For nine years, Munreece “Munny” Singh Sahota’s days were spent in a small space, as he served as a naval submariner. He had long hours in darkness with only a single bulb above his head where he worked, but music gave him light.
“I was hidden away underwater for quite a while, so it was just me, my laptop and headphones being creative which led to everything that is happening now,” he said.
The 27-year-old from Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, is about to release his deep house EP in October, entirely produced underwater.
“It’s just you surrounded by four walls in darkness so I had time to be creative and be inspired by travels.”
He added: “I draw a lot of inspiration from big EDM [electronic dance music] artists like Avicii, Alesso, Martin Garrix. From there, I tried to develop my own sound over the last couple years.”
Sahota said that being of South Asian heritage there was an expectation he would create Punjabi music, and was met with a few raised eyebrows when he got into deep house and EDM music.
“Everyone assumed when I started building my brand that I would go into Punjabi music.
“I tried it and found it wasn’t for me.
“I wasn’t interested in at the time so I stuck to my guns and stayed with the deep house sound and now it’s recognized which is nice.
“But there are many opportunities to branch across and work with Punjabi artists and I would like to use their vocals and potentially make a whole new genre,” he said.
Although he retired from the service to pursue music full-time, naval discipline stuck with him and he has applied it to the creative process.
While down at the bottom of the sea, Sahota said he wanted to make sounds that were textured, ambient, and full of feeling. Without access to the internet while working on subs, his surroundings influenced the stories he was trying to tell in his music.
“Having that discipline of that crazy environment before has made it easier for me to make music now, especially when you have access to the internet as well.”
He is now signed to Run Town Records and his beats are heard on dry land in rooftop bars such as Nobu in Marrakesh.
His EP is released on 3 October on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music.