Joi Barua

Joi Barua
Joi Barua, 2010
Joi Barua, 2010
Background information
Birth nameJayanta Barua
BornDigboi, Assam, India
GenresRock, soul, worldbeat
Occupation(s)Vocalist, musician, music composer
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar, violin, keyboards
Years active2005

Joi Barua is an Indian singer and music composer. Born in Digboi, Assam, he started his career by singing advertising jingles and later did playback singing for Hindi, Assamese and Telugu films. He is also the lead vocalist of the band Joi.[1] Barua has a mixed musical style incorporating elements of rock, soul, jazz, folk and world music.

Early life

Joi was born in Digboi, Assam, the younger of the two children to Ranjana Barua and Rohini Dhar Barua. His father gave him a violin when he was four years old and that triggered his lifelong passion for music. His family moved to Jorhat when he was in junior school. When he was seven years old, his sister pushed him to join a singing competition and taught him the popular Cliff Richard song 'Bachelor Boy'. Even though ignorant about singing at that age, he won the competition. It was a defining moment. His school principal, Sister Mabilia, understood his passion for music and since then she never missed an opportunity to encourage him into singing and taking part in stage acts. Her favourite was the Boney M song 'El Lute' -about a man wrongly imprisoned for a crime he did not commit- which he would often sing to her. He considers her as his first guru in life and a constant source of inspiration. At home, he and his cousin Piku would sing songs of The Beatles, The Eagles, Simon and Garfunkel, U2, etc. He passed out his high school from St. Anthony's College, Shillong, and later attended Gauhati Commerce College for graduation.

His personal inspirations include his father, who always encouraged him to take music out of classrooms into the hearts of people, and his ex-principal Sister Mabilia who guided his passion for music. His musical influences have been varied. It includes Sting, The Beatles, The Eagles, Iron Maiden, The Police, Ozzy Osbourne, Joe Satriani, Eric Clapton, U2, etc. Classical Composers like Beethoven, Rossini, Vivaldi and Mozart, and Indians musicians like L. Subramaniam, A.R. Rahman, Salil Chowdhury, Ilaiyaraaja, Bhupen Hazarika and Jayanta Hazarika also influenced him a lot.

Career

Barua started his career by singing jingles for several advertising campaigns including Fiat Linea, Vodafone, Reliance, LG, Hero Honda, Nescafe, Club Mahindra, Yatra.com etc. Before starting playback singing, he worked as background singers for several Bollywood films in the early 2000s. His notable playback singing for Hindi films include Dev.D, Udaan, Luv Ka The End, Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. In 2010, he recorded two songs for Telugu film Kalavar King. Joi Barua and his band created history atop the Rezang La War Memorial on May 4, 2022 when they released the anthem for the 114 bravehearts of the Indian Army who lost their lives here during the Indo-China War in 1962.[2]

The band Joi, from left Pawan Rasaily, Joi Barua, Abani Tanti, Ibson Lal Baruah and Manas Chowdhary.

Albums and singles

Barua, along with his band mates of Joi, launched the album titled Joi: Looking out of the Window on 21 December 2010. The album contains 8 tracks and all of them features vocals of Barua. The songs are a blend of rock, soul, folk and worldbeat. The band also released the first music video filmed on Aikon Baaikon, a track from the album. Apart from Barua, the band members are Pawan Rasaily (lead guitar), Ibson Lal Baruah (rhythm guitar), Manas Chowdhary (bass guitar) and Partho Goswami (drums).

