Garden Party

Members of Garden City Movement

Even though their second EP is titled Bengali Cinema and members of electronic music outfit, Garden City Movement (GCM), claim to love Satyajit Ray’s work; their music is nothing like Rabindra Sangeet. Tunes replete with hip hop beats, synth pop, drumbeats and guitar riffs, along with husky vocals form this Tel Aviv-based band’s music. Comprising Roi Avital on vocals, keyboards and guitar; Joe Saar on guitars and keyboards; and Johnny Sharoni vocals and percussions — Garden City Movement is currently on their maiden India tour. On Wednesday, the trio will perform at antiSOCIAL in Delhi, after a successful set at Magnetic Fields festival in Alsisar, Rajasthan last weekend.

Known for tracks such as Move on, My only love and Terracotta, the band was formed in 2013, and has already performed at prestigious festivals such as Glastonbury. “Joe and Roi were in a band called Lorena B and I worked as a music journalist when I met them. They were working on new stuff, and were looking for someone to help them with lyrics. I joined for the first session and it worked really well between us three,” says Sharoni, in an email interview.

Collectively inspired by acts such as Stereolab, Thundercat, Caribou, Hailu Mergia and Gill Scot Heron, Sharoni defines their sound as, “organic music that goes through an electronic method, with a special emphasis on atmosphere”. Therefore, moods and shades of Israel find much space in their music. “Israel is an influential place and you can hear a lot of those Middle Eastern aspects in our music. If you were to spend just a week in Tel Aviv, you will experience the beach and food and this specific atmosphere that makes it such a great city to live in. Then if you travel through Israel for a few days with a day in Jerusalem, trust us, you’ll have enough inspiration for an album,” says Sharoni.

Brought down to the country by the Embassy of Israel, the three are on a rather tight schedule in India but are open to the idea of collaborating with Indian artistes. “Collaborating with Indian artistes is something we really want to do, so if there is anyone good, who plays special instruments, feel free to suggest names,” adds Sharoni.

The band will perform at antiSOCIAL on Wednesday night, 9 pm onwards