SONIK GURUS & THE BUDDHAS OF CYBERBIA Saturday June 19 2004 LIFT International theatre festival. 9pm - 1am @ The Bargehouse, OXO Tower Wharf, Barge House St, London SE1 9QS Entry: £8 / £5 concessions. Nearest tubes: Blackfriars/Waterloo/Southwark

After the success of their debut collaborative performance at the Fertilizer festival, Sonik Gurus - the brains behind the legendary Swaraj clubnight - join forces again with The Buddhas Of Cyberbia to bring their theatrical audiovisual experience to the closing night of the LIFT international theatre festival. Expect an organic club stew of fat dancefloor beats and catchy vocal hooks with Indian classical, folk and bollywood soundscapes. Crossing every genre of dance music from Funk, Ragga and Hip Hop to Bhangra, Breakbeat and Drum ‘n bass, Sonik Gurus cultivate Urban Asian, Black and White sounds like no other band.

Sonik Gurus are London-based production duo Ranvir Verma and Ash Chandola. Joining Ash on decks/keys and Ranvir on bass will be Vocalist/MC Ricky Rankin (best known for his work with Roots Manuva), South Indian vocalist Shiuli Subaya, Nathan Lee on flute (look out for his partypiece flute beatbox solo) and Brian Fairbairn on drums....all this will be set against a stunning visual backdrop by the Buddhas of Cyberbia. DJ support will be provided by the Shirley Crabtree DJ collective (no, not the 1970s wrestler also known as 'Big Daddy !').

THE BUDDHAS OF CYBERBIA

The Buddhas of Cyberbia are visual artists Alex Rees (Massa Mundo) and Arun Anand (Sattvic). Their live VJ sets consist of cutting-edge cinematic displays through computer enhanced imagery.

Their collaboration with Swaraj Records’ Sonik Gurus investigates the British-Asian community and identity. Are British-Asians a community based on identity or an identity based on community? Notions of Nationalism, ethnicity and cultural identity are used and stripped away in layers to unveil the scope and limited sense in which systems and authorities categorise who and what British-Asians represent.

Swaraj is an international club and record label that has toured America and South Africa, in addition to holding residencies in London over the past seven years. Sonik Gurus recently extended that global reach to audiences in Venezuela and a third visit to India. Their wanderlust and journeying sounds were key factors in engaging with the Buddhas of Cyberbia. The Buddhas' and Gurus' performance at The Bargehouse promises to be an enlightening experience reflecting how multi-cultural 'Great' Britain is enriched by artists truly committed to pushing things forward.

ALEX REES

“One of my passions is travel, and this is heavily reflected in my visual art. I aim to bring all the elements of travel and combine them into a singular show. Using different forms of transport we defy space and time as we merge from one destination to another in the blink of an eye. Every destination has a story to tell. I try to tackle local issues from a global perspective, all the while challenging cultural identity.”

“The world’s a big place, but people’s ideas can be exceptionally small. Amazing things can be learned by observing the vast and various cultures in this world. We are always seeking solutions and ideas that have already existed.”

Alex has been working as an audio and visual artist for 15 years producing music videos and documentaries. Landmeister, which he edited, won an award at the Vienna Arts Film Festival in 1996. He has also VJ’d at festivals and clubnights, such as Phoenix, Anokha and Pendragon. In 1999 he set up Purple Banana Products, who ran a series of successful clubnights in venues such as 291, Cargo and The Scala named Massa Mundo and Raha. They were popularly termed Conscious Clubbing nights, as they highlighted campaigns by various charities and community sector organisations. They were a platform for established artists as well as up and coming young musicians to raise awareness of various political and social issues.

ARUN ANAND (SATTVIC)

Sattvic (from the Sanskrit principle of light, perception, intelligence and harmony) is a visual artist who brings together the many flavours of the multi-cultural melting-pot by cooking up an elemental mix of ingredients including politics, art, science, nature and Ayurveda through the use of film, video and photography.

Politics, music and popular culture are woven together in Sattvic’s perception of the societal fabric that either holds things together or is hell-bent on tearing things apart. His intention has always been to bind the strengths of many and celebrate our differences with tolerance and acceptance of the abundance of the universe - unity in diversity.

He recently accompanied Sonik Gurus at the Jaipur Heritage Festival in India to film the cross-cultural collaboration of the band and local village musicians in several performances which also included him DJing at the thousand-year old Jaigarh Fort. As a result, he has now become an integral part of the Swaraj collective and represents their visual arm with Alex Rees as the Buddhas of Cyberbia.