Cousin Kula Talk India Debut at Magnetic Fields Festival 2024

As far as first impressions go, Bristol-origin band Cousin Kula’s second album Vitamin D (released in March this year) evokes a lot. There’s the unmistakably sunny, funky and groovy vibe on songs like “Clothes Off,” but then there’s the earnest yet sexy lyricism on “Staying With You” that just reinforces exactly what you’re thinking about when you see the mind-bending artwork.

Among the breakout acts this year from the U.K., Cousin Kula – who released their debut album Double Dinners in 2021 before getting signed to the label Rhythm Section International – will play their first show in India this week at Magnetic Fields Festival 2024 in Alsisar, Rajasthan.

While Rhythm Section International founder and selector Bradley Zero is also slated to deliver a showcase set at the festival’s 10th edition, Cousin Kula were confirmed a bit earlier as part of the music rights company PRS Foundation’s International Showcase Fund. After being tourists in New Delhi briefly, the band has now reached Alsisar, slated to perform over the weekend.

Ahead of their performance, Cousin Kula spoke exclusively over an email interview about coming to India and 2024 milestones like releasing Vitamin D and performing at the BBC Introducing stage at Glastonbury Festival. Excerpts:

Rolling Stone India: What is it like getting the call to perform in India? Was this sort of part of your association with Rhythm Section, who are having a showcase at Magnetic Fields with Bradley Zero?

Doug Cave [synth, flutes]: The call from Magnetic Fields Festival came in completely out of the blue, so it was both a real surprise and honor to be asked to travel to India to perform for the first time! For many of us it’s our first time visiting anywhere in Asia, and it’ll certainly be our first concert outside of Europe, so for sure we’ll be bringing our A-game.

Bradley and Rhythm Section have given us loads of opportunities which is amazing, but in this instance, they only got on board for the festival after we’d been announced to perform – they didn’t want to miss out on the fun! It’ll be great to have a load of the Rhythm Section crew out in India with us, particularly as they’re celebrating their 10th anniversary as a label this year.

I saw that Joe has already come in early to soak in the country. What’s that been like?

Joe Milkinson [drummer]: Exhilarating, beautiful, delicious is how I’d sum up my first few days in Delhi. The street food has filled my heart with joy and my waistline with an inch, maybe two? However, I can’t and won’t stop.

The markets give me a sense of what it might be like to be the ball in a pinball machine, Chandni Chowk springs to mind.

I’ve had a mad and wonderful time so far, too many things to mention otherwise we’d be here all day. Now I really can’t wait for our show at Magnetic Fields and to see what the rest of the trip holds in store for us!

Cousin Kula also got to play Glastonbury this year. What was that experience like? Did you want to do anything different for a stage that huge, or did you rather that people enjoy the typical Cousin Kula experience?

Cave: A Glastonbury show is a big milestone for any band – it’s a massive institution. We were playing on the ‘BBC Introducing’ stage too which was televised, another first for us. As with any festival show with swift changeovers between bands, it’s always a mad scramble to get everything on stage in time and get things sounding good, so after we’d dived head first into our show it was only in the last song I properly looked out to take in the audience and thought “Damn there are thousands of people here!” Considering how much music is on at the same time across all the stages at a festival that large it was humbling that so many people chose to come and watch our performance.

When you’re playing to new, unfamiliar crowds or are unsure what the audiences are going to expect I always think it’s best not to try and anticipate what the crowd might want but instead double down on what makes you unique as a band and be yourselves – being ourselves is what has lead us to writing the tunes, getting heard and being booked for the show, so it’s always best to go ahead and deliver a great performance of just that.

You’re arriving in India on the back of releasing your album Vitamin D earlier this year. What’s the response for that been like?

Cave: The reception has been fantastic – both on the record itself from our fans, radio and press, and the live show whilst touring it at home in the U.K. and in Europe. Streaming stats are nice enough, but nothing beats hearing firsthand from people who’ve taken the time to buy tickets, come out to a show, share in that experience and then tell you just how much they’ve enjoyed it afterwards. It’s a groovy, party record which has made it easy to lean into building a really fun live show. It’s also the show where we’ve had the most amount of instruments on stage too, from extra horns and percussion to vocals from across the band.

The vibe and sound of Cousin Kula often feels like sensuous and very groovy. How would you describe a typical Cousin Kula set to someone who will be watching you for the first time at Magnetic Fields?

Boogie guaranteed.

How does the band get into that zone or headspace (if you need to) to write songs like “Staying With You”?

Cave: Atypically to most bands, we’ve been writing our music democratically for the whole journey of Cousin Kula with a big input from all five of us on the parts, riffs and arrangements, with each song evolving and developing over a few months as we explore them together. That said, “Staying With You” came from Will [Wells, keyboardist and trombonist], who has been our secret weapon on the previous records, bringing the tunes to life by arranging the vocal harmonies and keys.

He sang lead vocals for the first time on Vitamin D, bringing his experiences into the lyrics of “Staying With You.” It’s a very vulnerable thing to write songs from personal experiences and then share them with the rest of the band in a room (let alone the rest of the world) – having played together for so long as a band it’s great that we’ve made a writing and rehearsing space where everyone can feel comfortable to do that and trust each other with their art.

Any other plans while you’re in India, outside of the performances?

Will Wells: Absolutely. This is the last show of the year for us, so we’re taking the opportunity for a little bit of time off after the festival exploring India. We’re going first to Jaipur together for a few days to continue our adventures in Rajasthan before splitting off in different directions – Elliot’s [Ellison, vocals, guitar, trumpet] heading north to the spiritual city of Rishikesh, then onto some high altitude peace and quiet in mountain towns of Himachal Pradesh. Will is heading south for some sun-soaked Keralan tranquility, and Joe is on to Goa to eat fish curry and carry on the party!

What else is coming up in 2025?

Cave: 2025 is shaping up to be a good one – we’ve got a follow-up EP to Vitamin D launching in the new year; an appendix of tunes that didn’t make the album but belong to the same dynasty. Summer festivals are starting to come together for next year which is always something to look forward to in the colder months, and we’ll begin writing our next album too!

Get Magnetic Fields Festival 2024 tickets here.