Southall’s Starboy ARJXN
The 14th November to 20th December is UK Disability History Month and I had the absolute privilege and pleasure to speak with ARJXN about growing up, learning to DJ and living with Lymphedema.
At the youthful age of 20, somewhere between adolescence and adulthood Arjun is the product of decades of British Panjabi culture in the UK as his ‘Dad is from Southall- since he was born’.
Even the rich history of Southall’s resistance movement in the 1980s is in the bones of Arjun’s upbringing. He went to Blair Peach Primary School in the heart of Southall but what was interesting when speaking about this was how little they taught him about it in school. Blair Peach was a teacher from New Zealand rallying in the fight against Facism; murdered by police on the backstreets of The Broadway. ‘The only time I really heard about the history of Blair Peach was outside of school, or maybe even afterwards from my Dad’. Southallians old and new are currently engaging in researching and promoting Southall’s history, for example through the new Gunnersbury Park Museum exhibition: People’s Unite! Hopefully people of Arjun’s age and younger will continue learning about their important history.
Arjun’s Dad was born in Southall as the 1970s transitioned into the fiery decade that would become the 1980s and attended Villiers High School- a literal stone’s throw away from The Broadway so it is no surprise that Arjun became a DJ. His Dad is from the generation that attended daytimers, fought the NF out of our pubs and skanked through the night at Tudor Rose dances. ‘All the Dub, Garage and Jungle I play is from him. Dad used to go to dances at Tudor Rose when he was my age. My family is quite musical- a lot of them play dhol and my Dad’s cousin, my Chacha is a DJ which is what got me into it in the first place’. Arjun explained that as a wedding DJ he would often attend his uncle’s gigs. ‘I would stand behind him and watch what he was doing but the love for music itself was already there and it came from my Dad; he was a typical Southall boy- he had a sub in his car and then he went to Kingston Uni when he got older. He collected CDs and vinyls and now I’ve started collecting vinyls too, at least 2 or 3 arrive in the post every week’.
Teamed with musical knowledge from his father and years spent watching his uncle mix and control crowds Arjun started creating playlists and copying his uncle on his laptop. ‘Then on my 16th birthday my Chacha gifted me a hard drive full of music- dubplates and bhangra mixes. I started practising and mixing with these songs and then at my next birthday he gave me his own decks’.
Arjun and I also compared notes on growing up in Southall, albeit during different decades and wondered what the special or unique thing is about our area; if there was anything. ‘Everyone is connected in some way’ he explained.. ‘Everyone knows everyone, if my Dad takes me to Scotsman or Prince of Wales he’ll always know a random uncle there. Even the car culture is still going strong through the West London car meets. The dub sets, everything- I think it’s all contributed to my sound today. Everything I do links back to Southall in some way’.
‘Is that a conscious decision for you’ I asked, ‘to always include a nod to Southall in your art?’ It wasn’t at first said Arjun but now it is. ‘Whatever I make needs something special about it. I can make a standard garage song but there isn’t anything unique about that, if I can add something that gives it a little flare or twist then I will, and those influences come from all the music I listened to growing up in Southall’.
It is no lie that as a community born out of migration to the UK, usually arriving here for better job and education prospects, the exploration music and arts had always been seen as a hobby; we’re now at a point where young people are choosing these avenues as a career. I asked Arjun whether he always knew this was what he wanted to pursue and how his family felt about him wanting to be a full-time artist. ‘Becoming a DJ always felt like the natural thing to me. My Mum wasn’t that happy at first- I was putting more time into mixing songs than my studies. But, she can see the progress now and that it’s starting to hit off. For me this past year has been an upward climb of getting more enquiries and being booked for gigs as ARJXN’. Whether it is a wedding, party or club Arjun is being booked for the unique style of music he plays and the rave atmosphere he creates.
Behind the scenes, his family were supporting Arjun with his health and the painful symptoms of living with Lymphedema since birth. At first, Arjun’s family were led to believe his condition was genetic and he has been a patient at St George’s Hospital since he was a baby. It was the team at St George’s who found out that actually his condition was due to complications at Ealing hospital as Arjun’s lymph-nodes were unfortunately damaged during his delivery via forceps. ‘That’s why I’ve got a massive birth-mark here’ whilst pointing toward his chest and shoulder. As a result, Arjun continues to live with swelling and water retention in his limbs; particularly in his arm.
His arms and hands, of course, are the tools he uses to create music. I asked how he navtigates his health around DJing and production. ‘I wear a compression sleeve and a glove 24/7 and if I didn’t wear it after about 2 or 3 hours my arm would completely swell up. It used to be three times the size than it is now and it’s something I’ve been dealing with from a few months old. I’ve had three liposuction surgeries during my life to get rid of the excess fluid but the last one was the worst because when they did the surgery they struck a nerve in my hand. I lost feeling in my hand and arm for a couple months. I had to do loads of physio and electro-nerve therapy just to learn how to use my hand again, and obviously with that I had to learn how to DJ again’.
‘I still have my moments, but now I'm mostly pain-free’ he explained when I asked about how it impacts being able to DJ. ‘But there were definitely moments when I thought, can I actually keep doing this? That did get me down a bit but the love and passion I have for music kept me going. If there’s a different way to do something I’ll find it. With having to learn how to DJ all over again that could have been the point for me to give up but I kept going’. Arjun’s story is an inspiring one of resilience and overcoming barriers; at the ripe age of only 20 years old I asked what his advice would be to young DJs but also to other young people struggling with a condition that may come with potential hurdles. ‘It would have to be that if you have a love for something, and it doesn’t have to be music, it could be anything in the arts, just go for it. If you really have the passion for something- you’ll find a way to make it happen’.
Arjun is starting to venture out and explore his artistic side through different mediums and even these projects are heavily influenced by his love for Southall. Perhaps our next budding videographer, Arjun recently self-directed and shot a music and dance video as a tribute to his hometown. Looking forward, he has lots of upcoming projects with his manager The Culprit to look forward to and I also found out he’s been border hopping over the river to go down south and work with up and coming grime rapper AMVN, producing exciting new tracks for you in 2025!
You can catch him sooner at Project West London’s one year anniversary gig in Wembley at Crystal Club on the 28th December. A full circle moment for ARJXN as it was this event a year a go that launched the upwards trajectory he’s been on in 2024, long may it continue