Interview with The Bilz & Kashif

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Interview with The Bilz & Kashif

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Vicious & Master-D, most popularly known as The Bilz along with the R&B Pop solo artist, Kashif form a diverse group called “The Bilz & Kashif” that delivers unique commercial Urban/Pop music straight out of Canada. They are also known as “North America’s Most Wanted”.

Their debut album broke barriers in the Canadian music industry with their smash international singles, 2 Step Bhangra and Spanish Fly that dominated radio waves all across Canada and internationally, reached #4 on top 7@7 charts on Z103.5FM in Toronto for 3 weeks standing one notch above Beyonce and Justin Timberlake. They have performed alongside platinum selling artists like Enrique Iglesias, VengaBoys, 112, Belly, Crystal Waters, Massari and Bobby Valentino to name a few. Their huge popularity also exploded them as MySpace’s Top 10 Independent Canadian Artists.

On November 21st the group’s much-awaited single “Against All Odds” was premiered on AVS TV. It looks like they have provided yet another anthem for the people.

Jas from Desi-Box.com teamed up with the trio to get a low down on the latest on the guys. Check the interview below!

01. Jas DB: Congrats to the successful drop of “Against All Odds,” this track seems to have it all emotion, personal struggle and success, and its overall a feel good anthem, what was the inspiration behind this track?

The Bilz & Kashif: Thank you! The track is all about inspiring people to follow their dreams but at the same time make it a club anthem. We like to challenge ourselves as artists and I think we’ve done it. We’re hitting close to 40,000 views in less than 2 weeks, already charted on the Top 30 countdown in Singapore, we’ve got Nihal from BBC in the video, so it’s great. We wanted to let the world know that we’ve worked hard at our success and it wasn’t an overnight celebrity stunt. We’ve each earned our dues in our individual career and this was our reality. Now that all three of us have come together as a group, The Bilz & Kashif, we’re now here to make history!

02. Jas DB: You guys have acquired so much success in the recent years but you are uber humble, i.e. actually talking to some of your fans on twitter, what keeps you grounded?

The Bilz & Kashif: There’s no reason not to be. We’ve all come from somewhere – from the bottom to the top, all though this industry manipulates your emotions and behaviour, we never forget our fans. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be where we are. We want them to experience our success and know that we’re always doing music because they support us and understand how important it is for us. Ever since we joined Twitter, it’s been a great experience to connect with them. We’re so busy, and we like to keep it simple, and that’s the reason why we’ve chose Twitter, so add us now @bilzmusic @kashifonline and @masterdonline.

03. Jas DB: Kashif, we see your great moves in the video, as well as a single white glove, a tribute to Michael Jackson I assume? How has he influenced your music style?

Kashif: Thanks alot for the compliments. As for Michael Jackson, he’s been a tremendous influence in my life. I have all his original albums – such classics. I remember when Vicious called me and told me he passed away, I thought he was joking. But when I turned the news on, my heart hit my stomach. He inspired me to be the best and what you should be as an artist, from song writing, to entertainment and charisma. I even did a MJ tribute to “You are not Alone” on YouTube so all our fans know how he influenced me to do music. The white glove in Against All Odds, was to carry on the legend for the new generation so they never forget him.

The Punjabi lyrics on “Against All Odds” are heavy! It speaks about an honest, and clean living style. The lyrics were written by Kuldeep Singh.

04. Jas DB: Master D, on the first album, we hear you on just two tracks, Holla and Mere Khayaalon Mein, both songs on different sides of the spectrum, one a club banger while the other a more slow and romantic song, and now on Against All Odds, you show a more unique style, did you collaborate on the lyrics with Kuldeep Singh?

Master D: I’m glad you picked that up! Thanks for the love! (Laughs). As a producer/singer/songwriter, it’s turned me into a versatile artist and has allowed me to stand out from the rest. I love to challenge myself and you can ask Vicious & Kashif, how heated our discussions turn out to be at times in the studio, because I like to explore. Wait till you hear the new album – Breaking Barriers, it’s going to blow you away. I normally don’t write my own lyrics so I work with a few lyricists like Harr, Amit Malhotra and recently Kuldeep Singh on Against All Odds. Kuldeep’s been a long time friend of Vicious’ and been on Vicious’ case to try him out. He did co-write Punjabi Whisper pt.2 on the 1st album but we wanted something more substantial for this record. Vicious noticed that he started improving so called him in the studio “Hey K, I think we have a hit single, I want you to come in and see what you can do?”That’s how the collaboration came along and he even wrote the next single “Single” that’s soon about to release. It’s for all the single people out there...get ready to celebrate it!

