<p class="bodytext">By creating instrumental dance music, Derek & The Cats from Bengaluru is trying to break the perception that music sans vocals is formal and contemplative. </p>.<p class="bodytext">“We want our audiences to move and groove. Our songs are four-to-10-minutes long. They are structured and layered to build the mood slowly. Sometimes, we mash them up and play for 25 minutes straight,” says its founder Derek Mathias, a pianist and producer.</p>.<p class="bodytext">People mistake the all-male ensemble for a jazz band, given the prominent use of saxophone in their music and the word ‘cats’ in their name (a nod to jazz musicians). Mathias clarifies that while they are heavily influenced by jazz, their sound also draws from funk, disco, rock, pop, and Latin elements.</p>.<p class="bodytext">‘Diana’ is their only vocal track. It was originally composed as an instrumental heartbreak song with a “melancholic start and happy end”. A chance meeting with artiste Frizzell D’Souza gave it a new direction, and she came on board to pen the lyrics and lend her voice. Frizzell was watching the Netflix series, ‘The Crown’, at the time. She was inspired by Diana’s story and wrote about demonstrating perseverance in the face of personal crisis.</p>.AI music’s missing the copyright beats.<p class="bodytext">Although they are a seven-piece ensemble, aged between 17 and 38, they sometimes perform with fewer or additional musicians. The latter features session musicians or local artistes from the cities they tour. This flexibility helps them adapt to venues of different sizes and also adds freshness to their repertoire. “Different guitarists bring different sounds to the same track, for instance. So you never feel like you’re hearing the same song twice,” explains the 25-year-old.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Forming the ensemble wasn’t part of the plan. A fan of Snarky Puppy and Toto, Mathias had written 12 demo tracks while in engineering college. After graduating, he decided to record one and contacted musicians he admired on Instagram to see if they were interested. Keyboardist Anand Murali, saxophonist Gautam David, guitarist Adesh Vinod, bassist Vishal Varier, and drummer Jason Sharat recorded their parts separately, while Mathias arranged everything and recorded his part. ‘Soul’ got featured in<span class="italic"> Rolling Stone </span>for its expressive jazz and lush musicianship. The collaboration gave way to an ensemble, and later a self-titled album of four tracks. <span class="italic">Rolling Stone</span> named it one of the top 15 albums of 2022.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Their lineup has seen slight changes since, such as the addition of percussionist Joel Rozario. Their second album is nearly finished. They have shows in the pipeline. To add “fun into live performances”, they often ask the crowd to suggest song titles. That’s how ‘Ratna Mahal’ and ‘Jonty Patel’ were finalised. The first is named after a hotel they stayed at in Mumbai, while the second celebrates their drummer’s solo part in the song.</p>
<p class="bodytext">By creating instrumental dance music, Derek & The Cats from Bengaluru is trying to break the perception that music sans vocals is formal and contemplative. </p>.<p class="bodytext">“We want our audiences to move and groove. Our songs are four-to-10-minutes long. They are structured and layered to build the mood slowly. Sometimes, we mash them up and play for 25 minutes straight,” says its founder Derek Mathias, a pianist and producer.</p>.<p class="bodytext">People mistake the all-male ensemble for a jazz band, given the prominent use of saxophone in their music and the word ‘cats’ in their name (a nod to jazz musicians). Mathias clarifies that while they are heavily influenced by jazz, their sound also draws from funk, disco, rock, pop, and Latin elements.</p>.<p class="bodytext">‘Diana’ is their only vocal track. It was originally composed as an instrumental heartbreak song with a “melancholic start and happy end”. A chance meeting with artiste Frizzell D’Souza gave it a new direction, and she came on board to pen the lyrics and lend her voice. Frizzell was watching the Netflix series, ‘The Crown’, at the time. She was inspired by Diana’s story and wrote about demonstrating perseverance in the face of personal crisis.</p>.AI music’s missing the copyright beats.<p class="bodytext">Although they are a seven-piece ensemble, aged between 17 and 38, they sometimes perform with fewer or additional musicians. The latter features session musicians or local artistes from the cities they tour. This flexibility helps them adapt to venues of different sizes and also adds freshness to their repertoire. “Different guitarists bring different sounds to the same track, for instance. So you never feel like you’re hearing the same song twice,” explains the 25-year-old.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Forming the ensemble wasn’t part of the plan. A fan of Snarky Puppy and Toto, Mathias had written 12 demo tracks while in engineering college. After graduating, he decided to record one and contacted musicians he admired on Instagram to see if they were interested. Keyboardist Anand Murali, saxophonist Gautam David, guitarist Adesh Vinod, bassist Vishal Varier, and drummer Jason Sharat recorded their parts separately, while Mathias arranged everything and recorded his part. ‘Soul’ got featured in<span class="italic"> Rolling Stone </span>for its expressive jazz and lush musicianship. The collaboration gave way to an ensemble, and later a self-titled album of four tracks. <span class="italic">Rolling Stone</span> named it one of the top 15 albums of 2022.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Their lineup has seen slight changes since, such as the addition of percussionist Joel Rozario. Their second album is nearly finished. They have shows in the pipeline. To add “fun into live performances”, they often ask the crowd to suggest song titles. That’s how ‘Ratna Mahal’ and ‘Jonty Patel’ were finalised. The first is named after a hotel they stayed at in Mumbai, while the second celebrates their drummer’s solo part in the song.</p>