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Pandit Chuddy "Lister" Singh is a visiting musician who stepped into the bass
guitarist role in Riot City in May 2002. His first public performance with the Riot
City was 11 May 2002, when he joined the skinhead octet for a single performance
of "Ruski Ska" at the Harp Hotel in Tempe. He has stood in at every Riot City
performance since as the band are having difficulty finding a replacement bass
guitarist.
Pandit Chuddy "Lister" Singh studied Indian and Pakistani classical music before he learned to speak English. As a disciple of Ustad Pran Wahid Hazrat, he developed a highly unique style of devotional singing not fully appreciated in Australia. A master of many instruments, Pandit Singh has studied various forms of music including Qawwali, Hindustani, Dhrupad and Carnatic styles; Turkish makam and usul; Arabic methods including taqsim and layali; and he has a detailed knowledge Iranian Radif, Pandit Singh joined Riot City to further his persuit of ethnically diverse musics, exploring the much-maligned musical traditions of English football hooligans. Pandit Chuddy "Lister" Singh's book "Musical Aggregation and Cultral Cross- Polination" (released in 1995, Oxford University Press) explores the introduction of non-anglo culture into the United Kingdom and the adoption of ethnic musical styles by the fascist bully-boy elements therein. In his exploration of the cultural montage that is skinhead reggae, Pandit Chuddy "Lister" Singh ensures that diverse influences are woven into the underlying technical structure of traditional skinhead musical techniques. He enjoys the rythmic complexity, the intricate melodic improvisations, the delicate emotional balance and the creatively challenging prospects of the rocksteady bass lines that underpin such expressive and uplifting anthemic standards as "Al Capone". Although Pandit Chuddy "Lister" Singh enjoys collaborating with Riot City, he does not understand resistance to his suggestions that Bangra/Ska fusion would take the Sydney music scene by storm. At this point, his calls that all Riot City basslines should be played on tabla remain unheard. |
| Last updated at 20:13 on Saturday 30 November 2002 |