What's in a name? Three years ago, when DJs Nils von Hahn, Tarun Nayar, Lady Ra, and Adrian Blackhurst decided to create a worldbeat fusion collective, they needed the right moniker one that would encapsulate their outlook and stick in the public mind. At a brainstorming session von Hahn hit the bull's-eye with Beats Without Borders. The tag had an alliterative hook, and gave a clear indication of the four spinners' music and ethos.

"We wanted to show that, at a time when there's such emphasis on building borders [up], music and dance could knock those borders down and bring people together," recalls von Hahn, interviewed with Nayar at a house just off Commercial Drive. "We had excellent luck right from the start. I feel we were at the front edge of a wave hitting Vancouver and the world the coincidence of a growing interest in blending music and cultures, and a period when there's so much fear around concerning other cultures."

The name also associated the collective with the medical relief agency Médecins Sans Frontií¨res (aka Doctors Without Borders). "We felt that in that case it was only fair to donate a percentage of what we make to MSF as our charitable choice," Nayar says. "They were very cool and easy to work with."

The members of the collective were determined to find an effective and exciting way of combining electronica and beats with roots-music styles and traditions especially those of Asia, Africa, and Arabia. The result is an often-exotic fusion as likely to resonate with Vancouver Folk Festival types as it is with anyone who ever spent time in the chill-out room at Sonar.

"One thing that drives me and BWB ­ and pretty much everything I try to do is to present material that people probably don't hear in their regular lives in a format they can relate to and understand," says Nayar, a tabla drummer since boyhood. "In the right context, and given the right vibe, it's like opening up a whole world."

When BWB performs, usually once a month in Vancouver, it's much more than a couple of DJs spinning records. There's usually live musicians often Nayar accompanying the recorded music, and close attention is paid to the ambiance.

"We present a multimedia experience, usually with screens and interactive live [video] feed, almost playing off rave culture," Nayar says. "Dance plays a huge role. We've had bhangra dancers, belly-dancers, [Indian classical] bharata natyam dancers, and others."

"Suez, who does our visuals, is usually dealing with four or five feeds at the same time, so she's got mixers," von Hahn adds. "She'll do custom work. If we have a dancer or dancers performing, Suez might arrange to meet them beforehand do some filming. So you're not only seeing them live, you're also getting them in the visuals during the night."

BWB's next night out is a special show as a kick-off for Vancouver Celebrates Diwali, the five-day South Asian festival of light that starts on November 9. The collective's show will begin with a live set from Victoria-based sitarist Ajay Kapur from KarmetiK Underground.

"He's a music-technology professor, and his whole thing is outfitting Indian instruments with MIDI gear," Nayar notes. "So it will be a really intense fusion of electronics and classical Indian sounds."

Then Nayar and von Hahn will take turns spinning records for an array of contemporary and Indian kathak dancers assisted by live dhol drummers. The evening's headliner is legendary San Francisco-based DJ Cheb i Sabbah a long-time inspiration for BWB and its DJs.

"Cheb performed at our first big party, back in August of 2004," Nayar recalls. "It was a smash we packed out the Atlantis. He's done three gigs with us so far. The last one was a couple of years ago."

"Back in my early days as a DJ, I learned from Cheb's albums how Indian music and more electronic beats could work nicely together," von Hahn adds. "His work has a musical intelligence that really excites all of us, and continues to push us further in that direction. It may not be quite as strong in North America as elsewhere, but the whole global-fusion thing is now a huge phenomenon. It's creating all sorts of fascinating sounds and cultural connections."

Beats Without Borders and Cheb i Sabbah perform at the Red Room next Thursday (November 8).

Link: Beats Without Borders