Q. Sumeet, how did you begin this journey into the music industry?

A. I was about to start my last year of school when I realized, without doubt, music was the only thing that made me happy and I needed to pursue it full time, put all my energy in only that. At the time Toronto’s scene was still coming up and I didn’t feel I was getting what I needed to be so I moved out to Los Angeles to try my luck out there. California was definitely the wrong move for me. Coming from my little farm house in London, Ontario to the big city? California ate me up. I met a lot of people who claimed they could do a lot of things, but I was naïve, overly trusting in a business where it might be better to question first. I was taken, duped a number of times which had me feeling pretty low but didn’t lessen my desire in any way.
I ended up coming to New York to meet with a management/production team my brother had met through a friend. We all clicked right away – they were very focused, put music above everything else and had a vision of what we needed to do. They’d both been in the industry for a while and knew so much, which was incredible for me… I soaked up as much as I could.
We were dedicated, we worked very hard and song by song built up my current album, Deeper, which we are all very proud of. It took a lot of rough, unsure times for me to find what I needed but it worked out in the end.

Q. Aside from your solo project, you’ve had the opportunity to work with some current hit makers like Elephant Man, and engineer Dave O’Donnell – how has the experience helped your development?

A. We reached out to Elephant Man because I had been a big fan of his since back in the day. He blessed us with a verse before “Pon de River Pon de Bank” and “Signal de Plane” came out and before he went to superstar level in the mainstream; so when we ended up dropping our track, it was a big deal because he was on it too, which helped spread the tune further and faster than we might have on our own.
Working with people like Dave O’Donnell would have been straight-up intimidating if he wasn’t such a sweet guy. He’s worked with so many huge artists – James Taylor, Mary J- and now he’s working with lil’ ol’ me, definitely a learning experience. He knows so much, it’s wonderful, and he takes the time to explain and teach things. He taught me a lot about vocal techniques, instrumentation, so many things that have been invaluable to me. Nuff respect to Dave!

Q. You are also on a few successful compilations to date, how did the opportunities come about?

A. We’ve been blessed to have people hear the tracks over the radio, off the internet, through word of mouth… and they’re feeling it. Universal Canada heard “Agony” playing over the radio and contacted us about including it on their Dancehall Hits 2004 compilation.
There are also a grip of mixtapes with our tracks on them floating around which must have helped spread our music also. The Montreal International Hip-Hop Film Festival picked up “Rush”, a lush beat-box infused R&B track for their soundtrack through our website after they had heard “Agony” on the radio.

Q. Your songs are doing well on commercial radio, not only in Canada – but also in the UK – the international market has definitely embraced you - The international market is giving us so much love! One of Italy’s top DJ’s licensed “Agony” for his compilation and released it out there, which was very cool.

A. We’ve found our songs all over the place, from China to Singapore! We’ve gotten requests for lyrics from places like Germany and Sweden… it’s very humbling to know so many people from all around the world have heard my songs. Much love for all the support!

Q. It seems like you have a love for dance hall / reggae music – how is that since your background is East Indian?

A. Well, I went to school with a lot of Caribbean folks who introduced me to dancehall, which seemed to have the same beat as my heart. Something about the rhythm, the flow,the songs really took a hold on me. I remember when I first saw a video of Buju… I couldn’t believe all that voice came out of him! And the jams… I was always at the jams… the ones where you feel the heat hit you like a wet sheet when you walk in, and that familiar smoky scent in the air. Calypso, Soca… now that was a cardio workout! One of my best friends was Guyanese and we spent every weekend at the parties – I guess it soaked into me...

Q. Your song “Ghost” where you speak about being haunted by a past lover – is that true!!??

A. Yes, unfortunately, and it’s always the ones that are the worst for you that are the hardest to forget! He was the one I thought I loved, the one I was ready to spend my days with but things between us kept getting worse and worse until I had to come to terms with the fact that they weren’t going to get any better.
It was hard to leave him – he was my heart – but he was holding me back from my dream and I wasn’t about to let that go. So I left. And now he creeps into my head when he shouldn’t be there, interferes with my thoughts until he’s the only thing I can think about.

I was so mad at him when I wrote “Ghost”. I was vexed… why couldn’t he just leave me alone?

Yessir, I believe in Ghosts.

Q. Tell us a little bit about the University of Western Ontario “1 hour fill in”?

A. This was the turning point for me – when I realized music would be a part of my life always. My brother was the MC for a big University Culture show which ran into some technical difficulties. There were over 2000 people there and he had to kill about an hour while they fixed the problems. And so he called me out from the audience – me! A likkle,overly-skinny, high school kid to sing for the crowd. I was terrified! I’d always sung for myself and my imaginary friends… never seriously in front of so many people – and University kids at that! I sang from behind my brother at first, then got a little more daring and sang with my back to the audience. After a couple of tunes the crowd was giving me so much love I finally turned around to face them and gave them love right back. It was incredible to me, to be able to share with everyone like that. That was my first taste and after that I just couldn’t get enough. I came to realize music was the only thing that made me happy, the only thing I wanted to pursue.

Q. So aside from your baptism by fire performance at the “1 hour fill in” where else have you had the opportunity to perform?

A. I have been lucky enough to perform in a lot of different places across the US and lately in the wonderful city of T-dot. I’ve done a lot of shows here in New York, but have gotten the chance to perform in spots in Florida and North Carolina, from Texas to Washington and many cities in between. I did a show for Miami Mardi Gras which was a lot of fun and just last week I was in Toronto at the Opera House for a performance. I love feeling the difference between cities, listening to the way people talk and act and how they react to the shows.

Q. How are the crowds different from city to city?

A. I think different cities bring different energy’s – some are more laid back, and some are extra excited, ready to party.
Toronto was dope for me because it’s home. It’s got the same vibe that I grew up with, that I used to get caught in when I would go see someone perform or go to the jam.

Q. Have you released your album independently?

A. Yes, we’ve released it on our own, and are shopping it to different labels. You can get it off of our website, www.sumeetmusic.com, or iTunes or Amazon.com or CDBaby.com or TowerRecords.com… it’s available!

Q. How is it doing so far?

A. It’s been doing pretty well for us. We got a lot of pre-orders before the album was ready to be sent out which was a great sign for us. Other than that it has been selling pretty steadily over the website and through the other merchants on the internet. It was great for us when iTunes picked it up since everyone’s on there and you have the option of just buying a few tracks if you’re not ready for the whole album yet. And for those that aren’t sure yet if they want to cop it, we have snippets of every song on our website www.sumeetmusic.com.

Q. Your follow up single, “Love Goes On”, when is that scheduled to release – and why did you choose it?

A. “Love Goes On” has been released as our next single and is in rotation across Canada and the UK. We chose it for the vibe it has and the message it’s giving. We wanted to be able to express how grateful we are for all the love we’ve been getting from everyone. It really makes a difference, for real. I get fan mail from random people that I have never met telling me they are proud of me. That’s deep to me, it really means a lot. This industry is so unstable – one second you’re as high as a kite and the next second someone’s cut your string and you come plummeting down – the support and love I’ve been shown picks me up every time and keeps me high. This song is from the heart.

Q. You’ve acquired a major management deal in the UK, how did that come about?

A. They actually heard “Agony” and “Wine Me” over the radio out there and contacted us about working together. It’s great to us that the music got them to seek us out, not somebody’s hook up or recommendation… that means the music is speaking for itself. They are remixing “Agony” with a more UK sound and will be releasing it commercially over the next two months out there.
Other than that look out for the video, we should be shooting around the end of July, and thanks for supporting your girl! Save the Music.

By Heidi Alleyne