DisOrientalist profile picture

DisOrientalist

borderless beats for a borderless world!

About Me

"Our age of incredible interconnectedness - an age of capitalist mergers and acquisitions undertaken for the sole purpose of increased profits and control, an age of mass media and global information glut. For us who defy this system of death-bringing materialism, therefore, the challenge is ALSO to CONNECT..." - Mumia Abu Jamal


A proud son of the city of Lahore, the city they call the cultural and creative capital of Pakistan, I left my hometown at the age of 19 to discover the rest of the world and its music. Travelling for many years now, I have lived in many countries and imbibed music from every part of the world; classical, folk, spiritual, electronic etc. Starting off with a pair of tape decks and a mixer (long before I could afford to buy records or CDs) I've worked over these years as a "world music" (hate that catch-all label!) DJ, a dance/electronica DJ (mixing all varieties of HipHop, House, Dub, Techno, Drum & Bass, Electro, Breaks etc) and (more recently as) a music/AV producer.

Although I was brought up in South Asia and the Middle East, my musical influences extend across and transcend far beyond those borders. During my travels, I've been extremely fortunate to meet some of the most talented musicians from all over the world and have been very lucky to have the opportunity to work with some of them to create and promote exciting new music that is truly borderless. Through my travels, DJ sets, recordings, live performances and club nights I am constantly exploring and creating musical links between (for example) Batucada and Bhangra, Flamenco and Gnawa, Reggae and Rai, Rajasthani Roots and Balkan Brass, Bollywood and Hollywood's Blacksploitation Funk, the acoustic and the electronic, etc. etc. In the process, I hope that I can help break down some of the borders that separate nations, cultures, art forms and most importantly . . people!!!

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 5/4/2006
Band Website: disoriental.org
Band Members:
Myspace Profile Tracker World Visitor Map
Influences: Too many to mention! Influences range from Bob Marley to Fela Kuti, Edward Said to Eqbal Ahmad, Erik Satie to Eduardo Galeano, Gil Scott Heron to Gilberto Gil, Pablo Neruda to Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald to Abida Parveen, Fairuz to Ali Hasan Kuban, Farrokh Bulsara to Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Manu Chao to Manu Dibango, Mancini to Mangeshkar, Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy to Dre, Burning Spear to Spearhead, Puente to Prodigy to Prince, R.D.Burman to James Brown, John Cage to Johnny Cash, The Clash to Coldcut, Jimi Hendrix to the Last Poets to Public Enemy......

Addictive TV

Exceeda

Sounds Like: ...a borderless world
Type of Label: None

My Blog

Live audiovisual mix for Arte Foto 2008 (Italy)

Audiovisual Mix for the annual Arte Foto Festival (Italy) from DisOrientalist on Vimeo.Photo journalists from the agencies ParalleloZero (Milan) and Panos Pictures (London) shared their work...
Posted by DisOrientalist on Mon, 02 Jun 2008 08:27:00 PST

Upcoming Gigs

Some confirmed gigs over the next few months:Saturday April 5th - The Late Lantern Carnival Party @ Everyone Centre - SheffieldFriday April 11th - Babalonia @Southwilliams - DublinFriday April 18th -...
Posted by DisOrientalist on Sun, 06 Apr 2008 12:24:00 PST

Recent audiovisual stuff

Here are some lo-res tasters for some AV sillyness that I've been working on lately. Most still need more work but I thought I'd let y'all have a sneaky peak :)  Lots more in the pipeline! Deser...
Posted by DisOrientalist on Sun, 27 May 2007 10:01:00 PST

Some current video favourites

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.ExceedaHYPNOVISTA Add to My Profile | More VideosAddictive TVAV mix / mash-up of stuff Add to My Profile | ...
Posted by DisOrientalist on Sun, 27 May 2007 10:15:00 PST