B4U The Vibe meet Bhangra DJ and Producer Harj XS BASS. A spiritual and musical individual, Harj initiated his passion for music at the Gurdwara, where he spent a lot of his time whilst growing up. Having travelled to India regularly he was exposed to the strong roots of his culture and developed his musical talents amongst spiritual mentors. Harj's musical journey has allowed him to work on exciting and innovative projects, producing instrumentals, TV theme tracks and creating mixtapes. With the release of his latest track ‘Ajaa Nachle', I catch up with him to find out more!
Tell us a bit about how you got started in the music industry?
I was a collector of Records (Vinyl's) in my youth and when I started College ran daytime gigs and got the opportunity to DJ to college friends and colleagues
As a DJ and producer, what would you say your signature style is?
My style has always been UK Bhangra mixed with Urban R'n'B classics.
What musical influences did you have whilst growing up?
There is only one real direct influence which is ‘Bally Sagoo' combined with DJ Jazzy Jeff and Run DMC
 How would you say the Bhangra scene has changed since you first started out?
It has got easier for people to enter the scene, no real skill is required due to the technology and the talent level has dropped due to the Video era, with people focusing on manufactured bands/artist rather then talent and skill
You received a lot of love for your remix of Jay Sean's ‘Tonight', have you got any other remixes in the pipe line that we should look out for?
I have a big track Rapped by Panjabi MC named ‘The Beat' which will be releasing in 2012. As for Remixes, my focus is on new and original material for now unless another opportunity like the ‘Jay Sean' one comes along.
What was it like getting the support of Jermaine Jackson for the charity single ‘One Day'?
This was great as Jermaine is very much into humanitarian work and supporting charities of good nature. This was a 1st for me to compose and record a true story in the form of Charity Single.
Tell us a bit about your latest track Ajaa Nachle?
It's receiving some great hype from across the world; I've had great feedback from Australia , Canada , Pakistan , India and across Europe .
What was it like working with Jelly Manjitpuri and Maninder Bawa?
Great! Jelly is a professional; it's always a pleasure working with him. Maninder is a student of Jelly Manjitpuri and when writing both LOVERS ANTHEM part 1 and part 2 we had some great fun, and I feel that comes across in the final production.
 Tell us a bit about the music video for the track?
One word ‘Simple', the idea for the video was to make it into a simple dance video with lots of colour. The Bhangra and Giddha dancer show off their cultural side with vibrant colours as the 2 models do their best to lip sync the track.
Are there any artists you would love to work with?
There are many… From the Bhangra and R&B industry, however it's all about timing. The living legend ‘Gurdas Maan' would be amazing to work with.
What are you currently working on?
My next project will be focused on Vasakhi 2012 and I am looking to release my long awaited ‘Religious Album' which will include tracks from the ‘SHAHEEDI' projects.
Where can the B4U fans find out more about you?
Tweet me up on @XS_BASS
or check out my website www.xs-bass.co.uk which has all the links you need.
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