International singer and UK Vocalist Steven Kapur popularly known as Apache Indian, the 90’s heartthrob star was the earliest British artist of Asian origin to top the mainstream global pop charts. The singer rose to fame with his series of hit singles like Arranged Marriage, Chok There, Don Raja, Boom Shack-A-Lak to name a few. Apache Indian is popularly known for his power packed performances of delivering Bhangra and music of the reggae genre.

The singer -song writer has been an inspiration to kids of the 80's and 90’s generation through his string of concerts and tours. Mumbaikars will be able to relive and reminisce the nostalgic super hit tracks and cherish the evergreen music of Apache Indian. The artist has always been a rage in the global music scene and his performance is an ode to his legacy and an enthralling gift to his fans.

The iconic singer was in the city last year. Kiran Holkar met up with the singer to know about his musical journey.

So lets get to the start, why did you choose Apache Indian as your name, dropping Steven Kapur?

Apache came from a singer I used to listen to, reggae singer back in the day, singer from Jamaica. Wild Apache Super Cat was his name, he’s still alive. When I made my first song I didn’t have a name so I said "Apache Indian" because I am Indian. I didn’t think it was going to last long, but the name has a nice ring to it so yeah I kept it like that and now I’m all over as "Apache Indian".

You have this unique name for albums and your songs. Where does the inspiration come from?

No Reservations, Make way for the Indian, well, song like these are popular now. Back then, there wasn't any Indian in the international charts still, so every title has to have a meaning, but then look at the song Arranged Marriage and Chuck There, so I just try to fuse and amalgamate things. I am not trying to be white, I am not trying to be black, I am trying to bring colors in to let people know that he is an Indian who is talking about all these things. I must talk about the caste system, I talk about Aids things that bother me in Indian music, in my opinion, you have very sad songs or very happy jolly songs in reggae music you are tackling issues, you pick on subjects like what happened, knife crime and gun crime. So I picked it from Indian subjects. I am a Hindu, so I speak about the caste system, I made a video here, Arrange Marriage which is a big international hit, but again I am writing about different subjects. It is hard to write a song about such situations and publish it, so I wrote the song in a way that people would relate to. They listen to it and they still don’t know the meaning… so in Arranged Marriage I took myself through Arrange Marriage it was time for me to get married so the last line of song said now I am married I have a problem "when is the right time to tell my girlfriend" so what does that mean, it means in UK's culture, you grow up maybe you have a girlfriend, is it such a bad thing not a bad thing right but nobody was saying that, there is a clash of some things, so with respect to the tradition of both the places. So these are the lines the key lines. I love writing, am a writer so I love putting this things together.

Do you have a lot of family here.

Mumbai is a very special place for me. I've shot many of my videos here, many collaborations, and my record label is based here, I have so many friends and family here too.

Its been sometime since your last album.  

For me it's been 30 years since my first album, and we are doing a world tour. It starts in India and goes on to the UK, Europe, America and Canada, so I am very excited to see all my fans again sing my songs. I am very excited to be back in India.

Can you recall your first work as a playback singer?

Back in the day, I was sent to madras to work with A. R. Rahman Yeah, I did a song called No Problem {sings lines of the song} great experience to work with A. R. Rahman they shot this in the UK with Prabhu Deva. That’s exciting for someone from the UK. 

What are some of the song you usually like to sing for your fans?

Yes, sure there was a song called Chuck There back in the days and I sang it here in the 90s in Andheri stadium to a big crowd of about 50k people and they were making so much noise that I couldn't finish the song and I thought they don’t like me that’s why I left the stage and I asked the management "what's wrong why don’t they listen to me" then they said "The song is about the Bombay and the whole culture of India and they are very happy and proud of the song" as the song was number one in the charts (sings Chuck There song).

If you were given a chance to sing for any of the Bollywood actors for whom would you like to sing?

Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar he is my favorite and I want to meet him. He got this look about him, and he has played many different roles. It's something cool about him like James Bond. I just like him, some people are too Bollywood, but he has this international appeal, all the others are doing all well I need to meet these people and I want to especially meet Amitabh Bachchan. The movies have changed a lot it appeals to a lot more international crowd. I watched a movie by Amitabh Bachchan called “Pink” very different kind of storyline from the traditional storyline this kind of themes are really brilliant man brilliant work. Man, I love Bombay. I've watched many films, but I need to go on to watch more of them.

Anything about your family?

My parents are from Punjab, and both passed away now. We came up to the UK in the 60s and I was born in 1967. So I was born and raised in the UK. I have 3 children, my son is my DJ, the other two are busy in different occupations, so yeah, all good. My wife is here with me touring.

So you also have you son who is also into music.

My friends and family are here, and I met some of new talent here who are going to join me on stage, my son is my DJ so it’s a very family-oriented thing it's just going to be fun.

