I had the pleasure to hop on a zoom this morning with Avtar Singh, who is currently in India with his wife Chanbir Kaur and their son Aveer Singh.
This amazing creative family team recently released a beautiful animated version of Deh Shiva and I wanted to talk to him a little about it.
I first asked him about the journey: the inspiration behind the project and the process of making their new animation
Q- What was the reason for this effort to make Deh Shiva and the animation?
Avtar Singh: Our effort in general is the wish to do something positive for the community as per the concept of seva and to inspire and leave a legacy for the future generation of Sikhs.
When I met Chanbir Kaur, my now wife I didnt realise that she sang and was classically trained. When I found out, I was delighted due to my own love of music. It did take me a number of years to convince her to start singing again and start to share this precious gift with the world.
At this time we also decided to make a number of life changes to have more flexibility and quality around our work life balance. I was already working largely online at the time and have worked as a coach and professional trainer for quite some time. We made the decision for Aveer Singh Ji, my son, to take his schooling online and we went to spend 6 months in Delhi where my wife is from.
With regard to the production of Deh Shiva it happened in stages.
Last year we created a short film based on a few Pauri’s from Japji Sahib called Aisa Naam, which was about common challenges we face and how faith can help to overcome these. We released this short film which was produced/directed by Gurjant Singh around 6 months ago. This can be watched here.
Then some time ago we met up with Chaman Sandhu our friend who also sings, he happened to be visiting Delhi, which led to one of those impromptu meetings in a cafe, where you are discussing everything and we came up with the idea of the rendition of Deh Shiva and then added the elements of Guru Gobind Singh Ji by Bhai Nand Lal Ji.
On knowing what we wanted to combine, the recording was done in just one day. I had previously connected with Anaahad Media Productions at a networking event in Ludhiana who are based near Chandigarh in India. I wanted to create a rich visual experience that went with Deh Shiva. We decided to work together on animation as we can then create something to engage the younger Sikh audience and be unlimited in our creativity. We created the storyline in collaboration with the animation studio- animation was created in about 2 months.
For the Music production - this process took a little time to get the relationships right, to get the infrastructure in place so that we are working with like minded faith based peoples who want to create positive community projects.
My son Aveer Singh was at the recording studio providing the backing vocals you hear on the track also. We do hope everyone enjoys the track and the animation.
Q. The production is very professional and beautifully done! How did you go about funding this production?
Avtar Singh: It was a fully independent production. The production is our Dasvandh, using our creative and financial abilities to bring all the aspects together.
We completed the production in India, which meant we could utilize the cost base here. We have also found a comfort base- collaborating with the right people with experience working in not for profit projects.
Also this creates opportunities for all of us: To create projects, for the work to flow, for us to create according to our craft and abilities with like minded people.
Our music producer, Ravneet Pahwa is super talented and is a master of the Tabla and number of other instruments and has a deep understanding of music.
Q. What are some projects that you are currently working on or have lined up in the near future?
Avtar Singh: We have a number of things that we are working on and releasing this year, here are some of the projects;
• A traditional panjabi rendition of Jogi
• Two Gurbani Shabads
• Aveer Singh is working two tracks for the Sikh Youth
• A Meditational Simran Track
• Mool Mantra track
• A Dharmik track
• Also lastly we are in the middle of a very exciting collaboration on a Panjabi Drill track that we have created with a young Panjabi rapper named OnkarX!
I am very grateful to @thesikhcoach for taking the time to talk with us and tell us about the new animation and all the projects he and the team are working on.
We hope to talk or collaborate with him again soon.
You can follow Avtar Singh and the creative team at the links below
Avtar Singh - The Sikh Coach - https://www.instagram.com/thesikhcoach?igsh=MXBleDA0YXljeDE2cw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
Chanbir Kaur - DelhiMomLondon - https://www.instagram.com/delhimomlondon?igsh=MXAzN3o4YnM1czJoag==
Chaman Sandhu - https://www.instagram.com/chaman__sandhu?igsh=MXQ0a2R2NDBseHU5aQ==
Aveer Waris Singh - https://www.instagram.com/aveerwarissingh?igsh=MWZpeTlpbjRjMmp2eQ==
Anaahad Media Productions - https://www.instagram.com/anaahad_productions?igsh=MWJpZXA5czNwYnU4bg==
Gurjant Singh - Film Prosucer - https://www.instagram.com/directedbygurjant?igsh=MTFmYTZhcmFwNTF1Zg==
Ravneet Pahwa - Music Producer - https://www.instagram.com/ravneetpahwa?igsh=MTQwYXMweXRkcm0yeA==
Deh Shiva - Animation link - https://youtu.be/3FLhH_0j1hM
Aisa Naam - Short Film - https://youtu.be/5ZHDhrwbzPc?si=6bTR7Y7syOE3kjYZ
Chanbir Kaur Music - YouTube Channel - https://youtube.com/@chanbirkaurmusic?si=-bYUUE9zpt2UfBEq