MUMBAI: About a year ago, Delhi based singer/ songwriter, Ratnang Singh, was on the lookout for someone who could help turn his material into a complete product. That was when he met Jishnu Banerjee, a guitarist and songwriter. Over a shared love for the Beatles, among other interests, the duo bounced around ideas, jammed a bit and worked together on a bunch of songs. Their collaborative effort has brought about the band- The Moody Caterpillars, and its debut EP ‘Beating Heart’.

Singh describes the four-track EP as ‘Dreampop’, adding that the genre is “surreal”. He said, “It does not have to be dancy; it just needs to have that kind of vibe. We wanted everything to be large and sort of dreamy.”

‘I Feel Love’ was the first track the duo worked on together. “It is a track I dedicated to my mother. I had already written it, but then Jishnu turned it around completely; he made it more emotional. The track is about love in abundance,” said Singh. He also revealed that discussions are on for an ‘I Feel Love’ music video as the duo has been receiving positive responses for the track.

While Banerjee, who also plays for the band Manta Siddhu, wrote the music for songs like ‘Mackerel Sky’ and ‘Spring without a Zephyr’, Singh penned the lyrics for them. Talking about the EP, Singh revealed that the title track ‘Beating Heart’, is the most experimental track in terms of song writing. “It is about a lover who has killed his cheating partner. We decided to evolve the song in way that does not sound dark or sinister, but more fun to listen to. We love the way it has turned out,” he added.

Singh also revealed that the tracks on the EP will soon be available for download as talks are on with a portal to make them available. Currently, the tracks can be streamed on SoundCloud. “We are hoping to release one song a month from our EP, so that in a span of four months all the tracks on the EP will be available for download,” said Singh.

The four tracks from the EP will also feature on the Moody Caterpillars’ upcoming album, which Singh hopes to release by early next year. The album will be an outcome of Singh and Banerjee’s collective efforts over a period of a year. Singh added, “We have a lot more material now, so we want to put together a seven track album. The tracks from the EP will also feature on the album.”
Additionally Singh and Banerjee are also looking at expanding The Moody Caterpillars from a duo to a five-piece unit, hopefully. The two will soon start looking out for band members to help them with keyboard, drums, bass and guitar. “Even though, Jishnu and I play the guitar, we need might need one more guitarist as our sound relies heavily on guitars.”

The band’s name is inspired by Alice in Wonderland, revealed Singh. “We wanted it to be something like “moody” because even when we were creating the tracks we were always in a ‘zone’ and we would be like that for days. The second half of the name was decided when I was watching Alice in Wonderland and I thought of ‘caterpillars’ Jishnu and I liked the sound of it, so we went with The Moody Caterpillars,” he added.