In 2011, he sang the Assamese song "Khiriki" for Hengool Theatre. In June 2013, Joi and his band released an Assamese single, Pitol Soku from the documentary Riders of the Mist. The documentary features the bareback jockeys of Jorhat and Sivasagar districts of the Assam and the song pays an homage to them. A blend of Rock and Worldbeat, the song and its promotional video was unveiled by John Abraham and Vishal Dadlani.[3]

In 2014, he collaborated with Shruti Haasan and composed an Assamese-Tamil fusion song titled Prithibi Ghure and performed together in an INKtalks live event. The Tamil lyrics was penned by Kamal Haasan, while the Assamese lyrics were written by Ibson Lal Baruah.[4]

Joi released a number of singles during 2016 and 2017, under the project name 'Pride'. These songs with their videos portrays stories from Assam. While 'Rabha' narrated an incident of the legendary Bishnu Rabha, collaborated with American saxophonist George Brooks,[5] 'Na Jujor Ronuwa' stressed on the lesser-known, but the largest tribe within Assam, the Koch-Rajbongshi's.

Movies and documentaries

In 2015, Barua composed the track Dusokute for the film Margarita With A Straw.[6][7] In the same year, Joi composed the songs & scored background music for a movie produced by John Abraham through John Abraham Entertainment Private Limited.[8] The movie, titled 'Banana' was Directed by Sajid Ali.[9]

In 2016, Joi released another single titled "Riders of the Mist" from the documentary by the same name. [10] [11] This song was launched first in the music channel VH1 and was then circulated online. Joi composed the background score for a short film Playing Priya and sang its title track with Jonita Gandhi. Titled "Meetha Zeher",[12] the song comes in the end credits of the movie.[13]

In 2018, Joi co-composed the music for the movie Laila Majnu along with Niladri Kumar.[14] Written by Imtiaz Ali and Sajid Ali, the movie was directed by Sajid Ali.

Joi composed a song titled 'Subeh Dekh Li'[15] for the Indian-American production The Illegal in 2019. Ankit Tiwari rendered his voice to the song.

International collaborations

Joi is the co-composer of the original songs for the Album 'Lim Fantasy of Companionship for Piano and Orchestra'.[16] Conceptualized on an original story by Dr. Susan Lim and Christina Teenz Tan,[17] this is a collaborative venture with musicians across continents. A conversation with Dr. Lim at an INK Talks conference in 2017 at Singapore, where Joi performed and showcased his song 'Rabha' for the first time[18] led to the project. French musicians Manu Martin[19][20] and Matthieu Eymard,[21] along with Ron Danziger[22] from Australia, co-composed the original songs that form the 21 vignettes of the thirty-three minute album.

Working towards a future musical told from the intersections of Science & Artificial Life, the music production has been centered around and recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London.[23] London Symphony Orchestra, London Voices, Pianist Tedd Joselson[24] and conductor Arthur Fagen,[25] are the principal collaborators to this album.[26][22][16]

Personal life

He lives in Mumbai, India with his wife Nayana Borthakur and their Lhasa Apso, Junuka.

Awards and recognitions

2010 - Best Debut Award (2010) for the album Joi- Looking Out of the Window at the Big Music Awards by Big 92.7 FM, Guwahati.

2010 - He was invited as a 'Fellow' at the first INK Conference in 2010, a TED affiliated multidisciplinary conference, and as an INK Speaker in 2011.

2021

  • Hollywood Gold Awards for 'Best Original Song' (New World Order) & 'Best Original Score' (with Manu Martin & Ron Danziger) - under the categories of Sci-fi & Animated Film respectively for the film FANTASY OF COMPANIONSHIP BETWEEN HUMAN AND INANIMATE.[27]
  • Chicago Indie Film Awards - 'Best Composer' in the 9th Edition of the Chicago Indie Film Awards for the music video of 'New World Order'[28]
  • Cannes World Film Festival (Feb '21) - Best Soundtrack for the film FANTASY OF COMPANIONSHIP BETWEEN HUMAN AND INANIMATE[29][30][31]

