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you listen to music, you start going out, you have your first experiences of going to your
first festival and first this and that. Then it gets to a point where you lose touch with those people and you move on. Then you get into your mid-twenties, late-twenties and you actually really yearn to be taken back to those moments. And I think then when current music reflects that moment, you start to feel that real nostalgic feeling and that’s probably why the music has come back round again. That’s my prediction anyway. At the moment, I’m working on producing a few things myself. I’ve done two tunes and I’ve got another two that I’m working on at the moment. They are all within a KISSTORY vein, with taking an oldschool vocal from an old gem that hasn’t been rinsed and putting a new flavour on it without, and this is the hard part, ruining the original.
What advice do you have to aspiring music minds?
The best advice I could give someone who wants to get into the music industry or wants to be creative, is to really consider what makes you stand out. What is your niche market, what could you do that would fill a gap and really focus all your attention on getting that done. Also, lower your expectations for the first few years. People thought it was ludicrous that I was working at an Asian station in Slough above a shopping centre, as did my parents, but I was like I’ve got a plan. My plan is that I’m going to do every bit of radio I can to get experience and I’m not going to be a snob about it. The first time that KISS asked me to do a show, they were like are you ready? And I went, I am ready! I’d had 5 years of all types of experience, and I think the problem is that a lot of people are just obsessed with this overnight celebrity status. They don’t think you have to put work in, You have to put so much work in. Our jobs are great, yes they’re dream jobs and we’re really grateful for them but they take so much work. They’re so competitive, you have to be so dedicated and you have to know that it’s not about that part of the game, it’s about what you can offer that’s different and relevant and cool. If you can make people smile and music makes them happy, you can change their day or influence them in a positive way, then you’re winning.
What does music mean to you?
Music is life, music is my life. It’s every single thing that I live and breathe, from the moment I wake up to the moment I sleep. I just love the way that it can literally carry your mood. I say to so many who people who say “I feel down, and I feel this and that”, I’m like, If you feel down listen to something positive. It will either drive you to do exercise which will make you feel great or take you back to a brilliant moment where you had a fantastic positive time with your friends. I just think music is so powerful that you should embrace it and beyond just putting some tunes on an ipod and listening to it. Really get into and see what you like and what makes you tick and what you love.
You are a role model for the Asian community, you spoke about rising to British radio and wanting to present on various TV shows. Do you think that the music and media are open to different ethnicities and cultures?
It took me a very long time to get an opportunity at a commercial station. When I started out, people would say to me, sorry we don’t have an Asian show at our station so we can’t hire you, it was ludicrous. I broke a lot of barriers within radio and I’m very proud of that because it means that a lot of younger Asians out there can go to their parents and say “I want to this as a job and look Neev did it.” I had nobody to refer to. My Dad would just go, “you should be on