Cultures meet: British, Pak singers launch Tricity’s Zaira Diamond
British Singer and Model Milli Moonstone launched the latest British collection of Zaira Diamond UK along with International Pop Singer Najam Sheraz from Pakistan (Bheege Honth Tere fame) at Zaira Diamond showroom in Sector 17 Chandigarh the city beautiful.
Milli Moonstone is a Western girl with an eastern heart. She is a Sarangi player, a flutist and a singer. Deeply influenced by Indian music, she plays a brand of fusion that is deeply inspiring. She has been on tour in India with Pakistani pop star Najam Sheraz, with whom she sings and plays Violin, Flute, Sarangi and Guitar.
Najam Sheraj is one of the most prolific musicians of Pakistan. He rose to fame in India when his composition “Bheege Hont Tere” in Mahesh Bhatt’s Murder won all the awards of that year also winning Najam Sheraz “The Best Original Sound Track Award” in Bollywood Music Award. His latest Bollywood film single ”Tere Bina” for Vikram Bhatt’s Shaapit hit the highest no. on charts as well. Najam Sheraj’s ancestors hailed from Jalandhar and Jodhpur. His great grandfather, Jaidayal, belonged to a Hindu family in Punjab.
Moonstone aspires to shine in India
She gave up her medical degree to study Asian and African music where she had the incredible opportunity to learn instruments and vocal styles from all around the world. But the instrument that truly stole her heart was India’s sarangi.
Milli Moonstone’s musical life began properly at 7 years old, when she started studying classical flute, and singing in the Hampshire County Children’s Choir. A year later she took up the violin and joined local and county orchestras, and wind and string ensembles.
At 11, she hit headlines and caused a national controversy by applying to be a girl chorister in Winchester Cathedral (under her birth name, Emily Edmondstone). For over 900 years, the choir had consisted only of boys, so she confronted head-on a long-established tradition. She was the centre of another wave of press years later when she eventually won her fight and the first girls’ choir was pioneered in the Cathedral.
In the meantime, Milli had continued to study classical voice, flute and violin, was singing in the National Children’s Choir, and had started writing her own songs on the keyboard since the age of 13.
She joined Westminster School at 15, where A Level Music opened her eyes and understanding of various genres further–from classical to jazz to musicals.
After A levels, Milli left her instruments behind and set off alone on a voyage of discovery around the world. Not to be without music for long, she bought a cheap guitar in Indonesia and immediately started writing songs on it.
This culturally-enlightening trip inspired a deep-seated interest in musical styles from a plethora of places.
Milli also has a creative input in all sorts of other musical projects. She has sung, and played flute in Congolese bands Zongzing All Stars and Kasai Masai, the latter of which took her on tour in Oman and Bahrain and invited her to feature on their latest album, and she has also played with gypsy-jazz band Haila Drum, a Zimbabwean fusion band lead by Zuzana Novak.
She has also just recently embarked on a new project with producer Chameleon, which fuses traditional acoustic sounds from around the world with driving dance beats.
Music is what feelings sound like: Najam Sheraz
Najam Sheraz is one of the most prolific musicians of Pakistan. His chart busting composition ‘Bheege Hont Tere’ from Mahesh Bhatt’s Murder apart, he has endorsed brands like Pepsi, Tapal Tea and Mobilink the largest Telecom Company in Pakistan. His song ‘’Only Love’’ was presented at the Beijing Olympics torch Relaying ceremony in 2008.
Najam is an extremely versatile singer who enraptures his audience with his melodious and alluring voice. His fascinating career in music includes a wide range of albums and singles that are considered to be anthems worldwide.
Noted for his charming personality, Najam Sheraz is a dedicated world music artist and has built bridges among different cultures and communities. Through the entrancing songs, he aims at promoting the message of ‘peace and harmony’ on a global stage. The powerful compositions depict an amalgamation of various genres. Be it Eastern classical or folk, rock or funk, or even blues, Najam Sheraz excels in all genres of music.
He has successfully performed in a variety of renowned music festivals such as the Bradford Festival, Oslo Music Festival, Norway, London Music Festival and many more.
Never scared of trying new experiments in music, his spiritual album “Yeh mamla koi aur Hae” has been a best seller in many parts of the world. Till date he has released ten albums many singles and sold millions of copies of Albums.
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