By Rosalind Gibb

Last updated 11:21, Friday, 07 November 2008

Countless bands seem to come and go these days, disappearing into pop oblivion after just one album or tour.

Fusion: Above, singer Vijay Bhatti of energetic dance band Achanak. Below, with the rest of the band

Not so Achanak, whose staying power is testament to their talent and creativity.

Regarded by many as the best bhangra band in the world, the Birmingham six-piece celebrate their 20th anniversary next year.

After successfully conquering the Asian bhangra circuit, the band now enjoy audiences of thousands, keen to be immersed in the dynamic fusion of powerful Eastern percussion rhythms and western dance beats.

And Cumbrians can dance to Achanak’s beat tomorrow, when they play the Kirkgate Centre, in Cockermouth, where it will be standing (and shimmying and swaying) room only.

Tabla player Ninder Johal, who also runs record label Nachural, is one of the original members (along with lead singer Vijay Bhatti).

“The first 10 years was our apprenticeship, and we were popular largely in the Asian music market,” Ninder explains. “We started out as a good act and became really great. We were playing big venues where that type of music is popular, places like Hammersmith Palais, then about ten years ago we felt we had done what we could and wanted to take the music to a new market.”

And their plan turned out to be a huge success. “World music has got a lot more popular, and there’s a real appreciation for this type of music now,” he says. “We perform in Italy, Spain, Norway...all over Europe, and we get invited back. It is really going down well.

“We’re finding new markets all the time, the music is really popular now in places like Istanbul and the Czech Republic. Our audiences are made up of people of all different ages as well as ethnic backgrounds.”

Something else that brought Achanak a new audience was when their music was licensed to an XBox game, Project Gothic Racing 3. “It was the first time bhangra music had been used on an interactive console game,” says Ninder. “Usually it is rap music. We got a lot of shows on the back of that.”

But he has not been surprised that Achanak are now enjoying wider appeal. He adds: “I think people think of an Indian band and think of restaurant music, of someone playing the sitar. But bhangra music is a fusion of Indian and Western rhythms.

“And our shows are really energetic, they get people dancing, and when we started playing abroad we knew it would go down well. At the first few shows and festivals people brought deckchairs to sit on but now they know they’ll just be dancing.”

The World on Your Doorstep: Achanak at the Kirkgate Centre, starts at 8pm. Tickets £10 for adults/£5 for under 18s and students. Call 01900 826448.