Founded through a mutual love of 60’s and 70’s dub and punk by three friends namely Geoff Lagadec - (vocals / guitar) ; Dave Smith - (guitar / vocals) and Ben Murphy - (bass).
Jaya The Cat create songs ranging from booze fueled anthems to chilled out dance tracks to outright political commentary.
With a current line up including Jordi ‘Pockets’ Nieuwenburg on guitar, Jeroen Kok on bass, and Onverwagt on keyboards.
Following the 2001 release of their debut album Basement Style ( Gold Circle Records ), Jaya The Cat were joined by ex-Shadows Fall drummer David ‘The Germ’ Germain and began a steady touring schedule of stages across the United States and Europe, playing major clubs and festivals such as Lowlands in Holland, Pukkelpop in Belgium, and the Warped Tour in the US. Their music has also been featured in numerous skate, surf and snowboard videos.
Summer 2003 saw their sophomore release, First Beer of a New Day ‘’ (4tune Records).
Although both albums met with positive critical success and they had gathered a loyal worldwide following, personal differences saw the departure of Smith and Murphy that fall, which effectively left the band in limbo. After a freezing music-less winter working shitty jobs in Boston, Lagadec and Germain met up and decided to look for new members. Temporarily joined for a spring European tour by dutch musicians Jan Jaap Onverwagt (Green Lizard) and Alejandro Londoño, they took a 3 month sublet on an apartment in Amsterdam with the plan of regrouping and figuring out what the hell to do with themselves. Three months turned into three years.
In the interim, the band has continued to grow, playing hundreds of live shows to an ever expanding audience, as well as adding keyboards, samples, percussion and a tiki bar to their onstage act. An average Jaya the Cat concert usually becomes more of a party than a performance, with the audience singing, dancing and drinking right along with the band.
September 7th 2007, saw the European release of their third studio album entitled More Late Night Transmissions with... on I Scream Records. Drawing on their experiences, More Late Night Transmissions with... delivers 13 tracks filled with seedy bars, cheap hotels, dysfunctional love affairs and political disillusionment. Punk rock, reggae, ska and pop, glued in their own unique style.
More Late Night Transmissions with... was released on the 10th of May in the US by I Scream Records USA.
Discography:
* CD ‘Basement Style’ (Gold Circle Records 2000)
* CD ‘First ‘Beer Of A New Day’ (4Tune Records 2002)
* CD/LP ‘Ernesto’s Burning’ (Music Machine Records 2004)
* CD More Late Night Transmissions with... (I Scream Records 2007)
* CD Single ‘Closing Time’ (I Scream Records 2007)
* CD Single 'Good Morning' (I Scream Records 2008)
* CD More Late Night Transmissions with... (I Scream Records 2009)
Web links:
Jaya The Cat Official Site
Facebook Fan Page
Myspace page
Purevolume
This Town
Jaya the Cat Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When your living your life out of a trashcan
And for some the mic can turn into a crack pipe
If you don't have the strength to fight
Like don carlos said it's just day to day living
Staying one step ahead of the system
And if you don't watch out it'll piss all over you
And there's always some motherfucker there to say "i told you so"
But if the vice squad catches you kid you'll have to make other plans
To fill up that pipe
Cause it's a downward spiral it just don't happen overnight
This town has left you so hard
And what about all those things when you were young?
And what about all that shit that you never done?
When you take, take, take, take what will you receive?
When you lie, lie, lie, lie what can you believe?
Hey kid where you been?
It's been a long time since you left the garden
Used to see you downtown at all the bars
Now you're sleeping near a heating grate
Living in your car
Begging spare change just to straighten out your brain
But the shit your putting in it is more of the same
Of what put you there in the first place
You think your buying freedom but it's just freebase.
