Gurcharan Mall is 58 years old but he looked much younger and fitter than that as he recently left the crowd at a wedding ceremony aghast, bewildered and amazed. His vivacious and cheering personality was infectious, and the crowd just got mesmerised by the dhol group. The beauty of GM was that despite a heavy schedule he always has the patience and time to talk to others, young or old. The dhol bhangra dance is a very lively and cultural traditional cultural folk dance and music from the Northern Indian fertile state of Panjab, The Land of Five Rivers and the Homeland of the Sikhs. He comes from Hakim Pur, a village near Bhanga, Dist. Jalandhar, Panjab.
He is truly, without a shadow of doubt, the first pioneer of making the Dhol popular around the world and he plays it adeptly not only with great finesse and perfection but with great passion.
He is popularly called "the King of Dhol" and also the Godfather of the world's Dhol players. He is the most loved, respected, adored and cherished of the world’s legendary players and has performed live in front of crowds, with great celebrities like Gurdas Maan, Kuldip Manak, Harbhajan Maan, Han Raj Hans, Surinda Shinda, Jamla Jatt and many more. He has been a special guest to the current monarchy, Queen Elizabeth 2.
As a young child, he was fascinated by rhythmic sounds and during his early childhood in the late 1950’s he assimilated all the cultural values and beliefs of the Panjabi society. In the early 1960’s, his family moved to the UK and he successfully adapted to the transition from rural Panjab to Westernised way of life whilst retaining the values, beliefs and culture which now gives him recognition as an outstanding personality. He is very articulate both in Punjabi and English and his communication skills are admirable as he talks with a perpetual smile on his face. He wins the heart of others by his humble demeanour and warm hugs.
He qualified as a Mechanical Engineer and studied Dholak during his spare time. He continued to develop his innate talents and developed his skills as both dholak and dhol musician. He is fastidious and constantly striving for perfection, which is evident in his performances. His unique style of dhol playing has won the hearts and mind of the entire generation of music lovers achieving global recognition. Although humble, his is a household name,nowadays. Recently, at a wedding, he was described as popular and his self-effacing and humble personality was admired by the crowd. Many took the opportunity to take photos with him and his radiating warmth brings others close to him and fans just love his dhol and his personality.
He has his own Dhol Academy where he teaches dhol and he is actively involved with several institutions and universities. This great dhol maestro was in the Biggest Show 2005, where over 200,000 were in the audience and over four million viewers watched him around the world playing on Live 8 with UB 40 at the famous Speakers Corner, Hyde Park, in London.
The beginning of an artist.
Gurcharan was from the very start influenced by the unique rhythms of Bhangra music. This music has its origins in the rural calendar of an agricultural society that always celebrates a successful harvest. The dance movements themselves are all associated with the movements of an agricultural worker going about his daily tasks. Even as a young child Gurcharan was fascinated by the rhythmic sounds and his earliest instrument was a "Peepa Can" that he played with a couple of sticks. His early childhood in the late 1950's ensured that he absorbed all the cultural values of an Indian nation with its multi-cultural values and religions.
As a teenager in a very close community, Gurcharan saw traditional Bhangra being performed by U.K. based groups and he began to attend rehearsals and learn the basic movements. At the same time he followed the bands like Anari Sangeet, Ashoka group, Also Chirag Pechan Who were developing the new Bhangra sound by introducing western instruments to the traditional music. Whilst he was attracted to the new form he decided that he would initially concentrate on learning all that he could about the traditional Bhangra music. He continued to develop his skills as both a Dancer and Dhol musician.
Always demanding perfection he realised that he needed to form his own team of Bhangra Dancers and he created the "Nachdey Hasdey Group". They quickly developed a reputation for excellence that won them many Awards. "The Punjab Group" was another Dance Group with whom he toured and performed with in many countries throughout the world. Gurcharan began to earn a reputation as a Teacher and this led to his involvement in many Dance Groups.
Not content with only developing Bhangra dancing Gurcharan began to be in demand to play both Dhol and Dholak in the newly emerging modern Bhangra Groups.
His first group was the "Nadaan Group" which featured many top Bhangra musicians. His next group was Taranga.
Then Apna Sangeet In which he was Dholak and the first Dhol player outside India to play with a singing group. and then came his big break in 1986, with the release of Apna Sangeets debut album ‘Apna Sangeet by Apna Sangeet’, he stamped his name on the Bhangra industry.
His unique style of Dhol playing won the hearts and minds of a whole generation of music lovers. He was the first Dhol player to combine dancing on stage whilst playing Dhol, and his performances blew peoples minds. He gave Apna Sangeet and its bludgeoning fan base over sixteen years of Dhol playing frenzy and helped them to achieve global recognition. Apna Sangeet Also used to be called The Big Drum Boys .
With his growing international reputation Gurcharan is the natural choice to accompany many of the International Stars who visit the U.K. from both the Bombay Film Industry and the Punjab. Gurcharan performed with the likes of Gurdas Maan, Jagmohan Kaur/ K.Deep, Jamla Jatt, Kuldip Manak, Hans Raj Hans, Harbhajan Maan, Sarbjit Cheema, Surinder Shinda, Jagga Jatt, alaap, heera, Malkit singh, Safri Boys ,DCS, Geet group many more.
Gurcharans originality, dedication and talent have made him a formidable force in the Asian music industry. He has created his own distinct identity and taken his place among the best Punjabi musical talent on earth.
In 1999 the Dhol Blasters took part in the first ever Dholathon and set a world record of 42hours non-stop Dhol playing and in 2001 they went on to break their own record and set a new one by playing no less than 53 hours non-stop, a record that remains today
Today Gurcharans Bhangra crusade continues. His performances had so much impact that they inspired people all over the country to take up the playing Dhol. So many people approached him for lessons that around fifteen years ago he created the first team of Dholis in the U.K. ‘The Dhol Blasters’.
In 2009 Gurcharan Mall aka The King of Dhol has drummed his way into the Guinness Book of World Records under the World 501 Dholi’s banner. A total of 632 Dhol players from all backgrounds smashed the previous world record by simultaneously playing the Dhol for for 12 minutes and 42 seconds on, Saturday 2nd May 2009.
Gurcharan was the man behind this amazing feast of live Dhol rhythms, staged at Centenary Square in Birmingham, UK. He wanted to show and involve all communities to experience how rich and strong his culture was, and came up with the idea of using the Dhol drum as the centre piece to both break a world record and raise money for charity at the same time.
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