History
Jaya The Cat was founded in the late 1990s by Geoff Lagadec (vocals/guitar), Dave Smith (guitar/vocals), Hugh Brockmyre (drums) and Ben Murphy (bass/vocals) in Boston, Massachusetts. Their first recording "O'Farrell" was an independent release that gained much attention and got them their first record deal on Gold Circle Records. Their first major release album Basement Style was recorded at Slaughterhouse studios in Amherst, Massachusetts with studio drummer and longtime friend of Murphy's JJ O'Connell. It was received well among critics and fans and gained attention in the northeast and southwest of the United States, but really began to pick up steam in Europe. After drummer David "The Germ" Germain (formerly with Shadows Fall) joined the band they began touring the US on the Vans Warped Tour and Europe.
In 2001, the band arrived in the Netherlands to play the Lowlands Festival, and in 2003 they recorded a live album, Ernesto’s Burning . After the release of the second studio album First Beer of a New Day , Dave Smith (guitar) and Ben Murphy (bass) quit the band. Shortly afterwards, Smith and Murphy formed the American rock/punk/country band Ragged Old Flag. The remaining members of Jaya the Cat decided to move to Amsterdam where they teamed up with Jan Jaap "Jay" Onverwagt (bass, ex-Green Lizard) and Alejandro Londoño (guitar, Cultura Tres) to continue their efforts from Europe.
In 2005, Brian Tjon Ajong (guitar, also ex-Green Lizard) joined the band to replace Londoño. Shortly after, Jordi Nieuwenburg replaced Tjon Ajong on guitar and Onverwagt, who had moved on to play keyboards for the band, was replaced by Steven Brautigam on bass.
The band's third album More Late Night Transmissions With... was released on November 16, 2007, by I Scream Records. More Late Night's sound is considerably more laidback compared to their previous releases, drawing more on reggae influences than the previous two albums. More Late Night Transmissions With... was re-issued by Bomber Music in April 2014, on CD and green vinyl.
The fourth studio album The New International Sound Of Hedonism was released by Bomber Music in the summer of 2012. After the release of Hedonism, the band was joined by Johan "Leon" van 't Zand (live keys, ex-Mark Foggo) to complete the live formation. A year later, guitarist Nieuwenburg left the band and was replaced by Dino Memic (ex-Vine Yard). In June 2013, original bassist Ben Murphy rejoined the band on stage in the Netherlands to play a handful of songs from the first two releases as Jay took over duties as party MC.
In November 2014, the band announced that van 't Zand left. Karl Smith (ex-Mr Shiraz, ex-Tropical Contact and drummer of Complicated Men Of Leisure) took over his duties on keys at the start of Jaya the Cat's UK tour with the Mad Caddies. Though the lineup has changed numerous times throughout the years, Jaya the Cat manage to remain true to their roots and continue to press on forward. With the departure of Dino Memic in September 2016 Smith moved on to guitar, and Christian Greevink filled his former position on keys for live shows.
On November 17th 2017, the band released their fifth studio album A Good Day for the Damned through Bomber Music. It was also announced that their long time friend and former roadie, 'Sexy' Joep Muijres, has taken over live keyboard duties from Greevink indefinitely.
The name of the band is speculated to come from the fact they had a cat named Jaya which they drove in their van when going to gigs.
Holograf is a modern rock band from Romania. Since the band's formation in 1978, Holograf released 18 albums. The band won the Excellence Prize at Romanian Media Music Awards in 2013, the awards for best pop-rock artist and best pop-rock song at Radio Romania Music Awards Gala in 2014 and was nominated multiple times at Romanian Music Awards for Best Group and for Best Song.
Dressy Bessy is an indie rock band from Denver, Colorado led by songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist, Tammy Ealom. The band is associated with the Elephant Six Recording Company and shares guitarist John Hill with The Apples in Stereo. Ealom formed the band with drummer Darren Albert and bassist Rob Greene in 1996. Hill joined the band after helping engineer early recordings in 1997. The name was taken from a popular Playskool doll of the 1970s.
Green Lizard is a band from Tilburg, Netherlands that plays rock and roll, with influences from grunge, punk rock, hard rock and metal.
Poi Dog Pondering is an American musical group which is noted for its cross-pollination of diverse musical genres, including various forms of acoustic and electronic music. Frank Orrall founded the band in Hawaii in 1984, initially as a solo project. In 1985 Orrall formed the first line-up of PDP to perform its first concert; at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. The band embarked on a yearlong street performance busking tour across North America. They eventually settled down in Austin, Texas in 1987, where they recorded their first three albums. In 1992, the band relocated to Chicago and they began to incorporate orchestral arrangements and elements of electronic, house music, and soul music into their acoustic rock style. The membership of Poi Dog Pondering has evolved from album to album, with Frank Orrall being a constant player since the inception of the band.
Smash Palace are a power pop rock band currently based out of Southern New Jersey.