Discography

Year Film / Album Song Language Composer(s) Co-singer(s)
2003 Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. "Dekhle Aankhon Mein Aankhien Daal (Remix)" Hindi Anu Malik Sunidhi Chauhan
2008 Jumbo "Dil Mera Jumbo" Ram Sampath Solo
2009 Dev.D "Ek Hulchul Si" Amit Trivedi
Chal Chala Chal "Aplam Chaplam" Anu Malik Sunidhi Chauhan
2010 Kalavar King "Eidhe Eidhe" Telugu Anil R Solo
"Veede"
Udaan "Kahaani (Aankhon Ke Pardon Pe)" Hindi Amit Trivedi Neuman Pinto
Help "Kehna Hai" Ashutosh Phatak Suzanne D'Mello
Joi: Looking out of the Window 8 tracks Assamese Joi Barua Solo
2011 No One Killed Jessica "Dua" Hindi Amit Trivedi Meenal Jain, Raman Mahadevan, Amitabh Bhattacharya
Luv Ka The End "Freak Out" Ram Sampath Aditi Singh Sharma
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara "Dil Dhadakne Do" Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy Shankar Mahadevan, Suraj Jagan
Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge "Baatein Shuru" Raghu Dixit Shefali Alvaris
Hengool 2011-12 "Khiriki" Assamese Anurag Saikia Solo
"Khiriki (Unplugged)"
2012 Agent Vinod "Raabta (Siyaah Raatein)" Hindi Pritam Hamsika Iyer, Arijit Singh
"Raabta Unplugged" Arijit Singh
2013 I Don't Luv U "Kuchh Hone Ko Hai" Hindi Aman-Benson Raman Mahadevan
Riders of the Mist "Pitol Soku" Assamese Joi Barua Solo
2014 Margarita with a Straw "Dusokute" Hindi
Marksheet "Pagol Uxaah" Assamese
2016 Pride[32] "Rabha" Featuring George Brooks (released as single)
"Riders of the Mist" English Solo (released as single)
2017 "Sitiki Bagori Jai" Assamese Solo Featuring Krushnaa Patil (released as single)
"Na Jujor Ronuwa"[33] Solo (released as single)
"Kowa"[34] Solo
2018 Laila Majnu "O Meri Laila" Hindi Atif Aslam, Jyotica Tangri
"Gaye Kaam Se" Dev Negi, Amit Sharma, Meenal Jain
"Lala Zula Zalio" Sunidhi Chauhan, Joi Barua, Frankie (Kashmiri)
"O Meri Laila (Radio Version)" Solo
24 Kisses "Jaago Jaago" Telugu Vibha Saraf, PVNS Rohit,[35] Saandip, Sri Krishna
2019 The Illegal "Subeh Dekh Li"[15] Hindi Ankit Tiwari
2021 Lim Fantasy of Companionship for Piano & Orchestra[36] Jungle Song, Alan Song, Origins, Synthetic DNA, New World Order, Teleportation[37][38] Symphony Joi Barua, Susan Lim, Manu Martin, Mathieu Eymard, Ron Denzinger London Symphony Orchestra, London Voices, Tedd Joselson, Arthur Fagen
2024 Woh Bhi Din The "Banjare" Hindi Joi Barua Rana Mazumder, Manik Batra, Adarsh Gourav
"Yeh Silsila" Javed Ali
"Higher" Jonita Gandhi
"Awaargi" Sunidhi Chauhan
"Roothoon" Zubin Garg, Monali Thakur
"Adhoore" Suraj Jagan
"Woh Bhi Din The" Amit Mishra
"Mujhko Mili" Solo
"Guzarish" Jankee Parekh Mehta

