In 2004 I did a remix of "Cosmic Jugalbandi" by Suns of Arqa for the score to a feature film called PURE. It was included on soundtrack CD and on the Suns of Arqas album "Hallucinasia".  

I hired my buddy Johnny Ranger at Moment Factory create a music video of my remix for the Suns of Arqa DVD release "Hindu Pict".

Next thing you know I was invited to join the band and performed with them at festivals like Glastonbury in the UK and Telerama Dub Festival in Paris with Adrian Sherwood. 

Over the years I produced about 20 songs with them and am featured on many of their albums. There is an album of songs that were never finished fully and have yet to be released.

Suns of Arqa were the first to combine the classical Raga of India with Dub Reggae back in 1979 on an album bandleader Wadada made with Adrian Sherwood. Over the years they added Celtic Music and Electronic music. And collaborated with icons like Prince Far-I, Lee Scratch Perry, The Orb, Youth, 808 State, A Guy Called Gerald as well as Indian masters like Ragunath Seth and Johar Ali Khan.

Check them out on Bandcamp,they have over 40 albums available...

My collabs with World Beat Global Dub pioneers SUNS OF ARQA

I made this remix for the original score to the feature film PURE for a scnee dealing with death & rebirth. Originally i wanted to license a Cheb I Sabbah song but the deal fell through. So with two weeks left before the sound mix of the film I decided to remix a song by a similar artist. 

Andrew from Interchill Records hooked me up with Wadada from Suns of Arqa. Little did I know at the time that Suns of Arqa were the pioneers of world beat, the first to combine Indian Raga with Dub & Electronic music! Based in Manchester UK they have been at the forefront of the genre since 1979!

Wadada loved the remix and we began collaborating. I ended up joining the band and I produced songs on many of their albums. I performed with them at Glastonbury Festival and at the Telerama Dub Festival in Paris. I even brought them to my hometown of Montreal to perform at a festival.

For this remix I took the recording of the flute of bansuri master Ragunath Seth from Mumbai and built a song around it. I enlisted the incredible talented Geeta Sparkle to sing overtop and she blew me away with the power and emotion of her performance. We created this song together over the course of a week and it remains my favorite song I ever produced!

Interesting production note : I did not use any synths in this remix. All those waves of sounds were made using my guitar and FX pedals.

The remix was featured in the climax of the film PURE and on the film's soundtrack CD. It was featured on the Suns of Arqa album "Hallucinasia". Plus I enlisted immersive video projection pioneers Moment Factory to create a music video that was featured on the Suns of Aqra DVD release "Hindu Pict".

Hallucinasia

ARKA CD 33125

Cosmic Jugabandi (GUAPO's Chill Remix feat. GEETA SPARKLE)

This is the more upbeat club version of my remix of Suns of Arqa "Cosmic Jugalbandi".

The original track was recorded at the legendary Real World Studios in Wiltshire, UK. It features bansuri master Ragunath Seth from Mumbai on the flute.

I remixed this song in 2005 for the original score to the film PURE. I enlisted the incredibly talented Geeta Sparkle and her mesmerizing vocals soar overtop.

The original version of the remix is rater mellow, a chillout version. The only beats are from the tablas. So I decided to add some programmed beats & some synths and make an upbeat club version.

As the Composer & Music Supervisor of the film PURE I also curated the soundtrack CD and released it on my label Finite Records. I made a DJ mix of the songs from the film and it includes artists like Ian Pooley, Misstress Barbara, Chromeo, LSG, Max Graham, Quicksound, Chris Brann etc...

Pure : Music from the Film

Cosmic Jugabandi (Guapo's Club Mix feat. Geeta Sparkle)

This was the second time I performed live with Suns of Arqa. We were co-headlining the festival with dub icon Adrian Sherwood of On U Sound. Who had produced the first SOA album back in 1979!

I flew to Paris from my home town of Montreal and we had two days of rehearsals at a studio. As the only band member fluent in both English & French I took on the role of translator between the band and towards the festival.

The band featured :

Shyamal Maitra - Tabla
Thierry Negro - Bass
DJ Guapo - Atmospheric Guitar
Frank Celeste - Drums
Gimesh Guay - Vocal, Swar Mandal
Stix Dan - MC
Didier - Flute
Wadada - Sitar, Harmonica, Vocals & Bandleader

The concert went incredibly well. The highlight for me was the song Michel Ki Malhar due to the Qawali vocals & Swar Mandal playing of Gimesh Guay. His performance gave me chills and the entire audience was mesmerized in a deep trance.

