Electro-organic band from Mumbai give second remarkable performance in a row

Sohrab Nicholson is understandably nervous. Having travelled all the way from Mumbai, Nicholson and his eponymous band are about to perform at The Great Escape in Brighton, Britain’s world-renowned music festival. It’s only their second gig outside India, and it’s a big deal.

Their first foreign show took place in early May, in Dubai, “a lovely event called Lemon Jam”, says the singer. “Lots of people, some school friends who live there, came along – a fun gig.”

But the British show, which is merely a week later, is a different proposition. His quartet find themselves in a dark basement, on a horribly rainy day, with a worryingly sparse audience. Things are not looking great.

Thankfully, that changes rapidly. Forty-five minutes of remarkable music later, the band bound offstage to a rapturous ovation from a now hefty crowd. After that, several members join The National in a nearby cafe. Their leader is a lot more relaxed now.

“I have crippling stage fright,” says Nicholson, a self-confessed “neurotic human being”, despite his cool onstage demeanour. “Now, I feel really good.”

And understandably so. Formed in 2013, Nicholson are blazing a trail for innovative indie music from India, a small but “pretty amazing” scene. They have a unique sound – or sounds, really, because their live set could almost be a well-made mixtape, switching from experimental electronica to emotional ballads.

Original article by Si Hawkins

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Electro-organic band from Mumbai give second remarkable performance in a row