It is nearly midnight when Talwiinder takes the stage for his first gig at a glitzy night club, Episodes by Kala Ghoda, in Chandigarh. As the first beat drops, the jam-packed venue swoons to a new sound of Punjabi music, one which is peppered with experimental electro-pop and trap music, with lyrics that break away from the mainstream rhetoric of sexism, caste supremacy and gun culture.
The music stands out from the dhol and tumbi of bhangra tracks and so does Talwiinder’s appearance. The 27-year-old California-based singer-songwriter’s face resembles the Joker’s with the paint, but it has a corporate twist as he wears a white-collared shirt with black tie and trousers. “I want to do something that no one is doing. Everybody’s showing their face, everybody is looking good, clean. Bro, make the music clean. You’re selling yourself, not the music,” he says a day later, at the terraced roof of his hotel.
