Shammi Pithia and Band
Having charted at no.1 in the iTunes World Music chart with two albums, Shammi Pithia has become an in demand creative composer, producer and collaborator. Outside of the studio, Shammi has been performing his music around the world for the past 14 years with notable appearances at Glastonbury Festival, Wembley Stadium, Sadler’s Wells and sold-out solo shows at London’s Southbank Centre.
As a collaborator Shammi writes and performs music for dance in the kathak, ballet and contemporary fields, as well as writing for film, large ensembles and directing music for large scale shows.
Some highlights of his career include creating music for and performing on BBC’s Young Dancer of The Year 2015 (BBC2), which was broadcast live to over a million viewers in the UK alone, arranging music for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as they performed his music with him at Wembley Stadium to a 60,000 strong audience, musical direction for the sold-out Krishna Spectacular at the Hammersmith Apollo, a remix for Nitin Sawhney that appeared on his album The Last Days Of Meaning, production of Surrender by Jahnavi Harrsion and Willow Smith on ROC Nation, music for the short film Circle which was selected to appear in the Berlinale Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, BFI Film Festival and others, and writing and performing music for About The Elephant which premiered in India and then toured in the UK and in which Shammi was nominated for an ACTA award.
Most recently Shammi provided the score and performed for Good Mourning Earth choreographed and directly by Vidya Patel in collaboration with the Tate Modern to much acclaim.
Shammis music can also be found on TV having music synced to BBC’s Rick Stein’s India, Felicity Kendal’s Indian Shakespeare Quest, A Cook Abroad, Saturday Kitchen, Life in Immigration Town, Panorama, MTV’s Teen Cribs and Australian Films My Kitchen Rules to name a few.
Sitarist and vocalist Debipriya Sircar (née Das) began learning music at the age of 4 from her mother and her early gurus were the late Pandit Manesh Chandra Kansara (sitar) and the late Sri Golak Mohan Choudhury (vocal). Since 2003, Debipriya has been a disciple of Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty, one of the finest exponents of North Indian Classical Vocal music and has received vocal training at workshops conducted in the UK. Based in Stratford (East London) Debipriya combines her music with a full-time job as a Flow Cytometrist at The Francis Crick Institute in London.
Vikaash has been studying the art of Tabla and other Indian percussion since the age of two. Playing professionally from the age of eleven, Vikaash has built his reputation as a highly acclaimed, and sought-after drummer and percussionist within the music industry. He undertook formal training from his father Chandrakant Sankadecha and Amrit Pal (disciple of Ustad Mian Shaukat Hussain).
Through working with world class drummers and mentors including Kaz Rodrigues and Brendan Buckley, he has acquired skills in playing drums and various other percussion.
Vikaash is unbounded by genre; playing drums and percussion in Western, Indian and Latin styles. Having collaborated with established international artists such as Shakira, M.I.A, Nitin Sawhney, Jahnavi Harrison, Susheela Raman, Shammi Pithia and with acts including Asian Dub Foundation and Indian Idols.
He has been invited to play on stages and festivals such as: Jools Holland, MTV Coke Studio (India), The Big Chill, WOMAD, The Alchemy Festival, The Commonwealth Games (2014), O2 Arena (London), Wembley Arena (London), Central Park (New York)
Vikaash has worked on theatre productions including Much Ado About Nothing (Royal Shakespeare Company), The Junglebook (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Dara (The National Theatre), Britain's Got Bhangra (Rifco Arts). He has recorded for various artists and for Bollywood films such as Bluffmaster.
Vikaash is also the only Tabla Player in the world to endorse Protection Racket and Roland.
Rohan Roy is a famed Indian fusion violinist having played with a wide variety of celebrated Indian bands – from the famous Indian rock band Euphoria to Bollywood singers such as Monali Thakur, several regional rock bands to classical fusion bands with Indian classical maestros such as Pt. Tanmoy Bose or Kaushiki Chakraborty. He has played in over 50 Indian movies such as October, and Piku to name a few and is a household name in Indian television. Rohan also has a wide range of successful collaborations as a composer ranging from his association with BBC Arts to the children’s entertainment Cocomelon as well as for several other independent projects. He is currently continuing his experimentations in Indian fusion music imparting improvisational techniques of Indian music to prospective fusion artists and enthusiasts.
Michael Goodey is an experienced pianist and guitarist, who has known and worked with Shammi Pithia for over 20 years, and has had the pleasure of travelling around Europe, India and the USA on a variety of projects with him. Michael also enjoys working as a writer and producer, most recently with artist Radhika Das. Michael is also a very experienced facilitator working with organisations including the Barbican Centre, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and countless other arts organisations, schools and colleges.
Michael has discovered a love for working in music for social purpose. He is currently Musician In Residence at HMP Wormwood Scrubs and he also works on the senior management team at Noise Solution, an award-winning, sector-leading social enterprise that mentors young people facing challenging circumstances through music.
Double Bass player Ben Hazleton began regular professional work at the age of 15. Gigs and shows of a varied nature continued throughout 3 years of study at Middlesex university where he completed a degree in jazz music.
His experience led to him receive a scholarship to study on the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Program in Washington D.C and in 2003 The Worshipful Company of Musicians presented Ben the coveted ‘Young Jazz Musician of the Year’ award.
A rich fusion of cultures on the London scene allowed Ben to come into contact with
Indian classical musicians and through ongoing study with Clem Alford (sitar) and Amritpal Singh Rasiya (tabla), Ben seeks the further explore and extend the possibilities of the rich Double Bass sound.