Diamond Duggal also known as DJ Swami is a British-Indian music producer, composer, musician and AI consultant. He has produced for a number of notable artists, including

Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( ; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time and the best-sel ...

, Pras Michel, Apache Indian,

Maxi Priest Max Alfred Elliott (born 10 June 1961), known by his stage name Maxi Priest, is a British reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent. He is best known for singing reggae music with an Contemporary R&B, R&B influence, otherwise known as reggae fusion. ...

, Stereo Nation, Zoheb Hassan and Viktor Kiraly as well as remixing for artists including Erasure, the Beat and

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (, ; born Pervez Fateh Ali Khan; 13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997), also known by his initials NFAK, was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, and music director. Khan was primarily a singer of qawwali, a form of Sufi devot ...

. He is an accomplished guitar player and multi-instrumentalist (modular synthesizers, keyboards, bass, drums, DJing) and toured as lead guitarist with

Boyzone Boyzone were an Irish boy band created in 1993 by the talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's ''The Late Late Show (Ireland), The Late Late Show''. Its most successful line-up was co ...

and

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. Diamond is also co-founder of production duo Simon and Diamond with his brother Simon Duggal. As DJ Swami, he performs and records electronic, Indian Punjabi bhangra and South Asian music both as a solo artist and as band leader of UK electronic world music acts

Swami Swami (; ; sometimes abbreviated sw.) in Hinduism is an honorific title given to an Asceticism#Hinduism, ascetic who has chosen the Sannyasa, path of renunciation (''sanyāsa''), or has been initiated into a religious monastic order of Vaishnavas ...

and PunjabTronix. DJ Swami also tours and performs in collaboration with

Deep Forest Deep Forest is a French music project that originally began as a duo consisting of Michel Sanchez (musician), Michel Sanchez and Éric Mouquet. They compose a style of world music, sometimes called ethnic electronica, mixing ethnic with electro ...

. Diamond received an

Ivor Novello Awards The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and Musical composition, composing. They have been presented annually in London by the The Ivors Academy, Ivors Academy, formerly called the Britis ...

songwriter nomination for the song Arranged Marriage and his songwriting and production contributed to the

Mercury Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual Music award, music prize awarded for the best album released by a musical act from the Music of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom or Music of Ireland, Ireland. It was cre ...

nomination for the album No Reservations by Apache Indian. Diamond also produced and played alongside mentor Mutt Lange on the

double

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

-nominated album '' Up!'' As DJ Swami, he has won Best Producer 2005 and Best Producer 2008 at the UK Asian Music Awards. He also won the award for Best Mixed Album at the

South African Music Awards The South African Music Awards (often simply the SAMAs) are the Recording Industry of South Africa's music industry awards, established in 1995. The ceremony is held annually, usually in late April or May, with the judging process starting in ...

2010. His most successful solo

album to date was 2004's '' DesiRock'', the title track from which has been used in a variety of films, TV shows and video games. Diamond is Head of Music at his production, sync licensing and AI music research company DesiRock Entertainment where recent projects include film and TV sync licensing notably

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

hit series

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, artist development, international collaborations and AI music research and VR immersive experiences including the DJ Swami in the Studio AI/ VR music showcase with VR social platform Driftspace.

Biography

Born Diamond Jyoti Duggal, he grew up in the Handsworth district of Birmingham, England in a melting pot of second-generation Indian and Jamaican multi-culturalism. By the age of 12, he was already playing guitar in local reggae and rock bands. While learning the craft of music through listening to records by

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitar, sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known expert of Hin ...

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, ) is a Germany, German Electronic music, electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk was among the first successful a ...

, Laxmikant Pyarelal and local Birmingham artists

Steel Pulse Steel Pulse are a roots reggae band from the Handsworth area of Birmingham, England. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, and were composed of David Hinds (lead vocals, guitar), Basil Gabbidon (lead guitar, vocals), and Ro ...

and

UB40 UB40 are an English reggae band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart and has also achieved considerable international success. They have been nominated for the Grammy ...

, Diamond witnessed his first glance of a new musical hybrid and what was ultimately to become his life's passion. In 1991, as production duo Simon and Diamond, the brothers launched the groundbreaking production fusion sound of dancehall reggae and bhangra with the artist Apache Indian. The project received huge public and media interest due to its cultural diversity and was making huge waves in the UK, USA, Canada and India. This marked a new milestone in British Asian popular music, soon followed by a record deal with Island Records and a publishing deal with Sony Music in 1992. The Apache Indian debut album 'No Reservations' became a huge international success. In 1997, Diamond started the group

with drummer and brother Simon, vocalist Taz Singh and Indian percussionist Kam Bura. The band performed a number of local and European shows before releasing their debut album ''Desi Nu Skool Beatz'' on their SubDub Records label in 1999. The album was given an international release in 2000 on Nation Records (Beggars Banquet). The guitar surfing electronic title track "Mehbooba" went on to feature in the Olsen Twins Warner Brothers movie New York Minute (2003). Diamond took to the studio in 2002 to work with

on her follow-up album to ''

Come On Over ''Come On Over'' is the third studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Shania Twain. Mercury Records in North America released it on November 4, 1997. Similar to her work on its predecessor, '' The Woman in Me'' (1995), Twain entirely collab ...

