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Scratch Bandits Crew To Tour India

The French electronica act will be spinning their tunes all through February as part of Bonjour India

Jan 31, 2013

Scratch Bandits Crew

Even though drum pads and laptops have taken the world of electronic music, few bands continue to spin music on turntable consoles. French electronica/hip hop trio Scratch Bandits Crew [SBC] are among this clique of turntablists, rehashing tunes and mashing up samples, while adding the occasional scratch and modulation as they go along. The act will begin a six-city tour of India in February as part of the cultural festival Bonjour India. 

Founded in 2002, SBC, comprising DJs Supa-Jay, Geoffresh and Syr, are in the same league of popular French turntablists such as C2C, Fly and Mart-One. DJ Supa-Jay says, “The scratch is now more than 40 years old. Fly and Mart-one were members of Scratch Bandits Crew and we still do some tracks together on every album of the band. We also know C2C since they are from France and we’ve played at the same festivals.” The four artists were included in Scratch Music, a documentary that explored the style of music. 

What makes this electronica crew special is that the the trio makes their own instruments, modifying a goblet drum to contain a lamp and using a ”˜scratch guitar’ that allows mixing riffs and guitar notes. “Like any other instrument, its musical vocabulary is linked to the gear’s conception. Initially, we were always waiting for updates [in technology], so we began to customize industrial gear, and finally we built our own,” says Supa-Jay, adding that all their instruments are homemade.

Put to use in a gig, the SBC has performed mostly in France, with extended tours across Europe and more recently, other parts of the world like Mexico and Taiwan. However, the trio says they get a different response in different parts of the world. “The whole ”˜crowd go wild’ thing relies a lot on local habits and culture.” For their India tour, the SBC wants people to show up since “there are only a few turntablist bands in the world.” Supa-Jay adds: “We always incorporate influences from every kind of music/culture. So we were thinking globally from day one. We just do our thing… but with a French touch because we can’t help being French.”

In India, the trio will be playing songs off their 2012 album 31 Novembre as well as remixes of music by various artists including hip hop stars Busta Rhymes, Jay-Z and Mos Def, as well as psychedelic rock legends The Doors and the background score to the film Requiem For A Dream. On their debut India tour, the French collective will looking around more for the sounds than the sights. “While traveling, we look for vinyl records, but we also always have a microphone in our bag, to sample the musicians we meet or everything we find around us in order to make our own sound bank,” adds the DJ. 

 

Scratch Bandits Crew India Tour at Bonjour India

February 5th ”“ Bal Gandharva, Pune

February 8th ”“ Tito’s Café Mambo, Goa

February 9th ”“ Blue Frog, Mumbai

February 10th ”“ Indian Institute of Management, Bengaluru

February 14th ”“ Jantar Mantar, Delhi

February 16th ”“ La Maison Colombani, Puducherry

Listen to 31 Novembre here:

Bonjour India is organized by Institut Français en Inde, Embassy of France in India. For entry, contact invites@institutfrancais.in. More details here.

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