Delhi band The PsyChai Shop To Release Debut EP

Some of our favorite bands are backed by fantastic bassists including Indian Ocean from Delhi and Mumbai reggae hip hop band Bombay Bassment. But it’s not often that you hear the basslines come alive in a band’s sound, especially at a performance. So when we heard Delhi-based psychedelic band, The PsyChai Shop, it was the striking basslines that made them stand out. Says guitarist Nikhil David, “Leo [Joy] creates the basslines for our songs. He’s got this old school way of building them, he gives us the ideas and we structure our songwriting around it.”

Formed in 2012, the four-member band comprises vocalist Yamini Joshi, drummer Shashank Angiras,  Joy on bass and David. Drawing inspiration from British trip-hop bands Massive Attack and Portishead as well as more contemporary artists such as British downtempo producer Bonobo and Swedish folk rock band Junip, The PsyChai Shop’s music centers around low-tuned guitars and integrates elements of psychedelic rock, blues, jazz and trip-hop. Says Joy, “It’s not like we’re trying to be pioneers, but we think we’re a middle ground between electronica and rock, and that’s something that the scene could use.” Sequenced to unravel like the scenes of a movie, the band’s sets begin with a song called “The Sunset Express” and end with a track called “Ladakh.” Says David, “We like to think of our music as art, and of us using our instruments to paint a canvas.”

The band is currently working on their debut EP, tentatively titled The Sunset Express, which is a collection of five tracks that they’ve been performing live over the last year. Says David, “We always had a particular idea of what our music should sound like. Each track is in some way related to the other, there’s a story. When people have listened to the EP, we want them to feel like it’s like a movie ending.” The Sunset Express will feature tracks such as “The Gambler,” “The Serial Killer” and “The Gangster.”

 

Listen to The PsyChai Shop’s “The Gambler:”