There is a musical styling out there for everyone, and there is no hard and fast set of rules that states musicians must adhere to one genre or another. Artists are constantly branching out from their comfort zones to test their abilities and appeal to a broader audience. Then there are artists and groups that thrive on a collision of musical styles that refuses to fit any sort of preset mold. In that latter group you will find the music and performances of a Canadian band known as Delhi 2 Dublin. Commonly referred to simply as D2D, the group was formed in Vancouver, British Columbia in 2006 and has enjoyed a surprisingly meteoric rise in its popularity around the globe. For those looking for a mainstream group obsessed with winning over the globe, you might have to keep looking. Delhi 2 Dublin thrives in a unique musical genre many refer to simply as World Music, but that doesn’t mean that their style is lacking in a sense of uniqueness. Although the term “world music” comes across as terribly bland and generic, for D2D this term is an entirely appropriate adjective to describe a group with an odd, but successful, fusion of different musical genres.
A Style All Their Own
While D2D’s music is classified as world music, it is in reality a fusion between Bhangra and Celtic music. Bhangra is a mixture of musical genres that rose from Britain in the 1980s as first and second generations immigrants from the Punjab regions of Pakistan and India combined their cultural music with modern Western genres. Celtic music has a deep history that is often confined, in the minds of many, to the Celtic cultures of the British Isles. Although often associated most closely with Irish culture, Celtic music and cultures have a much wider reach that includes Scotland, Wales, parts of Portugal, and even as far away as Canada and the United States. It was in Canada that an eclectic group of artists came together to form Delhi 2 Dublin, a clever play on words that accurately describes their unique musical combination. The group’s first major performance came on 1 July 2007 at the opening ceremonies on Parliament Hill in Ottawa for Canada Day. The group’s eclectic members perfectly suited the unique style of music performed on a nightly basis. Currently, the band consists of five members playing instruments as different as the member’s themselves. The members of the D2D include Tarun Nayar (Tabla, Electronics), Sara Fitzpatrick (Fiddle), Sanjay Seran (Vocals), Andrew Kim (Electric guitar), and Ravi Binning (Dhol, Tabla). Any attempt to describe the group as a whole would never hold a candle to their own description of the group as found on their website: “Described by one magazine as the “United Nations of rock ‘n’ roll”, they have become one of Canada’s most buzzed-about bands. This year will only see them enhancing that reputation. After all…where else are you going to see a kick-ass fiddle player rocking out with a kilt-wearing Korean flanked by two bouncing Bhangra percussionists and a vocalist who looks like he would be at home in a Bollywood music video?”
A Band on the Rise
D2D’s opening performance on Canada Day 2007 helped launch the group’s profile to new heights. The group followed up its impressive performance at the Canada Day celebrations with its first album launch, entitledDelhi 2 Dublin, on 13 December 2007. D2D hit the road in 2008 for tours that took them to towns both large and small across Canada. In the early days, tour dates included stops in major Canadian cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and Ottawa, but also smaller music festivals in cities and towns including Canmore, Lumby, and Quincy. Though D2D’s live performances drew more followers, the group’s appeal went global thanks to airtime for hit songs from their albums. The group’s debut album reached #3 on the Canadian world music charts and was heard on radios across Canada, throughout the United States, and as far away as Japan and Europe. Success just kept coming for D2D as their second album (Delhi 2 Dublin Remixed) hit #1 on the CHARTattack world music charts, and their third album (Planet Electric) also hit #3 on the Canadian world music charts.
Recent and Upcoming Events
After releasing two albums in 2011 (Planet: Electrified, Delhi 2 Dubland), the group released a sixth album at the end of 2012. Turn Up the Stereo was released in Canada on 28 August, followed by an international released on 19 February 2013. D2D spent July 2013 performing across the United States and Canada. Live performances this past July included stops in Seattle, WA at the Out to Lunch Concert Series, Grass Valley, CA at the California World Music Festival, the Vancouver Folk Music Festival in their hometown in British Columbia, and additional stops in Eugene, OR and Redmond, WA. The members of D2D spent New Year’s Eve 2013 down under at The Falls Music and Arts Festival in Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia. Members of the band tweeted live on New Year’s Eve from the festival as they took in the music from the Roots. With 2014 upon us, D2D shows no sign of slowing down. Major events already booked for D2D include an 8 March 2014 performance with The Funk Hunters at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver. Additionally, the band will return to Grass Valley, CA to participate in the 2014 California World Music Festival from 10-13 July 2014. With a jam packed calendar in 2014, D2D’s star is clearly on the rise and the band will need all the rest it can get in early 2014 to keep up with demand for its unique style.