@ NXNE: Swami Featuring Fell on Deaf Ears

By Kate Xian

The British/Indian hybrid band Swami mixes pop and Indian bhangra styles for a more mainstream appeal. Taking over Yonge and Dundas Square, they entertained a dominantly South Asian audience and on the heels of the hot Bollywood trend thanks to Slumdog Millionaire, Toronto was the perfect opportunity to expand their fan base. With our eclectic and diverse community, almost anything goes in Toronto – in the good way.

Though female vocalist Liana wasn’t present for the performance, Swami still put on quite a stellar show, exposing Torontonians to a new blend of house, pop, and bhangra. With incredibly catchy tunes and that enjoyable bouncy roll in bollywood vocals, Swami seamlessly blends all three styles with tracks like Sugarless and Hey Hey.

One half of Swami has also been in the works on an alternative/rock side project Fell on Deaf Ears with American singer Josh Lyons. The NXNE audience gets the rare mashup of these two bands performing live and probably experience the first of a Bollywood/rock mix.

Definitely an interesting mix, and the Bollywood tinge definitely makes for rhythmic and catching beat. Lyons’ vocals add the rock flavour with that slight rasp and aggressive falsetto. Out of My Mind being the most obvious blend of the two very distinct styles, and No Apologies with a reminiscent tinge of Filter.

Both groups gave a surprising performance, going beyond all my expectations. The very modern attitudes of Swami and Fell on Deaf Ears is refreshing in an industry that in this day and age are lacking originality. Kudos to NXNE for finding this rarity.