Words by Neil Parmar

IG: @neilpumpkins86

Filmmaker, podcaster and musician Neil Parmar shares his experiences of growing up and having South Asian people see his interest in alternative music at odds with being Indian.

It’s a Wednesday night in April this year and I’m inside a small pub/venue called the Castle & Falcon in Birmingham. It’s 9:30pm, the lights go down and Canadian experimental hardcore punks Fucked Up take the stage. When they launch into their second song, the small but energetic crowd in the venue erupts. For the next hour and a half, life’s worries and problems are forgotten about. But amongst this chaotic bliss there is one obvious observation: where the fuck are all the brown people? It’s an observation that I’ve made since around 2001 when I first started seeing live bands of the alt rock/punk/indie/metal persuasion.   

“Other South Asian kids at school would ask, ‘Why are you a greebo?’ or ask me what my parents thought about it, and of course, call me a ‘coconut’”

My formative years took place in the late 90s through to the early 2000s. I grew up in Walsall, which is located in the West Midlands, about 15 miles away from Birmingham. I’d like to say there were loads of kids in my secondary school who were getting into alternative music during this time, but this wasn't the case. There was a small group of us who did, and all of us involved knew the risks that would come if you showed off that you liked what they referred to as “greebo music”. However, along with the ridicule of enjoying this kind of music, I faced a different kind of alienation that my fellow white rock music loving peers did not. Other South Asian kids at school would ask, “Why are you a greebo?” or ask me what my parents thought about it, and of course, call me a “coconut”. 

“I look back at my school years and I’m proud of myself for not shying away from what I liked just because other people didn’t like it”

Despite this, I dug deeper and deeper into the music I loved. By the time of leaving school in summer of 2002, I was already listening to bands that weren’t on MTV2 or the radio at the time. I absorbed every nugget of information I could find. The more I discovered, the less tied I was to a specific genre. I loved 90s alternative bands, punk and its sub-genres and different types of metal. I even loved music that so-called “greebos” generally weren’t into but still had guitars like Radiohead and The Stone Roses. Somehow despite all the negativity and alienation that was thrown my way, I accepted this was who I was and that wasn’t going to change. 

It was starting college, though, that changed my life forever. I was met with mostly alternative-minded people, and being in a place of general acceptance only deepened my love for alternative music. I look back at my school years and I’m proud of myself for not shying away from what I liked just because other people didn’t like it. The question is, why did people from the South Asian community have no problem in telling me that they didn’t like it? Would it have upset my parents that I like Soundgarden? Kim Thayil of Soundgarden is Indian - I think they would have been fine!

”despite popular belief, there are South Asians playing alternative music. I’ve seen fewer South Asians in professional football”

I encourage anybody from the South Asian community who has an issue with alternative rock music to try the music for themselves. This kind of music made sense to me being South Asian and all the issues that come with that while growing up in the UK - racism, the duality of being a child of immigrants, growing up working class, looking different compared to the majority. For me, this kind of music was the perfect way to vent my frustrations. And despite popular belief, there are South Asians playing alternative music. I’ve seen fewer South Asians in professional football - a sport that many of us from all walks of life enjoy (me included). Yet football is accepted and Sum41 (their guitarist Dave ‘Brownsound’ Baksh is Indo-Guyanese) isn’t?

On a positive note, I can see things are changing. I’m seeing new bands fronted by people of colour being uplifted in the scene: Pinkshift, Soul Glo, Bloodywood, Meet Me @ the Altar and The Linda Lindas to name a few. I’m no longer the only brown face I see at gigs either. At the Fucked Up gig I mentioned, I actually spotted two other South Asian people in a crowd of about 100 people - that’s not bad, all things considered.

“I do not understand why there is a stigma for South Asian people being fans of alternative music by our own communities”

As for anyone else who has walked a different path from what is expected from them, it is difficult to understand why some people will treat you differently just because you are a certain way, or in this case, just someone who enjoys a type of music. Alternative music changed my life and has influenced my morals, fashion sense, political persuasions - and this has made my life more interesting and audacious as a result. But it hasn’t been a comfortable ride by any means. I do not understand why there is a stigma for South Asian people being fans of alternative music by our own communities. Why are there also so few of us around? Could this be because we are aware of the criticism we might receive as a result?

I am proud of my heritage, culture and skin tone - in my opinion, enjoying this kind of music has nothing to do with me being less involved with my culture. Therefore I ask: I love alternative rock, punk, indie rock, metal - and I am of South Asian descent, so what’s the problem?