As Bobby Friction puts it, we are entering a New World (Dis)Order where the barriers between music, art, and people are falling down faster than ever before. There is no India, Pakistan, United Kingdom, or United States. There is only music. We are in the midst of the establishment of a groundbreaking approach to music that fuses together the ancient cultures of the East with the modern world of the West. At the forefront of this musical revolution is the Dum Dum Project (DDP). With members from all different types of backgrounds from all over the world, (Sean Dinsmore, Niraj Chag, the1Shanti, DJ Ofay One, among others) they are a great synthesis of this new style of music. We take a moment to sit down and talk with the head man behind these pioneering artists, Sean Dinsmore aka DJ Cavo.

Sarosh Nizami: To begin, I just wanted to say what a privilege and honor it is to be able to interview such a talented and respected artists as yourself. Tell us a little bit about the background of the Dum Dum Project and how your musical family came to be as you are today.
DJ Cavo: We just keep going and growing... like branches off a tree. DDP started in my bedroom studio, Lower East Side, NY and now it's got "branches" in London, Bangkok, and Bombay.

SN: I love the name of the group. How did you all come up with it?
DJ Cavo: Took it right off the back of a bunch of old Hindi Film Records: Dum Dum-India.

SN: How did the talented MC, The1Shanti, who is featured on a lot of the newer tracks, come to be a part of the troupe?
DJ Cavo: I discovered him rhyming for loose change at the Atlantic Ave. Subway Station in Brooklyn... I always had an eye for talent.

SN: I've also seen your tracks on some Sho 'Nuff promos (the DJ behind the Lil' Flip "Game Over" and "Sunshine" remixes taking the scene by storm). Tell us more about this artist and how you came to be associated with her.
DJ Cavo: She's talented and she's fine... What more do you want?

SN: Though you've been well known in the Underground industry since your debut, your latest single, Punjabi 5-0, hit it big with the mainstream crowd as well, lining up for 6 weeks as the #1 track on Bobby Friction and Nihal's BBC Radio 1 Show. How has this affected DDP?
DJ Cavo: Big time? We still waiting to get paid! It's a lot of fun though, the whole waiting to get paid thing.

SN: Punjabi 5-0 was recently featured on the soundtrack to the Bollywood film "Boom." How did that come about and would you be interested in providing tracks for future Hindi movies?
DJ Cavo: Yeah, it's my dream actually... to make some original music for a Bollywood Fillum.

"...I've personally gotten away from the chilled ambient stuff."

SN: With artists in the UK, US, Bangkok, and Bombay is it hard to collaborate when working on an album? If so, how do you overcome these problems?
DJ Cavo: God bless the internet. Sometimes these tracks originate in Bangkok, the vox get sent over from NYC, and then it gets a good tweaking in London before finally being mixed in... wherever we all meet up to tour.

SN: So you've all DJ'ed, performed, and toured all over the world. How do the audiences differ from city to city? Where is the crowd the hypest?
DJ Cavo: I've played in some crazy places - Bhangra Night in Warsaw with Surrinder Rattan was interesting; they were mad for it. NY is always dope. For Desi stuff, the UK is best probably 'cause they been at it longest. Just did Bangkok with Bobby F. and Nihal and it was off the meter.

SN: Which artists have been inspirations or have influenced you?
DJ Cavo: So many... Shanti and Niraj definately! Bob Marley, Beatles, RD Burman, Run DMC, Beasties... It goes on and on.

SN: What are your opinions of other Asian Underground artists, such as Talvin Singh, Karsh Kale, DJ Cheb I Sabbah, etc?
DJ Cavo: When I first heard it in '97 it blew my head off. Still love the harder DnB stuff that peeps like Shiva Soundsystem and Nasha are doing. Cheb I Sabbah is great, although I've personally gotten away from the chilled ambient stuff. It's great to watch my flowers grow too though...

SN: You've just recently dropped an LP, "Spiritual Bling" with hit tracks like 'Supafly Bindi' and 'Rewind.' You're just great with these catchy creative names! What plans can we expect from DDP in the coming year? What's coming??
DJ Cavo: (laughs) We came up with Spiritual Bling when we were on tour in Asia and one of our crew, Kushal, saw a big gold dome of a Thai Buddhist temple and said "Yo that's blinging." "What??" "Spiritual bling ya'll!" I love shit like that. We're just dropping the single in UK/Europe and then we go to India to tour and promote the new "Friction" compilation, which we got a few joints on.

SN: And finally, any last comments for the DesiClub.com readers?
DJ Cavo: Buy anything that says DDP on it! Beware of imitations though.

For more info check out www.dumdumproject.com

Do you have any thoughts on this? Feel free to send Sarosh an e-mail @ Sarosh Nizami.