Sanjay Majhu, restaurateur and frontman of the Bhangra Beatles
My first band was called Bombay Talkie and I started that with university friends in 1985. For a while we were the only Punjabi folk band in Scotland and soon discovered there was a wedding market. The first wedding we did for a laugh and found people were throwing money at us.
After university we all got jobs – I started my own company with the Spice of Life restaurant on Argyle Street in Glasgow – but continued to do Bombay Talkie gigs. We produced two albums, played T in the Park and toured Malaysia.
Our first album, Judgement Day, was number one for six weeks in the Punjabi charts. Our second album was called Feem – a reference to Indian drugs – and with hindsight that title was a bit of a mistake. My mum wasn't happy.
We played T in the Park in 1996. There was 10 of us in the band and 13 people in the audience. When it was announced the Manic Street Preachers were about to come on the main stage, that took our crowd down to four. Then Keanu Reeves came on with his band Dogstar in another tent. We ended up with an audience of one: that's our claim to fame.
Things began to wind down leading up to 2003. I then bought Charan Gill out of the Ashoka in 2005 and took on 10 new restaurants from the Harlequin group. That changed my whole life. I had already built up the Apple Pharmacy chain. It was a busy time and the band went on the backburner.
Things changed again in 2013 when I decided to sell off a big part of my business. Since the credit crunch in 2008 anyone like me with a bit of debt with the bank was swimming uphill. I was finding life tough and not enjoying the business. I thought: "What am I going to do with my life?" I sold off 70 per cent of my company, then sat back and had a big period of self-reflection.
I wanted to form another band. I love Punjabi folk music but wasn't that keen on singing Punjabi folk songs. The Bhangra Beatles came about because I adored The Beatles and loved singing their songs. I was 12 when John Lennon was shot in 1980. I watched the news and wondered why people were so crazy about this band. I listened to their music and was immediately hooked.
The backbone of all Punjabi folk music is the dhol, a big Indian drum that they used to play during the harvest celebrations. Then you have the dholak, a smaller version of the dhol which you play with your hands, and the tabla which is two small drums.
We can't compete with Beatles tribute bands. The likes of the Bootleg Beatles are phenomenal. We can't touch these guys, but what we can do is give people a different flavour of the Beatles. I don't see us as a tribute band – we're a celebration band.
I'll sing a song and then stick the video up on Facebook. I might get slagged off with people saying: "Oh, you're doing it wrong' but I don't care. If one person likes it, I'm happy.
Bhangra Beatles play Best of the West Festival, Inveraray Castle, on September 8. Visit bowfest.co.uk and facebook.com/BhangraBeatles
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