Listen Up!

Composer Anuj Rastogi releases “While You Were Sleeping” for Father’s Day!

Toronto based film composer, music producer and writer, Anuj Rastogi has released a new spoken-word single and video for Father’s Day 2015. 

“While You Were Sleeping” is a father’s heartfelt poetic tribute to his baby boy, and hopeful wish for a better tomorrow for our future generations. An avid spoken word artist and writer, “While You Were Sleeping” marks a milestone in Anuj’s musical storytelling, as well as reflecting the realizations about the world around us through the eyes of a father. 

Anuj’s music has always featured a worldly sensitivity, and a sense of both epic and intimate narrative. Now, as a proud father of a 4 year old daughter, and 8 month old son, Anuj has found an even more profound inspiration in creating music and stories that raise awareness and provoke thought. In Anuj’s words, “While You Were Sleeping was written one morning in Toronto, after watching my son sleeping in his crib.

Anuj’s music has always featured a worldly sensitivity, and a sense of both epic and intimate narrative. Now, as a proud father of a 4 year old daughter, and 8 month old son, Anuj has found an even more profound inspiration in creating music and stories that raise awareness and provoke thought. In Anuj’s words, “While You Were Sleeping was written one morning in Toronto, after watching my son sleeping in his crib. "I thought about him, and my daughter, and all the things I wish this world would be, and could be, for them. It’s really the simple dream of any father to have their child wake up to a world that is better than the one before them”.

Please Watch the video below: 

“While You Were Sleeping” is available for download at bandcamp.omnesia.com, iTunes, and other digital retailers.

Sing your way to a second language with “Punj Nikkay Bandar!"

Preet Sandhu Dhillon and her team of producers and musicians are pleased to announce the release of their first children’s album “Punj Nikkay Bandar”. 

Punj Nikkay Bandar, which translated into English means five little monkeys, is a compilation of popular English nursery rhymes that have been reinterpreted into Punjabi allowing families to sing their way to a second language.

These catchy and easy to sing-along tunes expose children to Punjabi numbers, colors, animals, body parts and more in an easy and fun way.

Preet Sandhu Dhillon, a Pediatrician and mom of 3,  has created a simple way to expose the second  generation of Punjabi speaking kids to the language,  “Singing to babies and children comes naturally. We all  do it. Children also love music and it’s a very powerful  tool for language exposure.  While none of my  Canadian born children were comfortable speaking  Punjabi they would happily sing along to these tunes!”   She tried searching for Punjabi songs that were sung by  professional singers in addition to being put to a good  beat, but couldn’t find exactly what she was looking for, “Anything I did find in Punjabi was poor quality, too religiously based or not developmentally appropriate for preschool and early childhood.  This inspired me to create my own songs and a proper album that all kids and even parents could sing along to and enjoy. This is going to be a very powerful tool in helping to preserve the Punjabi language”.

Preet’s team consists of three other talented people: Coach Sandhu, a music producer, teacher and musician whose background is in western music, Vijay Saini, a translator/copywriter/voiceover artist and Parmjot Singh, an established singer.

Coach Sandhu says, “The concept was to take Punjabi lyrics and get them to mix with western music to appeal to a lot of South Asians.  I think about my background – I’m a perfect example of someone that understands Punjabi but speaking it is a little broken.” 

Vijay, added lines and riffs here and there to give the songs more of a Punjabi flavour, and Parmjot Singh sings each track with a gentle and happy voice, making them easy to listen to.

Punj Nikkay Bandar is the perfect addition to any children’s music playlist as the tunes are familiar and catchy, and will introduce the Punjabi language to all listeners.  Tracks include: Baabay Budday Da Si Khait (Old Macdonald Had a Farm), Angootha Kithay Ah? (Where is Thumbkin?), Jay Kushi Hundi Ah Gidha Pao (If You’re Happy and You Know It) and many more.

Punj Nikkay Bandar can be purchased on iTunes and on Amazon.