By Ninder Kaur
Muhammad Mumith Ahmed, better known by his stage name Mumzy Stranger is back with his brand new single ‘Circles’.
He’s made it in Bollywood and he tells us that he will be returning to his UK Garage days, we caught up with the 31-year-old Bengali singer to find out more.
What is the inspiration behind the new single ‘Circles’?
The song tells the story about that situation where you’re stuck in the middle of a relationship and your going round in circles and the reason for that is because you took forever to tell that one person how much you love them and you missed your opportunity. It has been inspired by real life situations. With the video, I wanted to keep it as real as possible so we went for the short movie type video to really bring out the visuals.
Is the new record about a personal experience?
No, not at all, it is more to do with what people go through and what my friends tell me so I get inspired from that.
Are any of your songs from personal experiences?
Not exactly, but some personal emotions inspire me to write.
What has the response been like?
Amazing. For me it’s great to know that the fans support me even though I’m now singing in Punjabi, which is new for me but I’m enjoying it as I’ve always been a Bollywood fan since I was young.
What is the reason behind your stage name- Mumzy Stranger?
My real name is Mumit so hence the chance to Mumzy (more cooler) and stranger is from a saying I believe ” your born a stranger, you live a stranger and you die as a stranger ” so it just went really well.
What got you interested in music and did you know you always wanted to be a singer?
It’s a natural thing I guess, but my brothers played a huge role, as they were massive music collectors. I had an idea at the age of 11 that music was something that I spent a lot of time trying to understand. So I guess from that age onwards yes I wanted to be a musician or anything within that industry.
Coming from Bengali descent, did you find it in a challenge to break out in the Asian music industry?
Most definitely, yes as it was something completely new for me and my family and generation. There wasn’t anyone else doing music to look up to or even get support from so I had to do it myself.
Was your family supportive?
It wasn’t easy at all coming from an Islamic home and especially being Bangladeshi as it wasn’t a normal career path to be taking and obviously an impossible one at the time as there was no role model or anyone to actually look up to coming from my background.
What is your favourite part about making music?
It’s all exciting for me in different areas. As a producer being in the studio and creating a vibe or hook is an amazing experience and then as an artist the performance on stage is a crazy buzz.
We don’t see many other British Bengali artists in the Asian music industry, why do you think this is?
Well actually there is a lot more coming through like Jernade Miah and Char Avell. But the main reason would be because families don’t accept it as a career or something serious to be pursuing.
Is it tough collaborating with other artists because your input is not the only one that counts?
No. Its actually fun to enter someone else’s style of music. I normally enjoy it even more as I’m leaving my comfort zone. Sometime it can become demanding but I like the challenge.
Nafees said you had been bugging him for a collaboration? What do you have to say about this?
Haha nafees is a funny guy. He likes to believe that so I’ll let him have that one.
You have been performing at a number of melas across the country. How do you prepare for them?
As long as I have my set list and my cd with me, it’s all green. Honestly, the travelling does get to me but it’s all worth it when you finally perform and see the great response from the crowd. Melas are simply great because the crowd and vibe is perfect. It’s a great platform for us artists coming from the Asian industry to showcase our music to an open crowd. I love it.
Where would you like to see the British Asian music industry in 5 years time?
Collaborating more together and to lose the EGO amongst artists as it’s a small industry. Hopefully, I would like it to get more mainstream.
You are one of the few people to have cracked the Bollywood music industry. How does that make you feel?
I don’t think I’ve cracked it at all but I’m getting there and I’ve had a taste, but I would definitely want to go back and do more.
Would you ever go back to your UK Garage days?
Weird you say that. I’m actually working on a garage record right now so yes definitely.
Are there any other genres of music you would like to pursue?
Reggae is favourite.
You have recently been on tour, how do you prepare for tour life?
I pack all my important things I need for example- my headphones, hair wax and extra clothing as I have to make sure my image is on point. And obviously a carry charger to make sure my phone battery never dies so I can keep my social media active while I’m on the road. To be honest you can never plan. I normally go with the flow.
What is the best thing about it?
The stage performance and the fan’s reactions towards my music and especially new music that I’ve just made in studio.
When you’re not working on new music, what is Mumzy doing?
I enjoy spending time with my family and I love travelling to different holiday spots.
What’s next for you?
I’m working on an Asian/RnB album following on from Circles and I’m also working on a mainstream EP called 7SEVEN and some collaborations. There are a lot of exciting things that I will be announcing and yes there will be loads more music.
Quick Fire Round
Where is your favourite place to perform? Canada has been a great place to perform. Especially in Toronto desiFEST, that was crazy.
If you weren’t pursuing music, what would you be doing? I’m a huge foodie so I would probably have my own restaurant somewhere or definitely be involved in the food industry.
Who are you digging in the music industry? I’m feeling Skrillex, Natalie La Rose, Chris Brown and many more.
Dream collaboration? Usher
