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Mukhtar Sahota is a Music Producer born in Wolverhampton, UK. Being brought
up in a musical family, Mukhtar had a natural flair for music. He has the talent
of playing multiple instruments, all of which are self taught.
Mukhtar and his brothers decided to pursue a career in music, in the final years
of school. They formed a band called the ‘Sahotas’, and had a very successful
career with 9 albums, coupled with tours around the world, and topped the
‘Bhangra’ charts. The Sahotas achieved many accolades including ‘Best Band’,
‘Best Live Band’, Platinum and Gold discs for album sales. Mukhtar wanted to
take a different direction with he’s solo projects, as the band decided to take
a long deserved break.
Mukhtar’s debut album ‘Time Out’ was released in 2002. This album featured
various artists from India, including the debut collaboration with ‘Lehmber
Hussainpuri’, which was a new experience for him, as he had always worked with
the band. The album proved to be a success and showed the diversity of his
production. Mukhtar was urged to record his next album, ‘4 The Muzik’.
‘4The Muzik’ was released in August 2004, an album that features some big
names in the Asian music industry, alongside various up coming artists from
India. Mukhtar being influenced by Desi (traditional), Reggae, Dance, Rap and
Rock, fused this together with his own distinctive sound to produce this album.
The first video from the album was for a track called ‘Jogi’, which is a fusion
of Rock and Bhangra music. This track and video has been the most talked about
production in the Asian Media, and gained interest from the Mainstream Media.
After the major South Asian disasters in 2004 and 2005, Mukhtar produced and
arranged the charity single, ‘We Can Make it Better’ by ‘Donasian’. The monies
raised from this single were for the victims of the tragedies. The concept of
the single was inspired by the ‘Band Aid’ single, and sixteen Asian artists from
around the world were united together from a list constructed by Mukhtar. This
project allowed him to bring forth up-coming talent alongside established
artists and was a great experience as a Music Producer working alongside A R
Rahman.
In 2006, Mukhtar decided to set up his own Record Company, ‘Internalmusic’, to
allow him to have full control of his works, and to provide a platform for
established, new, and up-coming talent. Mukhtar united with ‘Arif Lohar’ for his
first release under Internalmusic, and produced an album called, ‘21st Century
Jugni’, to re-introduce some classics of ‘Alam Lohar’ and hits from Arif Lohar.
The album brought Arif Lohar to the sound of the 21st Century with the
distinctive sound of Mukhtar. The album received an exceptional response from
around the world and received awards for, ‘Best Folk Pop Album’, ‘Best Non
Residential Punjabi Vocalist’, and ‘Best Folk Pop Vocalist’ at the Punjabi Music
Awards in India in March 2007.
In May 2007, Mukhtar released ‘Unpredictable’, an album featuring ‘Lakhwinder
Wadali’ and his father ‘Puran Chand Wadali’. The album featured an array of
musical genres including ‘Arabic’, ‘Electronic Beats’ and a ‘Qawali’,
culminating into an ‘innovative musical feast’. The album has been appreciated
and applauded by musicians from around the world and has had a positive
reception from all generations.
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