Gig Preview: Expect Big Band Music at Peter Cat Recording Co.’s Gigs This Week

Peter Cat Recording Co. | Photo Credit: Shiv Ahuja

For the uninitiated, Peter Cat Recording Co., could best be described as a musical anachronism. While they seem to channel Hollywood classics and Hindi cinema of the Fifties, the band’s songs layer gypsy-folk and cabaret pop to create a trippy blend of psychedelic rock. Says frontman Suryakant Sawhney, “The last few years have been a learning process. We’re now honing in on the things that we like, which makes [our music] sound a little more introspective.”

The band, which formed in 2010, has been taking things slow for the past year, with each of the members devoting the bulk of their time to personal projects. While Sawhney has been touring as his solo electronica act Lifafa, drummer Karan Singh and guitarist Kartik Pillai have been working together on experimental rock band Begum and bassist Rohan Kulshreshtha has been organizing gigs and music festivals in and around New Delhi. With the band’s four members shifting focus, it’s understandable that their upcoming album, a follow up to 2011’s Sinema and 2012’s Wall of Want, has taken a very long time to finish. Infusing elements from their individual projects with the band’s signature vintage style, audiences can expect their newer work to include strings, trumpets and electronic samples. Says Sawhney, “We all went out and did a bunch of different things. So our newer material marries a bit of all of our individual influences with the band’s sound – but it probably won’t be a radical change.”

Peter Cat Recording Co. will perform in Pune and Mumbai this week, with a set that consists of reworked songs from their last two albums as well as unreleased tracks such as “Memorybox” and “Flies.” Adds Sawhney, “We have the lowest possible expectations. It’s been so long since we performed in either place, that we really have no idea if anyone will show up.”

Blue Frog, Pune
September 24^th, 2014

Blue Frog, Mumbai
September 25^th, 2014

Entry – Rs. 300 or Rs. 800 full cover post 9pm

 

Watch Peter Cat Recording Co.’s “Love Demons:”