'Birmingham the creator of Bhangra' says revolutionary king of the genre Gurcharan Mall

Gurcharan Mall is the official face of Bhangra who witnessed the birth of the genre in the UK

You cannot deny Birmingham's musical chops as it gave the world two-tone, British Bhangra and rock icon Ozzy Osbourne and heavy metal. One man however revolutionised Bhangra and has become the face of the energetic genre worldwide, the king of bhangra Gurcharan Mall BEM.

Known as King G Mall, Gurcharan is an Indian immigrant who is a legendary figure in the birth of British Bhangra. Whilst Punjabi immigrants were doing the tabla (drums) on Black Country pub tables, Gurcharan was part of the band movement spearheading Bhangra across the country.

Along the way he has become a guru on the genre launching albums, bands, books and breaking world records all to imprint the power of dhol into everyone's minds. He was also the first dhol player to dance as he played, becoming a kind of Bhangra rock star firing up audiences.

So how did an Indian boy in Handsworth become the face of Bhangra? Gurcharan, 72, said: "We came in 1963 and at that time the UK had it's biggest snowfall, I came with my father, mother and younger brother.

"We thought why did we come to the UK? The impression was not that good.

"We came because we couldn't get what we wanted in our own country. There were only 5-6 Asian kids in schools, there were Teddy Boys who were against Asian people.

"My dad wanted me to study hard and I became a mechanical engineer whilst playing dhol on the side."

The memories of Indian Bhangra still rang in his ears and he started to mess with the dhol (double sided barrel drum). His father wasn't impressed and locals would mock him for his lower caste background, even calling music a low class hobby.

Gurcharan pushed the pain away and decided to prove to himself he could master the dhol. British Bhangra sprouted in the Black Country when Indian immigrants would slap tables and sing folk songs in pubs after tough factory shifts.

As they chanted and reminisced about farm life back in India, these after work rituals paved the way for British Bhangra to spread across the UK. Gurcharan started his own Bhangra bands in his early twenties, even with sub par skills.

He said: "The dhol player was always stationary so I moved around and practiced moves at home, I would jump or somersault on stage.

"I wore earrings and gold rings and people looked at me differently. I would carry 15-16st guys on my shoulders while playing. People would ask 'how much has he been drinking?' but I just used my strength.

"I wrote music and once competitions started taking place we improved our playing. Then we introduced modern stuff as times changed like electronic keyboards, guitars and drums.

"It was UK artists that put life into Bhangra music and made it popular, then Indian players copied us."

Gurcharan's rock star stage antics coupled with his bubbly personality made him the official face of Bhangra, where any Bhangra poster around the world featured him. He formed iconic British Bhangra groups including Apna Sangeet, Nachdey Hasdey and the most iconic, Dhol Blaster s.

He has won numerous lifetime achievement awards and broken over seven world records, including producing the biggest amount of national and international collaborations songs. Gurcharan got the royal approval when he met Queen Elizabeth II for his work with Dhol Blasters at her Golden Jubilee at Symphony Hall.

He has performed globally and joined fellow Brummies UB40 at the LIVE 8 concert, in Europe he played on the same stage as Isaac Hayes, James Brown and Prince.

He also revolutionized the instrument with his engineer skills, making dhol and tabla stands, fitting microphones onto dhols and creating homemade hooks for the drum's plastic skin.

When he isn't performing he is writing books and teaching classes on dhol playing. Gurcharan's most beloved achievement is his endless charity work and goal to mentor the next generation of Bhangra stars.

He said: "I started doing world records because I realised the only way people can recognise our culture is through something big.

"Whatever I have earned I use to promote musicians so people can respect us. I can't say 'king' myself, it is nice if people appreciate my work to call me that.

"The only king is God and we are all his children. It gives me inner happiness, if I don't teach or perform I feel like something is missing. It's in my blood.

"All of these bands were from Birmingham, Birmingham was the creator of Bhangra music."