Bombay mix

The fusion of British-Asian dance music and fashion has finally come of age. Jessica Stein reports

Talvin Singh has had his finger on the pulse of the flirtation between British and Asian fashion and music since bhangra, the homegrown Asian dance sound, first hit the streets of Britain in the Eighties. A tabla player from the East End of London, he has brought his deft drumming to the music of Bjork, Massive Attack and Bim Sherman. Now, with his weekly Anokha club which restarts at the Blue Note in London's Hoxton Square on Monday, he feels confident that his own fusion of music and fashion is here to stay.

Anokha grew out of Asian sound-system parties in east London and Singh and his posse's "Home Sessions". It found a home at the Rokit club in north London in late 1995, then moved to its permanent Monday night home at the Blue Note. A compilation CD, Sounds of the Asian Underground, soon to be released, features Anokha's eclectic array of DJs and musicians with their tabla-based brew of drum'n'bass, classical Indian and Bollywood soundtracks. The music is light years away from traditional bhangra, but is mindful of the music's cultural roots.

"Having the club is good because it's built a new environment, not only musically but as far as fashion is concerned as well," says Singh. "Fashion and music are parallel, it's always been like that and it ain't going to change."

Wayne Hemingway of Red or Dead agrees. His "Bollywood" collection for spring/summer '97 is a fusion of traditional Asian clothing and British streetwear. There are saris for women and embroidered cheesecloth shirts for men, to be worn over jeans and trainers. Hemingway has even taken sari fabrics from Southall and made them into wedge mules. The sari promises to become clubland's favourite way of dressing.

"The most exciting thing about the collection was embellishing the cross- cultural aspect that goes on in Britain. Most countries don't have that," says Hemingway. "We have taken Indian sari fabrics to British street level, which is fun and kitsch."

Last year's Babylon Zoo number one hit "Spaceman" took the sari-with- trainers look on to Top of the Pops, just as Apache Indian did a few years before them. Talvin Singh allows the street style of Asian youth, traditional Indian music and cutting edge drum'n'bass to coexist happily.

"What I am doing is my own agenda," says Singh, holding forth from an East End studio decked out with white candles and incense. "At the club, saris and trainers are the vibe. People don't feel shy in saris and trainers. But the good thing there is it's pretty open. People can come in a suit if they want to."

The man who has transformed the tabla from a novelty into a respected pop instrument knows where to look for the truly cool Asian fashions.

"There's a London-based designer called Shahid Bashir who does traditional Indian clothes crossed with cyber club-wear which are brilliant. In Bombay it's Lalit Jalan. He's a top Indian designer and he takes certain cuts of men's clothing and manipulates them in the nicest way. People like that have had a real influence on my music."

Singh's main hunting ground for music is Southall. "We go down to Southall Broadway to the Indian Classical music shops like Indian Record House, ABC and Metro to try and find original recordings on vinyl. That way you get the sleeve designs, which are wonderful, and sleeve notes too. You need to know the history in order to feel confident about what you are doing. I feel I can be radical with my music because I play a traditional Indian instrument and I studied it."

If his musical prescience is as hot as his style sense, current Singh protege Amar, featured on the Asian Underground compilation, is going to take Post-Modern Asian cool to distinctly overground heights. The cyber- sari'd starlet, aged 17, was discovered by Singh and Bjork in Southall singing Whitney Houston songs in Hindi. Talvin Singh is producing her debut album for the major label off-shoot Blanco Y Negro. Time to touch tabla and bass with the future chic of India.

Talvin's Tips

Start at ... Anokha, every Monday at the Blue Note Club/Gallery, 1 Hoxton Square, London N1, from 10pm. Nearest Tube Old Street, pounds 3 before 11pm, pounds 5 thereafter (0171 729 8440).

Then go to the ... Indian Record House (IRH) - 70 South Road, Southall, Middlesex and 41 The Broadway, Southall. One of the biggest stockists of Indian classical, devotional, religious, and bhangra music (0181 574 4739).

Watch ... Bombay, directed by Mani Ratnam - "It's like Bollywood meets Sataya Jit Ray (an Indian Art House Director)" and Sholay - "Pure Bollywood".

Listen to ... Sunrise Radio 1468 AM, and tune in to their bhangra session every Saturday from 2pm to 5pm with DJ Balbir - "Sunrise is the best full- on Asian station in London but I prefer to listen to pirate stations."

Designer ... Bashir is a St Martin's graduate who specialises in "cyber- Indian" clothing. "He has made variations on the sari for Amar using techno fabrics, and does the same with traditional styles of Indian menswear," says Talvin. Made-to-measure garments can cost upwards of pounds 200. "Apartment", the ready-to-wear range he designs, is described as "directional men's clubwear" - stock costs from pounds 50 up (0973 892 869).

Red or Dead ... will be selling a selection of its Bollywood collection from the first week in February, including printed Indian chiffon pieces, available from 1 Sloane Street, London SW1 (0171 235 1335).