References

  1. ^ "Candid Conversation With Joi Barua". EF News International. Archived from the original on 6 November 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ "At Ladakh Music Festival, a Stirring Tribute to Indo-China War Heroes".
  3. ^ "John launches Joi Barua's new single and music video 'Pitol Soku' – IndianMusicMug". Indianmusicmug.com. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  4. ^ "Shruti Hassan and Joi Barua join hands". The Times of India. TNN. 27 March 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  5. ^ "Assamese musician Joi Barua collaborates with American saxophonist George Brooks - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  6. ^ "Margarita with a Straw (2014) - IMDb" – via www.imdb.com.
  7. ^ "Bollyspice.com - Joi Barua composes for Margarita With A Straw". 22 March 2015.
  8. ^ "Singer Joi Barua to compose music for John Abraham's film Banana". IMDb.
  9. ^ |title= Sajid Ali, Imtiaz Alis youngest brother to make Banana for John Abraham
  10. ^ "Assam's pony racing tradition popularised by Riders of the mist song". www.thehansindia.com. 30 June 2016.
  11. ^ "Joi - Riders of the Mist". 25 June 2016 – via www.youtube.com.
  12. ^ Playing Priya | The Song- Meetha Zeher | Music- Joi Barua | Singers- Joi Barua & Jonita Gandhi, 20 November 2016, retrieved 26 August 2021
  13. ^ "Joi Barua Composes Song for Short Film Playing Priya - Eclectic Northeast". Archived from the original on 24 November 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  14. ^ Laila Majnu (2018) - IMDb, retrieved 26 August 2021
  15. ^ a b Subeh Dekh Li | Suraj Sharma | Ankit Tiwari | Joi Barua | Sunayana Kachroo| Renzu Films| The Illegal, 10 March 2020, retrieved 26 August 2021
  16. ^ a b Lim Fantasy of Companionship for Piano and Orchestra, Act 1: ALAN Song, 25 March 2021, retrieved 26 August 2021
  17. ^ Staff (8 May 2021). "VIP Interview with Christina Teenz Tan". New York International Film Awards™ - NYIFA. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  18. ^ "Watch: Joi's Animated Video for New Assamese Track "Rabha"". My Site. 21 January 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  19. ^ "Manu Martin: Lim Fantasy of Companionship..." Classical Music. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  20. ^ "Manu Martin (b?) on Hyperion Records". Hyperion Records. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  21. ^ "Matthieu Eymard (vocals) on Hyperion Records". Hyperion Records. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  22. ^ a b Lim Fantasy of Companionship for Piano and Orchestra, retrieved 26 August 2021
  23. ^ "Music, Robotics & AI: Recording the Lim Fantasy of Companionship for Piano and Orchestra". Abbey Road. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  24. ^ "Tedd Joselson (piano) on Hyperion Records". Hyperion Records. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  25. ^ "Arthur Fagen". FIO ITALIA. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  26. ^ Lim Fantasy of Companionship for Piano and Orchestra by London Symphony Orchestra, Tedd Joselson, London Voices & Arthur Fagen, 23 April 2021, retrieved 26 August 2021
  27. ^ Awards, Hollywood Gold. "Hollywood Gold Awards". Hollywood Gold Awards (in Italian). Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  28. ^ arsalanbaraheni (4 August 2021). "9th Edition of Chicago Indie Film Awards". Chicago Movie Mag. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  29. ^ "Cannes World Film Festival (2021)". IMDb. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  30. ^ "Assam: Joi Barua's Music Finds Way Into the Cannes World Film Festival 2021". www.guwahatiplus.com. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  31. ^ "Joi Barua's Music Garners Recognition At Cannes World Film Festival". Pratidin Time. 24 March 2021. Archived from the original on 26 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  32. ^ "Indian and American musicians collaborate for a song on Assamese icon". NewsX. IANS. 15 January 2016. Archived from the original on 8 August 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  33. ^ "Song on Koch Rajbongshi of Assam". Business Standard. IANS. 21 August 2017. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  34. ^ "Joi Barua changes tracks with soulful 'Kowa'". 5 December 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  35. ^ "P V N S Rohit - Top Songs - Listen on JioSaavn". JioSaavn. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  36. ^ "Lim Fantasy of Companionship". Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  37. ^ Lim Fantasy of Companionship for Piano and Orchestra, 23 April 2021, retrieved 26 August 2021
  38. ^ Lim Fantasy of Companionship for Piano and Orchestra by London Symphony Orchestra, Tedd Joselson, London Voices & Arthur Fagen, 23 April 2021, retrieved 26 August 2021

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