To be released by Ministry of Sound and co-produced by Yung Singh and Cameron Barnfield, the upcoming documentary, The Birth of Punjabi Garage, will deep dive into the origin of the genre. Spanning from its early beginnings up to its modern proponents, such as Daytimers and indeed Yung Singh himself, the documentary is the first of its kind to explore and unpack this genre, seen to many as a niche subset of garage. The documentary is set for a November 18th release date.
In an announcement on Twitter, Yung Singh said of the project that it is “not a definitive history btw, just the start of the conversation. hopefully provides an insight into how things got started“. See a short trailer released on Twitter below:
a lil teaser for the documentary i co-produced on the early punjabi garage scene.
featuring @SurinderRattan @SurjRDB @metzntrix, Indy Sagu, myself & a few special cameos
dropping soon on the @ministryofsound channels
18/11/21 pic.twitter.com/PBmRp0qk3B
— yung singh (@yungsingh35ol) November 8, 2021
The documentary is to use archival footage from the late 90s as well as early 2000’s interviews that trail the rise of this genre, as well as exploring race and identity which is reflected in the music. On the project Cameron Barnfield stated: “Documentaries have covered Bhangra, the ’80s Daytimers and the Asian underground but the South Asian diaspora’s involvement in the early 2000s garage scene has never been covered and we are therefore proud to bring this to you!”
The project will pay respect to the scene, honouring the legacy of the genres main proponents, including Surinder Rattan, SurjRDB, Metz n Trix, Indy Sagu and Yung Singh himself, according to Mixmag.
Following a highly popular Boiler Room set which showcased some of the genre, Yung Singh commented that “the underground music community were sharing it, but the South Asian community were too – and I was like, this stuff is amazing why are we not celebrating it a bit more.” One of the comments of the video reads “part of my experience as a British Asian has been struggling with my identity. This set blended so much of the music that shaped me into one session,” highlighting the importance of this documentary’s emphasis on race and culture. You can watch the Boiler Room set below:
Exploring the contributions that British South Asian’s made towards the UK Garage scene, the project is to be released on the 19th of November, and will be available to watch on Ministry of Sound channels.
