Exclusive Release: Stitch In Nine’s Trippy New EP ‘Scattered’

Mumbai-based multi-instrumentalist Neil Jose Gomes. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.

The first thing we have to tell Jose Neil Gomes is that he hasn’t kept last year’s promise of releasing 81 songs as three-track EPs every month throughout 2016. He delivered with the first two ”“ Systematic and Sensitive ”“ but the Mumbai multi-instrumentalist and composer ended up taking way longer for his third EP Scattered. Says Gomes, who is releasing music under the name Stitch In Nine, “I had a good start, but it’s difficult to get your mind back [in the composing space] once [gig] season starts.” Gomes regularly tours with popular Bollywood folk-rock artist Kailash Kher.

Album artwork for ‘Scattered’ EP.

The four-track Scattered — which also features bassist Manas Chowdhary and is recorded and co-produced by sound engineer Pruthu Parab — takes its name from Gomes’s state of mind during the last nine months. “It is the kind of place I’m in musically. I’ve been hearing demos over the period of six months and the songs I’ve chosen are kind of scattered,” he says. Excluding a mellow interlude, Scattered features a variety of influences. And the only way Gomes describes his sonic inspirations are by citing “forward-looking jazz” bands such as Australian jazz/rock act Hiatus Kaiyote and American jazz outfit Robert Glasper Experiment. He adds, “In the past year, I’ve also been working with different kinds of music, there’s a little psychedelic influence because I’ve played electric guitar in [Mumbai indie fusion band] Tribal Flora and [jazz/rock band] Hipnotribe.”

Thematically, Gomes’s move from Goa to Mumbai nearly a decade ago continues to show in his lyrics. On “Hardly,” he says he’s talking about how he’s attracted to the 5 AM timeframe, introspecting at a time when the sun is rising, but the sky is still foggy from the night. “New Light” covers the territory of opening up socially and “Clean Slate” features pianist Karan Joseph, veteran drummer Kurt Peters and Ahmedabad singer Nicolette Gore, with whom Gomes recently played a show at living room gig series Sofar’s Ahmedabad edition last month. He says about the song, “It’s about letting go of your mistakes and guilt, whatever your situation is ”“ if you’ve been misused or taken for a ride. Every day is a fresh start.”

Artwork for ‘Scattered’ EP comprises photos shot by Gomes. (left) Art for ‘New Light’, (top right) art for ‘Hardly’ and (bottom right) art for ‘Clean Slate’. Photos: Courtesy of the artist

That’s three down for Gomes, but he’s clear that the next EP after Scattered is releasing after a month’s break, in September. He says, “I’ve already tracked the next one, but I’m going to Spain and then, the U.S. for a month now. Maybe I’ll come back with a fresh perspective.”

Scattered EP

1. “Hardly”

2. “Interlude”

3. “New Light”

4. “Clean Slate”