Originating from Boston and currently based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Jaya the Cat play an uncompromising and original mix of reggae, punk rock and ska music. Founded through a mutual love of 60’s and 70’s dub and punk by three friends (Geoff...
Originating from Boston and currently based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Jaya the Cat play an uncompromising and original mix of reggae, punk rock and ska music. Founded through a mutual love of 60’s and 70’s dub and punk by three friends (Geoff Lagadec - vocals/guitar, Dave Smith - guitar/vocals and Ben Murphy - bass), Jaya The Cat create songs ranging from booze fueled anthems to chilled out dance tracks to outright political commentary. Following the 2001 release of their debut album ‘Basement Style’ (Gold Circle Records), Jaya The Cat were joined by ex-Shadows Fall drummer David ‘The Germ’ Germain and began a steady touring schedule of stages across the United States and Europe, playing major clubs and festivals such as Lowlands in Holland, Pukkelpop in Belgium, and the Warped Tour in the US. Their music has also been featured in numerous skate, surf and snowboard videos
Summer 2003 saw their sophomore release, ‘First Beer of a New Day’ (4tune Records). Although both albums met with positive critical success and they had gathered a loyal worldwide following, personal differences saw the departure of Smith and Murphy that fall, which effectively left the band in limbo. After a freezing music-less winter working shitty jobs in Boston, Lagadec and Germain met up and decided to look for new members. Temporarily joined for a spring European tour by dutch musicians Jan Jaap Onverwagt (Green Lizard) and Alejandro Londoño, they took a 3 month sublet on an apartment in Amsterdam with the plan of regrouping and figuring out what the hell to do with themselves. Three months turned into three years. In the interim, the band has continued to grow, playing hundreds of live shows to an ever expanding audience, as well as adding keyboards, samples, percussion and a tiki bar to their onstage act. An average Jaya the Cat concert usually becomes more of a party than a performance, with the audience singing, dancing and drinking right along with the band.
16 November is the release date of the new album 'More Late Night Transmissions with Jaya The Cat’ on I Scream records. Drawing on their experiences, ‘More Late Night Transmissions with…’ delivers 13 tracks filled with seedy bars, cheap hotels, dysfunctional love affairs and political disillusionment. Punk rock, reggae, ska and pop glued in their own unique style
Singer Geoff Lagadec: ‘I think the new record is a bit deeper than the last two and in my opinion we’ve progressed a lot musically. We took more chances than we did on the last two albums plus Amsterdam is a pretty international city, so it's exposed me to a lot of new influences’
With a current line up including Jordi ‘Pockets’ Nieuwenburg on guitar, Steven Brautigam on bass, and Onverwagt on keyboards, expect to see Jaya the Cat at a festival or club near you soon
Single ‘Closing Time’ will be released in September
Discograph
* CD ‘Basement Style’ (Gold Circle Records 2000
* CD ‘First ‘Beer Of A New Day’ (4Tune Records 2002
* CD/LP ‘Ernesto’s Burning’ (Music Machine Records 2004
* CD ‘More Late Night Transmissions With…’ (I Scream Records 2007
* CD Single ‘Closing Time’ (I Scream Records 2007)
