This week at Friday Nights at Jean Paul Gaultier, The Bombay Royale will take to the stage. Ahead of their performance, we asked them a few questions about art, fashion and music. Book tickets now.
Describe your sound in 5 words or less?
Unique, dance-able, genre-defying.
If your music was an artwork what would it look like?
Some kind of lush and psychedelic optical illusion – an Escher-esque landscape peopled by bandits, gorgeous sari-clad women and monstrous sitars.
Who’s your favourite artist/artwork?
See above. Although I am also partial to that picture of dogs playing snooker.
What’s your favourite gig you have played to date?
That’s too hard to pick. But if pressed, our beachfront show at Reunion Island (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9union) was memorable.
What inspires/influences your music the most?
Vintage Bollywood soundtracks from the 1960s and 1970s, in all their glory.
What song do you wish you wrote?
Yeh Mera Dil composed by R.D. Burman (so good we can’t stop covering it).
What part of making music excites you the most?
The co-writing, sharing ideas in the group and watching them come alive.
What can a punter expect from your live show?
Expect the unexpected. Surf, rock, disco, classical Indian vocals. A visual and aural feast. Nostalgia for something you never knew. Booty-shaking. Short shorts.
Tell us about the last song you wrote?
Well I intended “Henna Henna” to be a lyrical meditation on unrequited love, but it ended up as a crazy surf-rock anthem instead. But then we don’t always write the songs, we kind of give birth to them and they do their own thing.
What is the most unique/memorable item of clothing you own?
It has to be my sequined jacket, accessorised by rotating backlit Tiger medallion (under development).
What was your worst fashion crime?
I had red MC Hammer pants that I wore to school, which got me suspended.
What would your dream stage outfit be and who would design it?
I’ve been trying to find a genuine snakeskin suit for a long time, something slinky that fits every contour of my body. Would Jean Paul Gaultier take up the challenge?