'' entitled '' Up!''. The album was produced by a totally international team co-ordinated between producer Mutt Lange, Simon and Diamond. Shania Twain's ''Up!'' topped the American Billboard for six weeks in late 2002 with multi-platinum sales exceeding 15 million and received two Grammy nominations in 2004. Swami's follow-up album was '' So Who Am I'' on SonyBMG in 2005. The title track "DesiRock" embraced clubs the world over with DJ Swami's unique left field electronic beats and anthemic bhangra melodies and reached even wider audiences in the EA Games FIFA World Cup 2006 video game as well as the UK movie

Mischief Night Mischief Night is an informal holiday on which children, teenagers and adults engage in jokes, pranks, vandalism, or parties. It is known by a variety of names including Devil's Night (particularly in Detroit), Gate Night, Goosey Night, Moving ...

(2006). In 2005, Diamond won "Best Producer" at the UK Asian Music Awards. In June 2007, Diamond (as DJ Swami) was listed in the official Guardian Glastonbury Festival Guide as one of the Top 5 acts to see at Glastonbury 2007 alongside

Amy Winehouse Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer, songwriter, musician, and businesswoman. With over 30 million records sold worldwide, she was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix ...

and the

Arctic Monkeys Arctic Monkeys are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. They comprise lead singer Alex Turner, drummer Matt Helders, guitarist Jamie Cook and bassist Nick O'Malley. The co-founder and original bassist Andy Nicholson ...

. The performance was highlighted by the

BBC Asian Network BBC Asian Network is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station's target audience is people "with an interest in British Asian lifestyles", especially those between the ages of 18 and 34. The station has produc ...

. In January 2008, Swami's album ''Equalize'' was voted album of the year by DesiHits.com. The album features mainstream collaborations from the US, South Africa, France, England and India. In March 2008, as DJ Swami, he won "Best Producer" at the UK Asian Music Awards for a second time. In August 2008, Swami's "Hey Hey" music video received its Canadian premiere at Toronto's FILMI South Asian Film Festival. In April 2010, Diamond won SAMA Best Mix Engineer at the South Africa Music Awards. In 2013, Diamond produced the single "Fire" for artist Viktor Kiraly reaching the number 1 chart position in Hungary's MAHASZ Top 40. In 2014, Diamond produced the second single "Running Out Of Time" for Viktor Kiraly featuring

Run DMC Run-DMC (also formatted Run-D.M.C., RUN DMC, or some combination thereof) was an American hip-hop group formed in Hollis, Queens, New York City in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jam Master Jay, Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as ...

reaching the number 1 chart position in Hungary's VIVA chart. In 2015, Diamond completed production for Zoheb Hassan's album, ''Signature'', featuring the vocals of his sister Nazia Hassan. Swami also released two new albums, ''Upgrade'' and ''Sidetrkd'' (a mostly instrumental version of Upgrade) in 2017. In 2017, DJ Swami produced and toured the UK with new electronic meets Punjabi folk project PunjabTronix, as part of the ReImagine India cultural exchange programme. In 2019, DJ Swami and Casey Rain commenced a weekly brand new radio show entitled 'The Phaseshift' on Dash Radio an
Rukus Avenue Radio
In 2021, Diamond was commissioned by Arts Council England to explore 'New Realities in Music' AI generative music research and VR immersive experiences, resulting in th
DJ Swami in the Studio
AI/ VR music showcase with VR social platfor
Driftspace

Other notable work

As a writer, Diamond reviewed Sarfraz Manzoor's ''Greetings From Bury Park'' for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. The book was later adapted into the film, '' Blinded by the Light''.

Production discography

2022

* Unnati, DJ Swami – "Aaj Khojaey/ Rise In Love" (single/ Indigo World Records) * J9 – "Tomari DJ Swami Remix" (EP/ J9 Music)

2021

* DJ Swami, Unnati, Lanja Ali, Amrit Kaur Lohia – "Saainyaan" (single/ DesiRock Ent.) * DJ Swami – "Bazooka feat. Simran" (single/ DesiRock Ent.)

2020

* DJ Swami – "Hybrids 3" (EP/ DesiRock Ent.) * DJ Swami – "Hybrids 4" (EP/ DesiRock Ent.) * DJ Swami – "Danga feat. Simran" (single/ DesiRock Ent.)

