‘Where are Bristol’s South Asian DJs?’

The South Asian Audio Creatives recently launched a campaign highlighting the lack of representation across mainstream commercial radio stations.

Across the Bauer radio stations, there are zero presenters of South Asian descent and on a list of global stations including Capital, Heart and Smooth there were also none. The figures speak for themselves and it’s clear that we are massively underrepresented in the industry.

The campaign looked across the whole of the UK but unfortunately, it appears to be equally relevant to the city of Bristol. Lineups for nights out, radio presenters and festival acts have long been criticised for having a lack of diversity across the board.

Why are we seeing a lack of South Asian people across the Bristol music scenes? Is there a lack of South Asian talent? Insufficient support for emerging DJs? Or are promoters disengaged from South Asian talent, following years of subconscious bias?

The problem isn’t that there aren’t any South Asian people in the industry. We have always been here and have also heavily influenced the UK music industry.

We only need to look back to the 1980s, where the fusion of Punjabi and Western music gave way to the birth of Bhangra and the popularity of Daytimer raves held and attended by South Asian communities became a popular underground phenomenon across the UK.

Bristol-based DJ, Adibah Iqbal, has been on the city’s music scene for the past three years thanks to courses offered by Mix Nights, which offers DJ lessons to women and non-binary people and fights for more representation in the industry.

“I’ve always had an interest in music and entertaining but didn’t know there was specifically a space for me because the DJ community I saw around me was white boy central,” says Adibah. “It was only when I came across Booty Bass, which is a female and non-binary DJ collective in Bristol.

“The DJs are people of colour, different genders, different ages. It was so broad in so many ways. They had the best nights and it was an incentive for me to join and start my journey into DJing.”

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As well as it being a very white-dominated space, Adibah offers up alternative reasons for the lack of South Asian DJs seen across Bristol.

“The lack of encouragement is a big one,” she says. “Growing up in a Pakistani family, music was always something that was naughty. There was a feeling that music wasn’t allowed to be played cause it was ‘haraam’. I think that’s why I’m so drawn to music now – and why I got into DJing.

“When you’re a child of an immigrant, you’re taught a specific path of achievement. It’s understandable why people think this – but it limits us to think what is possible for ourselves. I just wasn’t taught that music was a viable option for me.”

Adibah (left) is part of the Booty Bass collective in Bristol. Photo: Booty Bass.

Whilst many South Asian families continue to pile pressure on younger generations to pursue more vocational career options, we’re seeing a growth in South Asian DJs burgeoning on the underground scene.

Ahadadream, who is championing an all South-Asian lineup at his night No: ID, to Jyoty, who is using her platform to call for higher representation on the airwaves – we are starting to recognise the lack of diversity and what we can do to make a change.

“It’s not to say South Asian DJs never existed. We always existed by we were always a sub-culture,” says Adibah We’ve always been here.”

And thanks to collectives such as Booty Bass championing more diverse lineups, we are seeing the rise of more representation across Bristol’s music industry and the rest of the UK.

Main Photo: Booty Bass

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