Gang Green is an American punk rock band originally from Braintree, Massachusetts. Chris Doherty (guitar), Bill Manley (bass) and Mike Dean (drums) started the band in 1980 and broke up in 1983. Doherty reformed Gang Green the following year, and the band experienced numerous lineup changes until its dissolution for the second time in 1992. Doherty has been the band's only constant member and has kept Gang Green active from 2005 onwards. The band was influential in the formation of the East Coast hardcore punk scene, and went on to become one of the forerunners of crossover thrash and speed metal in the late 1980s.
The Rosebuds were an American indie rock band from Raleigh, North Carolina, that recorded and performed from 2001 to 2014. Its current members are Ivan Howard (vocals/guitar/drums/bass/keyboards/programming) and Kelly Crisp (vocals/keyboard/drums/guitar/accordion). Billy Alphin had played drums on the album The Rosebuds Make Out, Wes Phillips played drums on the E.P."Unwind", Lee Waters played drums on the record Birds Make Good Neighbors, and Matt McCaughan played the drums on Night of the Furies, Life Like and Loud Planes Fly Low. Rob Lackey was behind the drum kit during the taping of The Rosebuds Live at the Cats Cradle, a charity only recording sold at cytunes.org to help fight for the prevention of cancer, as well as on the track "Second Birds of Paradise" on "Loud Planes Fly Low."
Comet Gain are a British indie pop band, formed by singer-songwriter and guitarist David Feck in 1992, with musical influences including post-punk and northern soul.
Basement 5 were a reggae punk fusion band from London founded in 1978. Their first vocalist was Winston Fergus, then Don Letts. One of their early performances was a support for Public Image Ltd.'s London debut at the Rainbow on Christmas Day 1978. Finally in 1979 Dennis Morris - photographer of Bob Marley and the Sex Pistols, took over as creative force, lead vocalist and lyricist. He also designed the Basement 5 logo and created their image. The drums were played by Richard Dudanski, who had played in the bands 101ers, The Raincoats and Public Image Ltd. Their songs reflected the political situation of the time in Great Britain in the era of Margaret Thatcher: youth unemployment, strikes, racism and the poverty of the working class.
The Freeze are an American punk rock band from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, United States, formed by a group of teenagers in 1978. They released the first single, "I Hate Tourists" in 1980 and contributed eight songs, including the title track to the 1982 hardcore punk compilation This Is Boston, Not L.A.
Leaf Hound is an English hard rock band formed in 1969. The band is often cited as pioneers of heavy metal, hard rock, psychedelic rock and stoner rock. The release of their 1971 debut album Growers of Mushrooms is said to be a mixture of heavy metal, hard rock, psychedelic rock and stoner rock and influenced those genres.
Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful is the third studio album and fourth overall by American folk rock band the Lovin' Spoonful, released in 1966 by Kama Sutra Records. It peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.
Träd, Gräs & Stenar is a Swedish rock band formed in 1969, from previous incarnations Pärson Sound, International Harvester and Harvester. The group was one of the front acts of the Swedish progg scene, although noticeably less political than their contemporary counterparts. Their sound has been described as raw, psych rock jam, by the writer David Pescovitz, who also notes the band would invite their audiences to improvise and collaborate.
U.S. Chaos are an American punk rock band from Paterson, New Jersey, United States, formed in 1981 from remnants of first wave punk outfits The Radicals in 1978 and The Front Line in 1979. They are the first American band to play in an Oi!/street punk style. The band's approach was to play music with lyrics that had an overtly right-wing prose and sense of American patriotism. They often played recordings of military marches, air raid sirens and polyphonic sound assaults before going on stage.
Mouth of the Architect is an American heavy metal band from Dayton, Ohio, creating music influenced by and similar to Neurosis, Isis, Pelican, Cult of Luna, and various post-metal bands. They are signed to Translation Loss Records and have released five full-length studio albums and one EP to date.
White Music is the fourth studio album by American rock band Crack the Sky, released on LP in 1980 by Lifesong Records. It was the first release from the newly reformed Crack the Sky, whose lineup included only two members from the original band: singer/songwriter John Palumbo and guitarist Rick Witkowski.
Disorder are an English street punk band that formed in the Bristol area of England in 1980, and has existed with varying line-ups. They are aligned with politically charged punk bands.
The Head Cat is an American rockabilly supergroup formed by vocalist/bassist Lemmy, drummer Slim Jim Phantom and guitarist Danny B. Harvey. Lemmy died in 2015 and as of 2017, former Morbid Angel member David Vincent took Lemmy's place as vocalist and bassist.
The Forgotten is an American punk rock band based in San Jose, California. The Forgotten have toured the US, Canada, Europe and Japan numerous times.
DeeOhGee are an American four-piece rock band from Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Their music is influenced by blues, punk rock, southern rock, soul, Americana and country. They are known for their DIY aesthetic and extensive touring.
