MUMBAI: From successfully putting out their own cover of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ with a budget of £150, to driving Prince Harry to tap his feet to their originals, Welsh band- Peasant’s King’s journey in the past three years has been nothing short of “utterly bizarre”. Finding their single ‘Antidotes’ on jukeboxes around several places in the country “was a bit weird”, but having a royal tap his feet to their music, they say, “probably tops it.”
Peasant’s King is a five-piece band that adds another instrumentalist on stage to enhance the sound that they have been proudly produced since 2012. The band does not rely on backing tracks while performing live, and with other four members capable enough to back Danni Lafrombé (vocalist), one can understand why. The ensemble comprises two guitarists- Rhodri Parry and Josh Bowles, bassist- Lewys Mann, drummer- Harry Lee, and Danni Lafrombé on vocals, with Cai Morgan driving the energy to a new level, apart from his responsibility as a backing vocalist. The band, which likes to describe its sound as ‘Indie Pop Soul’, was first exposed to success or fame when ‘Antidotes’ was selected for ‘BBC Introducing’.
It has been an upward trajectory for the Welsh band, based in a town called Pontypridd, twelve miles north of Cardiff. Owing a lot of their early success to local venues like Clwb Y Bont and Muni Arts Centre, Josh and the guys started their musical voyage while at school, and were inspired by local acts like Straight Lines and The People The Poet. The compatibility between them sparked a weirdly cool camaraderie that led to where they are today- on their maiden visit to India.
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“We were contacted by Wales Arts International via email through a contact of a contact several months ago, basically asking us if we wanted to play some gigs in India and that we needed to respond in two days! We definitely didn’t need that long to decide, we were pretty unanimous in our decision to take up this amazing opportunity within a couple of hours,” informed Bowles to Radioandmusic.com.
Peasant’s King earned a lot of fans and popularity through renditions of a few famous tracks- ranging from Michael Jackson to Ed Sheeran. “The covers have allowed us to totally transform and mash-up the originals. They have always been a bit of a fun extra we have done alongside our own material and sometimes they have even helped to influence our own songs,” he added. So, do they extend their love for covers to live performances? “We have only ever tended to do covers during acoustic gigs or when we have ran out of songs to play live!” added Bowles.
‘David’ is what they named their new album, an attempt to immortalise Lafrombé’s grandfather’s stories shared by the singer’s Nan. Lafrombé never met his grandfather, but his spirit stayed alive and inspired the vocalist in more ways than one. He wanted to write material through the eyes of his grandfather, hence the name ‘David’.
The band landed a slot at Reading Festival in 2013, thanks to its earlier work that includes EPs- ‘Kingdom’ and ‘Four Walls Are Home’. With the release of new album, the band aspires to play at bigger venues like Wembley and Glastonbury for 80,000 or so fans.
But before the band prepares to work towards fulfilling its collective dreams and ambitions, the Welsh outfit will travel to Delhi and Pune for its live performances at NH7 Weekender. “We want the Indian audiences to be ready for an energetic; full on, live event and to show us how truly passionate we have heard that they are!” assures Bowles, ahead of their first exposure to Indian live music scene. Bowles, a regular member, will also accompany the band for a performance in Mumbai, the night before they travel to Pune for their last performance in India this year.
Like any other international act, Peasant’s King wants to make the most of its time in India. Speaking about the same, Bowles hopes to explore the local areas too, experience the food and all of that. “Of course the more ‘tourist-y’ things are on the cards too, like seeing the Taj Mahal, etc, because of the doubt if such an opportunity to travel to India may come in the near future,” he expressed.
NH7 Delhi hosts the band on 29 November (Day two), where they will perform at the Bacardi Arena stage, with Mogwai as the headlining act. Peasant’s King will then join fellow British acts- The Clameens, Hidden Orchestra, and the Thumpers- on 3 December at blueFROG, Mumbai. The band will conclude its India journey in Pune, with what could turn out to be the first of many hopeful trips to this part of the world.
