The First Time With... Series 23 - 4. Nitin Sawhney

THE FIRST TIME WITH... SERIES 23 - 4. NITIN SAWHNEY (320kbs-m4a/132mb/58mins)
BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 21st March 2021

Nitin Sawhney chats in-depth to Matt Everitt revealing the pivotal moments and songs that have shaped this life and incredible career.

As a musician, composer, DJ and producer Nitin combines worldwide influences with elements of jazz and electronica, exploring themes such as multiculturalism, politics and spirituality. He has scored for and performed with countless orchestras, and collaborated with and written for a mind-blowing array of luminaries from Sir Paul McCartney to A.R. Rahmen, Brian Eno to Sinead O'Connor and Nelson Mandela to Cirque Du Soliel. He also has an Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement Award and a CBE to his name.

Raised in Kent by first generation Indian-British parents, as a child Nitin studied piano, classical and flamenco guitar, sitar and tabla. After dropping out of university, he trained as an accountant until leaving his job as a financial controller to pursue a career in music. He moved to London, where he met up with old university friend Sanjeev Bhaskar and together they created the comedy team The Secret Asians. The pair were given a show on BBC Radio, which eventually grew into the award-winning TV sketch show Goodness Gracious Me. Refocusing on music, Nitin's solo career began in 1993, when he released his debut album, Spirit Dance on his own label. In 1999 Nitin released his breakthrough Gold-selling album, Beyond Skin, which gained him a Mercury Music Prize nomination and won him the coveted South Bank Show Award.

Nitin has released 20 albums and scored over sixty films. In this interview recorded in 2019 Nitin recalls his earliest musical memories, playing in a Van Halen tribute band, how he approaches composing film scores and his love of Ennio Morricone, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Joni Mitchell.

Nitin Sawhney - Sunset (Nitin's Radio Edit) [V2]
Nitin Sawhney - You Belong [WaterTower Music]
Baluji Shrivastav - Raga Rageshvari [ARC Music]
María Teresa Vera - Veinte Años
Miles Davis - Blue In Green [Sony Music]
Ravi Shankar - Dhun In Devgiri Bilawal
John McLaughlin & Al Di Meola & Paco de Lucía - Passion Grace & Fire [Philips]
Van Halen - Eruption
The Crusaders - Street Life [Dino]
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds Of Fire [Sony Music]
Ennio Morricone - A Fistfull Of Dollars
Nitin Sawhney - Spirit Dance [Spirit Dance]
Nitin Sawhney - Hospital Escape [Varèse Sarabande]
Joni Mitchell - This Flight Tonight [Reprise]
Nitin Sawhney - Homelands [Outcaste]
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan And Michael Brook - Tracery (Remixed By Nitin Sawhney)
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Mustt Mustt (Massive Attack Remix) [Beggars Banquet]
Nitin Sawhney - Nadia
Nitin Sawhney - Tides [Outcaste]
Agnes Obel - Riverside [PIAS]

Desert Island Discs: Nitin Sawhney

DESERT ISLAND DISCS: NITIN SAWHNEY (320kbs-m4a/90mb/39mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 16th June 2019

Nitin Sawhney is a composer, musician and producer working in the worlds of music, film, video games, dance and theatre. He has released 10 studio albums, scored over 50 films and television programmes, and is known for his collaborations, with musicians and artists including Paul McCartney, Akram Khan, John Hurt and Andy Serkis.

He was born in 1964 to parents who had emigrated from North India the previous year to work in the UK. His father was a chemical engineer while his mother taught English and later worked at the post office in their home town of Rochester. Nitin showed early musical promise when he took up the piano aged five, later also learning flamenco guitar, sitar and tabla. He was bullied at school at a time when the National Front was gaining traction and music became his sanctuary.

After abandoning a law degree at Liverpool and completing an accountancy course in Hertfordshire, he became financial controller of a hotel, before leaving to become a full time musician. While at college, he met Sanjeev Bhaskar and formed a comedy duo with him which would become the radio and TV series, Goodness Gracious Me.

His breakthrough came with his fourth album, released in 1999, entitled Beyond Skin, which was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. Since then, his career has been in the ascendant: he has established himself as one of the most versatile composers for film, scoring pictures like Midnight’s Children and television programmes including the BBC’s Human Planet series. He received the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.

BOOK CHOICE: The Fabric of Reality by David Deutsch
LUXURY ITEM: Desalinating bottle
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Mustt Mustt (the Massive Attack remix) by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Cathy Drysdale

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Mustt Mustt (Massive Attack Remix)
Paco de Lucía - Guajiras de Lucia [Universal Music]
Ennio Morricone - A Fistful Of Dollars [Virgin]
Joni Mitchell - Big Yellow Taxi [Reprise]
Claude Debussy - Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune [EMI]
Shakti - Mind Ecology [Sony]
Oumou Sangaré - Moussoulou [Compil]
Seu Jorge - Life On Mars [EMI]