After about 10 minutes his voice needed a break and he motioned to me to take over and play a solo. So I got to play a trippy  atmospheric guitar fx soundscape solo! The first and only time I did that with SOA! 

Here is a video of our performance of that song :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA0IPZy3_mo&ab_channel=SunsofArqa

Adrian Sherwood's performance with vocalist Brother Culture was mind blowing. He was working a 24 channel mixing board like a DJ mixer. Dubbing up the stems of his legendary On-U Sound studio sessions featuring the best reggae artists in the world. What an honor it was to share the stage with him!

After the concert we went for a meal and the streets were flooded with football fans from the Champions League final between Arsenal & Barcelona. During our entire meal at this massive after hours restaurant the rival fans were locked in a singing contest, shouting their team's songs and chants at each other. It was hilariously surreal!

The festival was top notch, run very professionally by friendly staff. I got to meet & hang out with dub bands like Nucleus Roots and Zion Train who I had been fans of years. 

Although we did have one funny moment with the staff. Wadada & I went to the venue in the daytime on the last day of the festival to pick up some of the stage props. And we found a cache of unsold SOA merch that had appeared out of nowhere. As we loaded it up to take it with us, the staff called security thinking we were thieves!

We had to prove we were the band and it was our merch! Luckily there were videos online of the concert from a few days before and an interview with Wadada!

Live at Telerama Dub Festival

Eternally Dubwise

This was the second time I performed live with Suns of Arqa. We were co-headlining the Telerama Dub Festival with dub icon Adrian Sherwood of On-U Sound. Who had produced the first SOA album back in 1979!

I flew to Paris from my home town of Montreal and we had two days of rehearsals at a studio. As the only band member fluent in both English & French I took on the role of translator between the band members and towards the festival.

The band featured :

Shyamal Maitra - Tabla
Thierry Negro - Bass
Guapo - Atmospheric Guitar
Frank Celeste - Drums
Gimesh Guay - Vocal, Swar Mandal
Stix Dan - MC
Didier - Flute
Wadada - Sitar, Harmonica, Vocals & Bandleader

The concert went incredibly well. The highlight for me was the song Michel Ki Malhar due to the Qawali vocals & Swar Mandal playing of Gimesh Guay. His performance gave me chills and the entire audience was mesmerized in a deep trance.

After about 10 minutes his voice needed a break and he motioned to me to take over and play a solo. So I got to play a trippy  atmospheric guitar fx soundscape solo! The first and only time I did that with SOA! 

Here is a video of our performance of that song :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA0IPZy3_mo&ab_channel=SunsofArqa

Adrian Sherwood's performance with vocalist Brother Culture was mind blowing. He was working a 24 channel mixing board like a DJ mixer. Dubbing up the stems of his legendary On-U Sound studio sessions featuring the best reggae artists in the world. During our set he took over the mixing console and dubbed up our performance. What an honor it was to share the stage with him!

After the concert we went for a meal and the streets were flooded with football fans from the Champions League final between Arsenal & Barcelona. During our entire meal at this massive after hours restaurant the rival fans were locked in a singing contest, shouting their team's songs and chants at each other. It was hilariously surreal!

The festival was top notch, run very professionally by friendly staff. I got to meet & hang out with dub bands like Nucleus Roots and Zion Train who I had been fans of years. 

We did have one funny moment with the staff. Wadada & I went to the venue in the daytime on the last day of the festival to pick up some of the stage props. And we found a cache of unsold SOA merch that had appeared out of nowhere. As we loaded it up to take it with us, the staff called security thinking we were thieves!

We had to prove we were the band and it was our merch! Luckily there were videos online of the concert from a few days before and an interview they had filmed with Wadada!

Michel-Ki-Malhar

This is by far the most insane song I ever produced. It changes from Indian Raga to techno to jungle and back again. It was for the album "Stranger Things" by Suns of Arqa that featured beats by MuslimGauze and lyrics by Leonard Cohen. Both of whom had passed away.

I took an insane violin solo recorded by longtime SOA collaborator Johar Ali Khan in Delhi. And then built a track around it that matched the violin's crazed intensity. 

