it was so demoralizing."

After a five-year gap between albums and an infectious hit, "Brimful of Asha," UK band Cornershop released its newest offering, Handcream for a Generation, a hard-to-label psychedelic fusion of Indian pop-rock and British disco funk. I got a chance to speak to frontman, Tjinder Singh, before Cornershop jumped onstage at Los Angeles' El Rey near the end of May, although I was momentarily rendered speechless after catching sight of a solitary Morrissey kicking back, sipping a drink, and waving off fans and acolytes alike.

When I finally got to Singh, we ended up rapping about Cornershop's new album, his favorite movies and the Asian Underground Movement, which we eventually agreed was neither Asian nor underground.

Summer Akhter: How did you come up with the name, Handcream for a Generation? Was it originally a lyric?
Tajinder Singh: I just wrote it down. It looked like a good lyric, as well as a good title.

SA: How is this album different from your side project Clinton?
TS: Well Clinton really isn't a side project. I don't know why people call it that.

Don't forget to moisturize! Cover art for Handcream. "The remix of 'People Power' at the time was rejected by our label and I wanted to de-reject it."

SA: What was up with Clinton then?
TS: Well, it was just another album, on a different label, done differently, using more technology. We did things in a slightly different manner.

SA: So how is Handcream for a Generation different from Clinton?
TS: There are a lot of elements within that Clinton album that are part of this, actually. The technological side, particularly. Obviously, "People Power" is on both albums. The remix of "People Power" at the time was rejected by our label and I wanted to de-reject it.

SA: I notice when Cornershop performs, the woman who plays sitar sits behind the rest of the group. Is it to de-emphasize her role in the group or more of an acoustic thing?
TS: Well, she's a woman. We like to put them in back. (I figure he's kidding but guess that any laugh on my part will precipitate more similar comments, so I stare at him for about 25 seconds. Tajinder breaks the silence, laughing.) No, I'm kidding -- you're all right, mate! It's just the way the stage is laid out - the platforms vary from venue to venue.

SA: Is having such an anthemic hit like "Brimful of Asha" a blessing or a burden?
TS: In the manner that it came about being a hit, I think it's just about everything that we've wanted to do within music, to get loads of people of different ages into a song. And it's a good example of what we've always thought is right about popular music.

Fill it to the brim. "[Brimful of Asha] is a typical example of what we've always been striving for."

SA: In what way?
TS: In that it's a song that people like -- they like the music, they like the lyrics, they like the musicality, they like everything about it. They like the artwork. So therefore it is a typical example of what we've always been striving for. So, yeah. It was good.

SA: You've released "Lessons Learned From Rocky I to Rocky III" as the first single. Do you hope that will get to the level of "Brimful of Asha?"
TS: When I write songs, I've realized that if I thought like that, I'd never come out with a song. I'm actually glad that it's a great album, and that it's undeniable as an album.

SA: So are you a fan of all the Rocky movies?
TS: The first three are palatable. I think he's a dick, though.

SA: Who?
TS: Stallone.

You're a killer, Rock! "The first three [Rocky movies] are palatable. I think he's a dick, though."

SA: You have any other favorite movies?
TS: The Party.

SA:Oh, with Peter Sellers?
TS:Yeah! You like it too?

SA: It's one of my favorites.
TS: Cool. Oh, a lovely Belgian-French film, called The Carriers are Waiting, which is fucking brilliant, small and independent. It didn't go everywhere, but it was brilliant. The Carriers are Waiting. If you could write that, that'd be brilliant.

SA: How did you decide to get Noel Gallagher of Oasis to collaborate with Cornershop on "Spectral Morning?"
TS: Gave him a demo.

SA: Is that something you wanted to do before with other albums, or did it just come about with Handcream?
TS: Well, we started work on a track on the Clinton album with Noel and then he had to go off to France to finish his album. So it was good to get it done this time.

SA: What were you listening to while making this album?
TS: Nothing.

SA: Was that a conscious decision to not be influenced by anybody?
TS: Well, I wouldn't be influenced by anybody but I just didn't listen to a lot of stuff because it was so demoralizing.

SA: What, for example?
TS: Well, you name me something that's not demoralizing.

SA:I think the new DJ Shadow disc, Private Press, isn't too demoralizing.
TS: I've heard that. I saw the Automator the other day and he said the first few tracks were very good. But I haven't heard them.

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