An honest approach to music—meet Goa-based Peter Cat Recording Company

Your ears perk up to the sound of a blaring trumpet. Soon, your eyes shift towards this group of men, all dressed in kurtas, taking centrestage, ready to give you the performance of a lifetime. In an age of singles, Peter Cat Recording Company has chosen to break norms and do things the traditional way, making way for a niche sound that is better heard than explained.

“I’d say it’s difficult to put us in a box,” says Suryakant Sawhney (vocalist, guitars), breaking into a laugh right after. Kartik Sundareshan Pillai (keyboards, guitar, electronics, trumpet), Dhruv Bhola (bass and samples), Karan Singh (drums), and Rohit Gupta (keys, trumpet) form the rest of the band. Starting up in Delhi, the band recently shifted base to Goa to take on the next phase of its storytelling.

In a video conference call with YS Life, the band members, each of them in their own environments, trick one another about their respective surroundings while on the call.

There is an undeniable energy among them and even more so with the audience. Crowds effortlessly move to the smooth, groovy ballroom jazz music in what feels like a drunken stupor, almost as if you’re transported into a realm of your own. Except you never know what’s coming next. “It seems, being unpredictable is what’s working for us,” says Suryakant.

Being simple and straight forward is very much the Peter Cat way. You can see this in the way they dress—opting for a simple kurta, when most contemporary artistes prefer flashy clothes. This approachable aesthetic was incidental, explains Suryakant.

“We were shooting a certain gig, and it was just easier for all of us to align to a particular look. We were also taking into consideration how it would look against a certain background, and we decided to stick to it,” he says.

“To be honest, Karan was the only one who probably dressed well back then,” adds Kartik. “I would show up in pyjamas, Suryakant had like maybe two shirts or something, and that’s when we decided okay let’s all just wear the same thing,” he says.

This unpredictability coupled with the honest approach to music has taken Peter Cat a long way since its launch in 2011. The evolution is clear not just in their eminent popularity across social media and filled venues anywhere they go, but also in the way they sound.

Their last album Bismillah clocked in millions of streams on Spotify and put them on a pedestal for everyone to see.

Naturally, when you’ve reached the brink of success, the temptation can be to resort to old patterns, especially when you know your listeners well. This is exactly the kind of thing they want to avoid, opting for a more arduous process to make sure everything sounds exactly the way it needs to be.

As Kartik puts it, while it can take about a week for the band to decide whether a particular song works, it can sometimes take years to chance upon the perfect track. This was the case for one of their breakout songs, Where The Money Flows.

“For Where The Money Flows, Suryakant wrote the first version in his bathroom… it then took another 8 years to complete it. Not even joking,” says Kartik. Suryakant quickly chimes in, “Okay maybe not 8, at least 7 years.”

“Our problem is we’re just trying our best to get better at being a band,” says Suryakant. “We’re trying to get better at figuring out early what the song is, who needs to play what, and if it is good, that’s the real challenge,” he adds.

But for a band that also performs live, things don’t stop the minute they are done at the studio. Having built the foundation of their success on touring, putting on a show is very much woven into their DNA. The decade-old band tours often across the country, with thousands of listeners flocking to every gig. Yet, every time they perform, it appears as a surprise that so many people listen to their music.

“At one show recently, people started singing the song before I did, and I was like what the f**k guys! It’s very nice but I’m also very surprised. I’m sure Suryakant has a different take though,” says Kartik, handing over the spot to Suryakant.

“It’s nice, but also pretty annoying,” says Suryakant guffawing. “That’s only because when they sing, you go all off-key! But sometimes, the sonic quality of a lot of people singing together at once is pretty overwhelming… it’s nice to see a bunch of people doing the same thing together, I anyway get very moved by that. It’s just nicer to be on stage observing that.”

But at other times, it can be liberating. “We have more freedom in terms of getting our idea out there,” says Karan. “With new material now, we are looking to see how we will play live. As a band, we love that aspect of performing for an audience,” he adds.

For any musician at the top of their game, the challenge is to keep the streak going.

With this comes a few hurdles to cross for Peter Cat, like Suryakant’s own career as Lifafa, a solo artist. Suryakant explains that at times he does find himself at crossroads between the band and Lifafa.

“Sometimes, I feel like there are songs that I could execute by myself better, and some better with the band. It just boils down to financial decisions… if it’s possible, I would then take all the songs to the band, but with Lifafa, it’s not just an artistic choice, but also a financial choice. I had to figure out how I could make money independently in music, and that has also helped me be happier in Peter Cat and do what I can,” he says. However, the two co-exist symbiotically, Suryakant explains.

The future appears bright for Peter Cat. With fresh music on the way, they are hoping that by experimenting with newer sounds, it will propel them further beyond their base in India.

“We just want to continue making music our way. Each member of the band has their own creative outlet, but we come together to create something wholesome, that’s what we will continue to do,” he adds.

(This copy has been updated to correct a spelling)