2019

* DJ Swami – "Hybrids" (EP/ DesiRock Ent.) * DJ Swami – "Hybrids 2" (EP/ DesiRock Ent.) * DJ Swami – "8020" (EP/ DesiRock Ent.) * DJ Swami – "PunjabTronix Remixes" (EP/ DesiRock Ent.)

2018

* PunjabTronix – "PunjabTronix" (EP/ Asian Arts Agency)

2017

– "UPGRADE" (album) *

– "SIDETRKD" (album)

2016

* Unnati - "Teri Yaad Aati Hain" ( Buddha Bar Ultimate Experience)

2015

– "We Are" (single) * Viktor Kiraly – "Exhale" (single) * Zoheb Hassan – "Always on My Mind" (single) * Meja – "Yellow Ribbon" (remix)

2014

– "Do It Again" (single) * Viktor Kiraly – "Running Out of Time" (single) * Viktor Kiraly – "Work" (album track) * Zoheb Hassan – "Signature" (album)

2013

– "Back It Up" (single) * Viktor Kiraly – "Fire" (single) * Pop Chaot – album tracks

2012

* Fell On Deaf Ears – ''Are You Getting Enough?'' (album mixing) *

– ''Upgrade'' (album mixing)

2011

– ''Upgrade'' (album recording) *

– "Deep Swami" recording/ remixes

2010

* Meja – "Chasing Butterflies" (remix/ Sony) *

Delhi 2 Dublin Delhi 2 Dublin (sometimes abbreviated D2D) is a Canadian world music group formed in 2006 in Vancouver who play a fusion of Bhangra (music), Bhangra, electronic music, electronic, funk, dub music, dub, reggae, hip hop, Celtic music and a mashup of ...

– ''Planet Electric'' (album mixing)

2009

– ''Electro Jugni/She’s Mine EP'' *

– '' 53431'' (album/ EMI Virgin) *

– "Sugarless" (single and remix) * Ishmael – ''On the Edge'' (album/ Ghetto Ruff) * Meja – "Regrets" (remix/ Sony)

2008

* Tigerstyle – "Balle Shava" (remix) *

– "Dil Nachde" (remix)

2007

– '' Equalize'' (album/ EMI Virgin)

2005

– '' So Who Am I'' (album/ Sony BMG) * Apache Indian – ''Time for Change'' (album/ Revolver)

2004

* Pras – "Light My Fire" (remix) *

– '' DesiRock'' (album)

2002

– '' Up!'' (album/ Mercury) *

– ''BhangraDotCom'' (album/ Nation Records) * DJ Swami - ''Pure Garage Volume 4'' (album/ Roma II)

2000/2001

– ''Redefined'' (remix album/ OSA) * DJ Swami - ''Pure Garage Volume 2'' (album/ Roma II) * DJ Swami - ''Sub Culture Vol. 2'' (album/ Roma II)

1999

– ''Desi Nu Skool Beatz'' (album/ Nation Records) *

– ''Turntablism'' (album/ Envy Entertainment Ltd) *

– "Transmission" (single) * Taz – ''Nasha'' (album/ SubDub) * DJ Swami - ''Sub Culture Vol. 1'' (album/ SubDub)

1997/1998

* Stereo Nation – "I’ve Been Waiting" (single) * Stereo Nation – ''Jambo'' (album)

1994/1995

* Erasure – "Run to the Sun" (remix/ Mute) * The Beat – "Mirror in the Bathroom" (remix/ London Records) * Raise – "I Got It" (single and remix/ SubDub)

1992/1993

* Apache Indian – '' No Reservations'' (album/ Island Records) * Apache Indian – "Arranged Marriage" (single and remix/ Island Records) * Apache Indian – " Chok There" (single and remix/ Island Records) * Louie Rankin – "Typewriter" (remix/ Ruffness) * Johnny Zee – "Cum Be My Lover" (remix) * Dillinger – "Cokane in My Brain" (remix/ Island Records)

1991

* The Badman – "Magic Style/Shape Dancing" (single and remix/ CityBeat) * The Badman Presents N.D.X. – "Come With Me/Higher than Heaven" (single and remix/ CityBeat) * Aretha Daye – "No More (Making Love)" (single)

1990

* Doggy – "Psyche" (single/ Rham Records) * Demonik – "Labyrinthe" (single/ Rham Records)

References

External links

Diamond Duggal websiteDJ Swami websiteSimon and Diamond websiteSwami performing at BBC Asian Network Uni Tour 07
an

with DJ Swami
Another interviewand the German translation
with Diamond {{DEFAULTSORT:Duggal, Diamond Year of birth missing (living people) Living people English record producers English DJs English people of Indian descent English Sikhs Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands People from Handsworth, West Midlands