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

Summer Akhter

Post-9/11 Salve for a New Generation? Check out Summer Akhter's review of Cornershop live in Los Angeles!

SA: Dan the Automator has actually done a lot of work with so-called Asian Underground groups. What do you think of that label?
TS: There's not really an Asian Underground Movement. Really, it's ripped off from what we were doing in England, which was underground, which was Asian, and was a way to market Asians within major record labels. Underground is not major label. And they don't say shit, anyway. What do they ever say about Indian life or perspective? People in Japan could be saying the same things, even more fucking eloquently. And without the bad hairstyles.

SA: That's what I wanted to ask you.
TS: About the hairstyles?

SA: No, about not saying shit. I think it's become trendy to be either Indian or Asian.
TS: Right, and that word "trend," that really typifies it. It's a trend, it's a fad, it's a fashion, and it will be gone. And we didn't come in to build walls, we came to knock 'em down. And that's what we do.

SA: How is the new album being received?
TS: It's starting out well, better than the last one, which is good. (The sitar player enters.) Hey, that's the woman we try to hide in the back! I think that with a lot of our albums there's a lot of word of mouth, and that hasn't happened at the moment. It's starting to happen, but really, we could have benefitted from coming to America a few months later, rather than hot on the heels of our new release.

SA: Do you think that 24-hour mix of "Spectral Morning" has helped generate buzz?
TS: It brought more people to the Web site, but I'm just sick of fucking talking about it.

SA: Do you have plans to perform the track with Noel Gallagher?
TS: We have no plans.

SA: Do you prefer to sing in Punjabi or English?
TS: It really depends on how the song comes about and that's it.

SA: What political statements/overtones are intertwined in Cornershop's lyrics or music?
TS: Politics is really what it's all about. Saying something, whatever that is. I think we've managed to do that even with instrumentals, without lyrics whatsoever. We make people think about things and the way they conduct their business, the way they go about things. But the album is all political. That's why it's funny to hear people say that they like to do music without politics because they're living in a fucking river. They're not even living.

The classically trained Karsh Kale. "Fuck me. You mean, he's got a blank palette when he starts? Jesus Christ."

SA: What has Cornershop done in terms of borrowing from classical traditions? There's the sitar, sort of an Asian element, and then there is actually going to India and studying its musical traditions.
TS: I try to keep away from that middle-class bullshit. England certainly has a distinction within class and class certainly has a distinction within music -- within the Asian communities. Our sitar player is classically trained, but then again she hasn't always been with us. Me, I don't care for that, because when I listened to music in the past or went to functions in the past, the pansiest ones were the ones based on those traditions, based on things that I don't really need.

SA: Some critics would argue that the Asian elements become a gimmick.
TS: They don't know what they're talking about. I know it's the shit. I know what it's based on -- it's based on Punjabi folk music, which is a lot more raw than the stuff that you're talking about. I think it's a lot more heartfelt. A lot more hip-hop in the way that it goes about conveying messages.

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SA: Have you ever listened to Karsh Kale?
TS: No.

SA: That's why I asked your thoughts on being classically trained. Karsh Kale is a percussionist who is classically trained on the tabla.
TS: No, I never listened to him. I'd like to, though. Does he sing?

SA: Yeah.
TS: What does he sing about?

SA: Home, distance . . .
TS: Fuck me. You mean, he's got a blank palette when he starts? Jesus Christ.

SA: Listening to anything good now?
TS: The Ventures are very interesting. The Streets. I'm listening to a lot of Betty Rhodes at the moment. Reggae. Quite a lot of reggae. We bought a lot of records and manage to hear them when the bus is stopped. So quite a lot of stuff.

SA: Are you planning to experiment with some reggae on the next album?
TS: Maybe. We'll see what happens.

SA: Where do you go from here?
TS: There are a few festivals in Europe, and then we go to Denmark for a few days, and then back to England.

Following the interview, Tajinder shyly poses for a picture, thanks me, then heads out for the sound check. Halfway out the door, he turns to me.

TS: You coming to the show? Could you bring those CDs we were talking about? I'm interested to hear them.