Courtesy Overtime Media
When it comes to the actual sound of Chutney Soca Music and the production behind some of the biggest crossover hits and collaborations of the past two decades, the name most heard in studios across the region is Big Rich and the Pungalunks Factory. From “Jap Sting Naina” to “Radica”, from Kes and Bunji Garlin to Beenie Man, Konshens, Lady Saw and more, Zaheer Khan aka Big Rich has moulded the sound of Chutney Soca in keeping with while innovating his own unique take on the blend of African and Indo rhythms and cultures as pioneered by the late, great Ras Shorty I. From songwriting to playing some of the instruments, from mixing and mastering to securing distribution and playing all the hits on his radio programs and tv shows, Big Rich has been a machine of Chutney Soca mass production for almost three decades already. His productions have crowned the most Chutney Soca Monarchs to date and he’s looking forward intensely to this year’s final, while also beginning to explore the opportunities and innovations being afforded by the use of Artificial Intelligence software in music circles and studios. Observing the trend and the emerging and evolving sounds of Zess, Trinibad and Steam, etc., Big Rich believes that the next wave will come from a blend of the vintage 70s Bollywood-infused sound with the more modern Afrobeat and Zess style and tempo.
“We have to teach the new generations the foundation and keep it alive and keep reinventing to suit the pulse and the frequency and I’m all for that and embracing the technology to make things easier, but we must keep the essense of the genre and fuse the traditional elements with the sounds of the present and future.”
Excited about the entrance of Machel Montano, Lady Lava, Melick and Terry Gadraj from Guyana, in addition to the return of Drupatee, Adesh Samaroo and Rikki Jai to the Chutney Soca Monarch competition, Big Rich will be cheering for four of his own productions which have qualified for and will be performed in the final as well. So what’s next for the DJ/TV Host, Producer, music lover and Entrepreneur, you ask?
“I doh wanna be all 60 and 70 DJaying still,” he revealed to XVibes. “So my next move will be launching my own Internet radio station called “Blaze It Radio” in April and that will allow me to stay in the music and call on all my artistes friends and provide a platform for them to showcase their music – and I love to come, I’m a chef as well, so I can still make my cooks and have my tv show as part of the radio programming, you know podcasts are the thing now, so Im heading in that direction while wanting and wishing the best for Chutney music and wanting it to be heaed and seen by the whole world!”
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