The much-anticipated album “Breaking Barriers” is closer and closer to dropping.

05. Jas DB: Do you have a date set for the album drop?

The Bilz & Kashif: We’ve just finalized a deal and we’re looking at Feb-March 2010. I know fans have been wondering why it took so long to release but in this business it’s all about timing and everything we do has to make sense for us. That’s why we kept our fans happy and continued on our Breaking Barriers journey. So we got the next single “Single” that is set to release early 2010 and you can then expect the long awaited album – Breaking Barriers to release along with a North American Tour. We’ll then touch down into Europe.

06. Jas DB: The first album featured many other artists out side The Bilz & Kashif trio, will we be hearing any of them on the new album as well or is this a strictly The Bilz & Kashif album?

Master D: The first album was an introduction to The Bilz. It got us tremendous attention although hardcore Bhangra fans thought it was different. But with close to 2 million views on YouTube, we think of it as innovating, a new movement for North America & Canadian artists. We like to bring new things to the table. We’ve got the talented Jazzy B and Shinda for Bhangra, so we’re not here to replicate that. We’re here to move the Urban Desi movement. So for Breaking Barriers, it’s going to be strictly us three.

07. Jas DB: Will we hear any old school remixes like “Aap Jaisa Koi” from the first album on the new album?

The Bilz & Kashif: Honestly, that track was just a bootleg remix and wasn’t part of the album. We did that track for the heck of it. Although it got a lot of attention on BBC Asian Network, we’re now focusing on making an impact on original music. I think we’re passed that phase, but if there’s ever an opportunity in Bollywood to bring classics back and if it makes sense for us, we’ll do it. So for Breaking Barriers, it’s all 100% original with real live instruments and no samples work.

The trio has decided to set up a webcam chat on uStream on December 12th 2009. It is a one of a kind interaction between artists and their fans.

08. Jas DB: What made you decide to set up a webcam chat?

The Bilz & Kashif: It’s all about the fans. And we keep getting emails from our management that our fans are constantly emailing them on how great our music is. Either its inspiring them or helping them get busy in the bedroom (laughs). You won’t believe the ways they try to get our direct contact information. So, we decided as a group, that it would be great to take time out of schedule and interact with our fans. We’ll see, if they love it, we might even make it more exciting the next time!

09. Jas DB: Are there any restrictions to what kind of questions you will be answering? Or is it going to revolve around the drop of your new album Breaking Barriers?

The Bilz & Kashif: As long as it’s respect us we’re open to answer it. So really, no we’re all “ears” to them. We think it’s going to be fun and exciting to see what our fans want to know. If they have questions about the album, we’re good with that too. I think by now they also know why type of underwear we wear. (Laughs)

10. Jas DB: Is there anything exclusive you plan on doing for this webcam chat?

The Bilz: We might be giving out some exclusive items. We haven’t decided yet...so you might just have to tune in. Also, if you aren’t near a computer, and you have a mobile phone, you can download the App here (http://www.ustream.tv/mobile) and join the chat on your phone. So let’s go!!

11. Jas DB: Finally, any last words for Desi-Box fans and all your fans too?

The Bilz & Kashif: Honestly, we love Desi-Box. Big shout to Haroon and Suley for supporting us since day one. They are true supporters and we appreciate them sponsoring the webcam chat. We want to thank Desi-Box for allowing us to connect to our fans in Europe especially U.K and we look forward to bringing you nothing but the best in music. Stay tuned for Breaking Barriers. Make sure you support us by downloading Against All Odds on iTunes right now and let’s make it #1. Add us on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube and on Bebo. Also, make sure you check out www.bilzmusic.com for more info.

*A note for your diaries guys: December 12th at 3PM EST (8PM GMT U.K Time)

The Bilz & Kashif will interact with fans via a Live webcam chat on December 12th at 3PM EST (8PM GMT U.K Time). All you need to do is visit the website below and log on using your Facebook, Twitter, AIM or MySpace account and interact with Vicious, Master-D and Kashif.