Before going on a trip to India in December of 1996, Pathaan had given Talvin Singh a tape of his DJ’ing, and after he returned Singh offered him a residency in the now legendary Blue Note café. The club night known as Anokha, and alongside Pathaan’s chilled café sets would be resident DJ’s State of Bengal and Talvin Singh on the main dancefloor.

“At the time I was mixing anything from Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, to Aphex Twin, to the Rolling Stones,” Pathaan states. “I played right across the board – which is a formula that I have stuck to over the years. One thing that stuck with me since my house days was the ‘Balearic’ sound, where musically anything goes. So as long as there is progression and food for thought in why I’m mixing the sounds that I do, then I’ll do it.”

Nowadays Pathaan incorporates a variety of sounds from throughout the world, but likes to maintain his strong Asian/World slant. “My aim has always been to share the hunt,” he confides. “Because I write for DJ magazine I get sent a lot of great music, and that combined with my passion for travel, and an inability to go past a record shop without diving in and buying loads of records, means that I’ve always wanted to share my passion. I don’t think I’ll ever get to the stage where I think I can’t buy records because you can always find something in the bargain buckets.”

A three-week trip to Brazil enlivened a continuing passion for Brazilian bossa nova, and Pathaan is at pains to point out that he’s always been a fan of this type of sound even if it hasn’t always been apparent in his DJ selections. “Stoned Asia Music was a tag that I gave to my music back then, but now I find that if I just play Asian beats all night long, it’s boring. Even if I played a three-hour set of Asian beats ranging from ambient to the dancefloor, then I would still think it’s the same sound. That’s why I released ‘Small World’ for Stoned Asia Music, to reap the benefits of my live sound as it stands today.”

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