Kissmet was originated by Ron and younger brother Buz Singh in the latter part of the 20th century. Two Sikh brothers, they had a strong allegiance to Bhangra but their eyes were looking further than that single shored horizon, across the seas to a new shore not ventured to. They had flirtations fusing English and Punjabi songs together but now wanted to write their own original material. The first few songs though were all in English. Ron recalls, "The first song I ever wrote was Catch the Sun. Can't say what it was about but it all stemmed from wanting something you couldn't have but in the end, you throw caution to the wind and let it ride and see where you end up. After that came Just don't walk away, Baby you were mine, Here to stay, Light of my life, etc, etc
"We were happy with the material and decided it was time to bite the bullet and record some. So, we searched far and wide to find someone we could entrust with the job of producing what we hoped would be the beginning of a new era for us. And boy, did we find the kiddies! There was a little sports centre in Cardiff and on the top floor of the complex were John Lenny and Ian Gully running a small studio. We booked in a couple of days to work on "Just don't walk away" and "Light of my life", just some of the stuff we'd written together in the freezing cold of the garage bang smack in the middle of a bleak midwinter. What can I say? We jelled really well with John and Gully and they loved what we were trying to do and the material, well, that speaks for itself. "Just don't walk away" and "Light of my life" are absolute classics and held true to our wish of subliminal fusion. JDWA has Nagin integrated so well within its structure, you'd think it was as charty as anything you'd hear on the radio, but Asian people know... As soon as they hear it, their ears prick up and they realise where we're coming from.
We had so many encouraging responses to the material that we decided to form a band to take our sound to the masses. We started off by asking Max, our older brother and steadying hand to take care of the Tabla section for us. He agreed so long as we bought him some new tablas!
Then, John our guitarist came onboard. I'd worked with him on some rocky stuff we'd done, calling ourselves Peanut Butter Sandwich ('cause I was the nutty brown one in the middle), so I knew he was out there on his own with his axe. He's an absolutely fantastic musician and we'd be drowning in a deep dark sea without him so he was straight in. Also, he's one of the nicest blokes I've ever met.
We stumbled across Marc (bass) and Thorin (drums) by one of those strange twists of fate or something. Marc's dad lived around the corner from Buz and Buz and Marc's dad were just talking in the street one day when Buz mentioned he was in a band looking for a bass player.
Marc's dad said he'd ask Marc if he was interested and, if he was, there was a drummer who might come along too. Talk about finding honey in the Antarctic! Marc may be young but he plays with a flair and passion way beyond his years. And Thorin, well, an awesome drummer who's as much into the Indian drumming as Buz is.
The rest, as they say, will be history..."
A few Clips from the 2008 Season with Kissmet
A clip of Kissmet at the Lamar Tree Festival - 2007
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