IndiaPost.com - JoSH performs in Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS: JoSH, a desi band based in Montreal, Canada performed at an Indian concert at Trocedors night club.

JoSH is an Indian and Pakistani east-west fusion band of modern and traditional Bhangra music that is strongly influenced by hip-hop and pop music. It was formed in 2000. JoSH has since released four albums. It has duo composer writers Quarram Hussain and Rupinder Magon. The band recently won the best Bhangra artists trophy at the 2007 Bollywood music awards held in Atlantic City.

The original artist Sukhbir was not able to perform due to a family emergency so Josh served as a replacement. They performed songs from their forthcoming from their album Mausam.

Before the show, Josh had time to sit down and tell us what they had in story for us in the year 2008. India Post:

How is your second trip to Minnesota?

Josh: Minneapolis is great and we had such a good time and we expect it to be the same. We had not performed yet, so I cannot give you any reviews. This was something that came up last minute. Originally we were not supposed be here. If the energy is the same as the last time I am sure we will have a good time.

IP: How does it feel to replace to Sukbhir?

J: Well, no one can replace Sukbhir. He is the king and will always be the king. We had an opportunity to work with him and have learned a lot from him and we bring back what we learned to our performances. We bring back the same kind of energy to our shows

IP: Last time you told me that JoSH means zest and energy and now that you have been in the music scene did you ever consider changing your name?

J: It's a good question. Just coming up with one name is hard and the fact we have decided on one, we are pretty much stuck to it and will never change it. Josh is a high energy name, but a lot of things can be done with it as we perform from our hearts and we are dedicated to it

PG: Do you have any surprises in store for Minneapolis

J: If there are any treats we are going to leave them as a surprise. We have tossed up with sets and have played around with the music here and there to give something new and fresh to the audience, so you are going to have to come to the show and check it out.

PG: What do fans have in store for 2008 when it comes to Josh?

J: Touring is still happening at all times. First we are in Minneapolis, then Karachi, Toronto, Miami so pretty much each weekend is gone. We are working on our new album in the studio and hoping to release it in April sometime.

We just got singing a Bollywood song from a movie Niche and we are planning to release at least one more video from previous album Mausam. The main thing is to give priority to our tours and album.

PG: How did Bhutto's death affect you?

J: Besides it being a sad event, we were in Pakistan at the time and we had to cancel a lot of our shows and get out of there as it was not safe. It was an unfortunate event, we are not actually involved in politics and the only way it really affects us is the loss of our shows

PG: How does it feel winning a Bollywood Award?

J: We could not make it to the awards we were performing elsewhere at the time. We were very happy as we were the most nominated band. It is great to go back and get that kind of recognition Bollywood was where it actually first started for us and it was the first show which really gave us our first break.