British band ready for 'culture shock' on their maiden India visit

Member of the English alternative rock band Dinosaur Pile-Up is ready for the "culture shock" on their maiden visit to India for the NH7 Weekender, says the lead singer and guitarist Matt Bigland.

Formed in 2007, the band comprises of Bigland along with drummer Mike Sheils and bassist Jim Cratchley.

"It will be quite a culture shock in terms of differences from the UK , but that's the sort of thing we love. We've all heard that it's a beautiful country and very spiritual," Bigland told IANS in an interview when asked about their visit to India.

Dinosaur Pile-Up performed at the NH7 Weekender in Pune Nov 23 and are set to perform here Sunday. They also featured a performance in Bangalore Thursday.

"We're looking forward to playing our songs to a completely new audience and getting a vibe of what crowds are like over here. We have literally no idea what to expect so that's really exciting for us. We love playing in festivals and being able to do one in India is really surreal," he added.

The singer has also asked the Indian crowd to take it easy on his alternative rock band.

"This is the first time (in India) for all of us so be gentle," said the frontman.

The band is also interested in the cultural heritage of India and plans to take time out for a visit to Taj Mahal.

"We're gonna try and squeeze in as much as possible, seeing the cities we're playing in obviously then we're planning to go to see the Taj Mahal at sunrise on one of our days off. (We will )just try and soak up as much of the culture as possible," said Bigland.

The band was inspired by 90's bands like Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer and Nirvana. They released their first official album "The Most Powerful E.P In The Universe" in 2009 followed by "Growing Pains" in 2010. Their latest release, "Nature Nurture" came out in 2013.

Bigland also admits that although they sometimes feel the need of another member in the three-person band, they always opt against it.

"We've toyed with the idea before because I write a lot of lead guitar parts which could sometimes do with a rhythm but then we always sack it off because three pieces are just radder. Plus letting someone else into our weird world would probably end badly," he said.

The band is currently working on a new record for the coming year and doing "a lot" of touring.