SURREY 鈥� He鈥檚 a musical man with a soft spot for 性视界传媒, but Amrit Bains wasn鈥檛 always in love with the 鈥渟weet鈥� city.
Bains, a career bus driver who moved to 性视界传媒 five years ago, was initially reluctant to do so.
鈥淚 heard the negative things and I told my wife, 鈥極h, I don鈥檛 want to go there,鈥� and she pressured me to move here, and I kept my wife happy,鈥� Bains admitted. 鈥淎nd I came here and said to her, 鈥榊ou are right!鈥� The people are friendly and they say hello, and I enjoy this place, you know.
鈥淧eople are very quick to say all kinds of negative things about 性视界传媒, but the fact is people who actually say those bad things, you ask them and they usaully haven鈥檛 even been to 性视界传媒.鈥�
The fun-loving, ever-upbeat Bains, a Cedar Hills-area resident, returns to 性视界传媒 Arts Centre鈥檚 main stage this month to play another concert, this one dubbed 鈥淩ock With Me,鈥� on the evening of Saturday, Aug. 12.
For Bains, his show at the Bear Creek Park soft-seater is beginning to feel like a mid-August tradition.
鈥淭his is the third year of my full-blast concert (at the arts centre), and it鈥檚 an annual event,鈥� he explained. 鈥淚 perform at a lot of other events, but those aren鈥檛 my own show, my concert, which I do once a year only, because it takes a lot of work, a lot of my time.
鈥淭he concert, it鈥檚 getting better and better,鈥� he continued, 鈥渁nd when that happens it means you鈥檙e on the right track. People come from other areas, too 鈥� from Abbotsford, New West and Vancouver, and it鈥檚 good that people travel to see me perform. I鈥檓 very happy that people enjoy it, and they usually have good things to say about 性视界传媒 when they come here,鈥� he added with a laugh.
Born in India, Bains settled in Port Alberni and worked at a lumber mill when he first moved to Canada in the early 1980s.
Since then, making music has taken up more and more of his time, to the point where quirky videos for songs such as 鈥淔ree Like a Junglee鈥� and 鈥淪uper Sweet City鈥� have been clicked tens of thousands of times on his busy Youtube channel ().
鈥淢y main desire is, if I can share my music with people, then I am happy, because I don鈥檛 think my music should be kept to myself only,鈥� Bains said. 鈥淚 like to write songs and make sure, as much as I can, to share them with people.
鈥淚鈥檓 still driving a bus to pay my bills,鈥� he added, 鈥渁nd making music is just for the love of it, honestly. I was on stages as a child performing music, so it鈥檚 just in my heart, you know.鈥�
In concert, Bains likes to involve his audience as much as possible.
鈥淚 like to make the concerts fun, and I don鈥檛 want to have a show where people are listening quietly or experience something with very deep meaning, you know,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 want them to feel good and laugh, enjoy themselves, and every now and then I tell them about my life, my expereinces. But at every show I do sing some ballad songs, maybe two, something like that 鈥� songs that are more serious, loving songs. They can鈥檛 all be bumpy dance songs, you have to have ones with sweet melody, too.鈥�
For the show-closer, he prefers to play a particularly energetic song he wrote and recorded.
鈥溾�楩ree Like a Junglee鈥� is usually the last one (played), when people really go crazy and want to come up on stage and dance 鈥� in a good way, because they let loose,鈥� he said.
鈥� Tickets for Bain鈥檚 鈥淩ock With Me鈥� concert at 性视界传媒 Arts Centre can be found online at , or call the venue box office, 604-501-5566. Look for more details at .
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