About Gubzy
Gubzy Music
About Gubzy
Gubzy Music
Gurmail Singh Lackhanpal aka Gubzy born & raised in Birmingham/ Smethwick studied at Shireland Hall Primary then Shireland high School and then went onto St Georges Sixth Form College where he studied Information Technology & Music Tech, he then went on to University of Birmingham studying PGCE in Secondary Music Education.
Gubzy’s passion for music started at a very young age when his father Jaswant Singh Lackhanpal did rehaas (vocal practice) at 5am in the mornings before going to work. Gubzy would wake up to the sound of the harmonium, sit in his laps and tap the cover of the harmonium.
The journey really began when one day he randomly picked up the dhol sticks at the age of 8 and started playing the dhol. His father heard him and asked, “Who taught you that?” He said “No one – I just wanted to play”… At the age of 8 Gubzy had the opportunity to attend band rehearsals with his father where he gained a lot of knowledge to rehearse and play with other musicians.
His father took him to his first ever teacher Kuldip Mathru ji who taught him dholak but eventually told him to move onto the Tabla. He was then recommended to start taking lesson from Ustad Mathlashi ji where he learned how to play classical tabla for many years.
Gubzy’s biggest influence in his musical career has been his father and it would not have been possible to achieve what he has without his father’s support. He made him go Panjabi classes after he came back from school which ran from 4pm until 6pm and then once he got home from Panjabi school he was made to practice tabla for 2 hours every day.
By the age of 11 he knew his heart and soul was into music. At school there was an Asian music club run by Harjinder Mathru & Iqbal Rai where we could learn different instruments and be part of a musical group. Gubzy was the keyboardist for this group. He learned a lot from Harjinder as he also taught him classical tabla. Harjinder ran classes, which Gubzy used to attend at the MAC Centre. Harjinder organized events, which gave him the opportunity to perform with a percussion group. Harjinder also gave him the chance to attend classes with world-renowned percussionists such at Ustad Sukhvinder Singh (Pinky) & The Sabri Brothers.
Gubzy decided that he wanted to explore his cultural roots of music the best way to do this was to actually go to India where the Tabla originated from, and learn the different drumming styles. He found his Ustad Master Hari Dev Ji who is a professor in Phagwara College. Gubzy lived with him for six months studying tabla and learning about the culture. He wished he could have stayed longer but he had commitments in the UK.
Gubzy returned to the UK and started performing with his father’s band at weddings and parties but importantly getting the knowledge of live performance.
Gubzy was then approached by various bands to perform with them and started a career as a session musician with other bands at a very young age. He has worked with the following artist performing national & International stages.
TSB – Golden Star / Avtar Maniac / Pardesi Music Machine / AS Kang / Malkit Singh / DCS / Apache Indian / Hans Raj Hans / Manmohan Waris / Safri Boys / Beverly Knight / Kaur B / Ranjit Bawa and many more
Gubzy gained so much experience not only as a performing artist but being on the road as a musician meeting different people from different cultures performing on TV & radio stations. Gubzy was asked to go on his first ever tour at the age of 15 with legendary AS Kang to the USA Chicago. Gubzy jumped at this opportunity, as he really wanted to play on an international stage.
Gubzy’s touring career took off from there as he has toured over 45 different countries ranging from:
- North America South America Europe
- Asia
- Australia
- Africa
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