In Ableton Live I used the warp markers to slave the grid to the human tempo of the violin. So we could keep the human flow and feel. I then programmed a bunch of beats and added the synths and deep sub bass. My buddy Waverider helped out and did some amazing work on the drum programming.

I chopped the violin up and re-arranged it in places. All in all this is a crazy psychedelic trip! I created the song especially for the live set I did at Eclipse festival 2008. I closed my set with it and the audience freaked out!

Stranger Music

ARKACD 33137

Baghdad Batterie

From underground dance floors to global festival stages, GUAPO has built a solid reputation as a DJ, atmospheric guitarist and producer who thrives on the unexpected. With festival appearances spanning three continents, including Glastonbury (UK) and Telerama Dub Festival (Paris), his electrifying sets have earned him international recognition. 

His DJ mixes regularly chart in the global TOP 5 on Mixcloud, cementing a place in the world of Bass Music DJ's. GUAPO’s résumé boasts collaborations with Grammy Award winners like  Youth (Killing Joke, The Orb) and Juno Award winners like Alpha Yaya Diallo. As a Composer he was nominated for a Jutra Award for Best Film Score. 

As DJ & Music Coordinator for fashion icon Jean Paul Gaultier’s PINKARNAVAL and Cirque Du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté's TERRAKARNAVAL, he played to crowds of over 15,000 spectators, fusing music and fashion into an unforgettable spectacle. 

As a producer & guitarist, he contributed to multiple albums by UK world-beat pioneers SUNS OF ARQA, blending global dub grooves, classical Indian Raga and cutting-edge electronic production.

As a co-founder of the Flamingo Funk crew, he’s shared the stage with Bass Music legends, closing after breakbeat heavyweight Krafty Kuts and Swing N Bass founder Mista Trick. Combined with his explosive festival-closing sets at Tribunion Boreal, Khumeia Festival, and the Buissonnière Stage at Good Vibes Festival, he is building a solid reputation as a closer.

In his hometown of Montreal, GUAPO has performed at some of the city's biggest events, including Montreal Jazz Fest, Bal en Blanc, Just For Laughs, Lumifest, Eclipse, Timeless, Groove & Bass, and marquee venues like Olympic Stadium, Rialto, Metropolis, Place Des Festivals and the Satosphere Dome. 

Guapo brings his genre-blending sound to the airwaves with two monthly radio shows. He’s a resident on CKUT 90.3 FM’s The Magic Roundabout, founded by influential Montreal DJ Andy Williams. The first Sunday of every month Guapo drops the latest in underground Bass Music sounds. 

Whereas on LaFaceB, he co-hosts Y Fait Chaud, offering monthly mixes that explore Afro Latin Brazilian House rhythms. Previously, he hosted the world music show Global Grooves and co-hosted Pépites, showcasing bass-driven sounds.

Musically, GUAPO is a sonic shapeshifter—his Bass Music sets are a wild tribute to sample culture, weaving together anthems from Funk, Soul, Blues, Reggae, Rock, Latin, Brazilian, Disco, Metal, Swing, and Hip-Hop. These classic sounds are chopped, glitched, and remixed into futuristic forms like Glitch Hop, Ghetto Funk, Bass House, UK Garage, DnB, Jungle, and Swing & Bass.

But what sets GUAPO apart is his electric stage presence. A natural showman, he thrives on crowd interaction, fueling a high-energy atmosphere that turns dance floors into full-blown frenzies of absurd, anarchic fun. His performances are a wild experience, driven by badass bass from the bowels of Hell !

While his main focus these days is Bass Music, Guapo is versatile in other genres.

His HOUSE MUSIC sets are a seamless fusion of tribal percussion, AfroBeat Funk, Latin sophistication and Brazilian sensuality, expertly layered with soulful House and funky Electro.

In his WORLD MUSIC sets, he weaves a tapestry of sounds from India, the Middle East, the Maghreb and Anatolia, melding them with the  resonant vibrations of Dub, Downtempo, Breakbeat, and Deep House. Taking listeners on a journey across continents and cultures.

His DOWNTEMPO performances are an eclectic blend of Jazz, Soul, Reggae, Brazilian-Latin Lounge, and Hip Hop, infused with the melancholy atmospheric textures of Chillstep, Trip Hop and Synth Pop.  Offering a laid-back experience that hits you right in the feels.