Sardool Sikandar
From Roadways De Larry in 1987 to O-ho, Sardool Sikander has come a long way. He attributes success of the album to rewarding confluence of western and traditional folk music which has resulted in sum extremely delightful numbers, a couple of which are currently on various count down shows. Sardool has 27 albums to his credit.
A lot of hard work and effort has gone in to his present day success. Born in the Kheri Naudh Singh in district Ludhiana, he belongs to the Patiala Gharana of music. ” Actually for my first album Roadways De Larry, in 1987, I had sung all the songs in different voices. So the people thought it to be album by different signers. I sum how did not get much credit for it. That possibly is the reason why I had to wait for some time before my voice got recognized.” Of course, now he has many hit albums including Husna De Malikon, Nakhra Janab Da under his belt.
The most important factor behind the success of Punjabi Pop has been the fact that it is no longer confined to the regional boundaries.
Sardool calls it the charisma of real singing which has the capabilities of transgressing artificial, ” the real singing, especially in Punjabi can never be confined to one reason, Moreover, Punjabi music is in demand among youth.”
However, lately there has been an increasing trend in the Punjabi pop whether it has been Jasbeer Jassi, Harbhajan Mann or for that matter Sardool himself, of being influenced by the western pop music, So much so that without the vocals an album could easily be mistaken for an English one. The original folk tunes and the feel have somehow become redundant in these otherwise technically superb albums. Sardool feels that like every other field there has to be a change in Punjabi music too.
According to Sardool, “Punjabi music should change with time. Moreover, we need modern instruments and techniques to reach the younger audience, especially the non-Punjabis, Videos also help to do so and encourage people to buy the album. I strongly oppose vulgarity which is quite evident from the video of Ik Kudi dil Utte chha gayi. It is an extremely attractive video but doesn’t have an iota of vulgarity.”
The music of his latest album O-ho is by Jaidev Kumar. As far as Punjabi music, or for that matter, music is any other language is concerned, Music director is important for the success of any album. Sardool, while acknowledging the fact, says that it is true that with his latest album Jaidev has edit one more feather to his cap but the success of any album his due to other factor as well. In his case, he says,each track is a perfect blend of Punjabi folk music, meaningful lyrics and powerful vocals to give the album a distinctive flavour infact