What food have you tried in India, any dish you like?

Lamb chops. I love cooking. That's my new thing, I want to do a cookery show. My father used to eat "Paan" from the streets and I want to try that, before I leave. I'll try that. Whenever I come here it reminds me of my mother and father because they come from Punjab, so we have heard a lot of stories about India and when I come here, I feel closer to them. It's like we travel around the world but where is home? Our parents are from India. We were raised in England, and we were born in England, but the foreign is home for us when everyone else says he is Indian.

Can you share with us your time back then and now?

So much stuff like back in the day when there were no phones, there was no social media, so fans would come to you with lots of fan mail. I remember bags and bags and bags of fan mail people writing letters, when I came to Bombay, I remember ‘I love you Apache’ all these things all these signs. I would say now it's all social media, but back in the day they would come to see you and want to chase you up the road writing letters. I still have all those things and memories. Besides, there was no phones, so people would take photos and by afternoon they bring them back to show the album full of pictures and get it signed. So many of these kinds of memories. All my children are now older. They read through the books and see it all…

What about Covid, though it’s an old story now.

Sometimes you need support around you, people around you are important and in the music business you find all the idiots around you. Lots of people come and go, record labels come, managers come, I hate it, I hate music business, I love music. Now it's recently changed to iTunes and all the online downloading stuff. So they don’t pay much respect to the artist. You make music it costs money and people download it for free, no one cares about the music. During Covid no one cared about the artists, so then we have to care about ourselves work together to care and share and see how far you can go. Your job is important to us to spread the news the good news. It is not music alone, it’s the movement for the change it is to recognize a change. Imagine 30 years ago this song was happening, there was nothing, so I thought how these people understand what I am talking about.

What genre do you love to listen to?

I am a big fan of reggae music, and love reggae music, Bob Marley, I was signed to his record label. I went to Jamaica to record in his studio. He died on my birthday, but I love reggae, the grove and the consciousness of reggae. I love Hindi classical music, I love Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle. I was happy to work with Asha Bhosle on one of her albums. I love any good song on the charts. Recently I did a song for a movie, it was a Telegu named ‘DSP’. So the whole song was in a different language. So we should be able to do that because we sing if someone tells me to sing it. I do and I understand it’s a bit challenging, I say continue to challenge yourself whether you are a young person, whether you are in an industry, school, or musician, let's do better let's try to push our boundaries, don’t get comfortable in one spot so to do something like that sweet behind the microphone everyone keeps believing and keep achieving never stop even when you are succeeding.

So how do you do that?

Here it is very difficult, sometimes and you have to step out of the box go out to break it there and all these people say he is one of us yeah but if you start here he is not one of us he is nothing so I say go away, step out of comfort zone reach out to the world which is sitting out there, and if somebody likes you why won't they pick you up. But never give up its hard business that’s all. But you are right that Justin Bieber is performing globally and why don’t Indian artists up there doing it globally. I think it's coming; I say to labels here, don’t just focus on Bollywood, focus on the alternative genres. Back in the day in the 90s, there was more international music in India here MTV and Channel V, but now it's only one channel, yet it's more on the street not on TV, so it's not a good reflection. Everyone here is in rap, but where is the platform? I don't get it. The balance needs to get back again. Record companies need to get wise again and be in touch with the streets. They are not in touch with what's going on.   

What do you want to say to your fans?

Thank you very much for 30 years of support. People have grown up with the songs, it's more than music, it became a movement, it became a representation of a new generation, a new movement in the UK bringing it back to India. Recently I had an award from the Queen of England for contribution to music and community and for starting a new journey in music which is a very big honor for me though she passed away. I tried to bring Bollywood and Hollywood hip-hop and reggae together which brings people together. It shows different generations of genres, music and cultures coming together So, every time you see someone doing hip hop and reggae it came from here and I am proud of it and proud of all the fans and their support. So, I say come and celebrate what you have created new movement, new genre of music which is open for uplifting people so that we can be part of Bollywood and Hollywood together. I have 8 songs in 8 different Hollywood movies. So yeah we can be a part of Hollywood it's not just music, but any industry says we need more Indian artists in Hollywood we need them more in sports. We can achieve these things together. Let's support each other, there is a lack of supporting each other. "Why is he doing this, why is he not doing that" no... the culture needs to change the thinking needs to change. We need to support each other to get to the top. So that’s the thing, nothing is easy but let's try for more.

What do you think is the future of the music scene in India?

Personally, when I came there was nothing. Now I see the artist doing reggae and hip hop in different languages and Indian singing is brilliant. I did what  I did and that was in the West, so we have to break the West. When I got the charts in the UK, it was big news here, but if I did the same thing here it wasn't going to happen, so I have to step out of the zone, bring it back home. When they saw me on the charts, they are proud of me but it was very difficult in UK to build it all up.

Interviewed by Kiran Holkar