The lyrics to Jaya the Cat's song "This Town" speak of the struggles of living a difficult life in the face of societal pressures and vices. The song speaks about the hardships that individuals face on a day-to-day basis, especially those who are living in a difficult situation like a trashcan. The lyrics point out how the allure of drugs as a form of escapism can lead to an individual's ruin if not approached with strength and caution. Moreover, the song also speaks about systems that take advantage of people who are already struggling by making their lives even harder. There are always people around you who would say I told you so if you fall, making the struggle even harder.
The second paragraph speaks of the pain of lost opportunities and dreams of youth. The lyrics speak of taking rather than giving and how it will affect one's life in the long run. The song's refrain speaks of the harm of lying and consuming drugs and how they are misleading forms of freedom.
Line by Line Meaning
God's ways can be hard to understand
It's difficult to understand God's intentions.
When your living your life out of a trashcan
When you have no choice but to live in poverty.
And for some the mic can turn into a crack pipe
For some people, their passion for music can lead to addiction.
If you don't have the strength to fight
If you don't have the resilience to resist temptation.
Like don carlos said it's just day to day living
Life is a struggle that must be faced one day at a time.
Staying one step ahead of the system
Trying to avoid getting trapped by societal structures that keep you down.
And if you don't watch out it'll piss all over you
If you aren't careful, the world can completely crush you.
And there's always some motherfucker there to say "i told you so"
People will often take pleasure in seeing you fail.
And so it's 7 for 10 on your foodstamps
When you're on food stamps, you have to stretch your money as far as possible.
But if the vice squad catches you kid you'll have to make other plans
If you get caught doing something illegal, you'll have to find another way to survive.
To fill up that pipe
To satisfy your cravings and addiction.
Cause it's a downward spiral it just don't happen overnight
Your life can spiral out of control if you don't stop bad habits early.
This town has left you so hard
The environment and circumstances of this town have made life extremely difficult for you.
And what about all those things when you were young?
What happened to all the dreams and goals you had when you were younger?
And what about all that shit that you never done?
What happened to all the opportunities you missed out on?
When you take, take, take, take what will you receive?
When you constantly take from the world, what will you ultimately gain?
When you lie, lie, lie, lie what can you believe?
When you constantly lie to yourself and others, what truth can you trust?
Hey kid where you been?
Where have you been all this time?
It's been a long time since you left the garden
It's been a long time since you left behind the innocence and purity of childhood.
Used to see you downtown at all the bars
You used to be a regular at all the bars in town.
Now you're sleeping near a heating grate
Now you're homeless and sleeping in the street for warmth.
Living in your car
You have resorted to living in your car.
Begging spare change just to straighten out your brain
You beg for money to buy drugs to help cope with your problems.
But the shit your putting in it is more of the same
The drugs you're taking are worsening your addiction.
Of what put you there in the first place
The drugs that got you into addiction in the first place.
You think your buying freedom but it's just freebase.
You think you're buying yourself freedom with drugs, but in reality, it's just making things worse.
Contributed by Joshua L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Koen van Steenbergen
man, jaya the cat has a super special place in my heart, found out about jaya the cat trough my brother who had been to their shows. Trough their music I found my sweet tooth for Reggae/Ska/Dub music in all it's variations. It had a huge influence on finding my personal taste in music and thus played a role in shaping me as a person. When I was like 16 or whathaveyou me and a friend smoked a joint with Geoff after a show we went to in Arnhem and we tought it was the coolest thing, will always remember it as one of my dopest concert experiences, and the multiple times I have seen Jaya perform it has always been able to make the show a true party. Hats off to this great band!
let op Drempels
I'm not even shitting you when i say, that this is the best band since Nirvana! :D
Bordbabe Besi
Fucking awesome! =D Woot! Jaya the Cat!
Eric 'Mouette' Bruneault
Jaya is tha best :D
Valentin Todorov
Cooooool band eyyya maaan
CarMAN
Hope to see ya again someday Geoff
Pirates City
This town has left you so hard
And what about all those things when you were young?
And what about all that shit that you never done?
When you take, take, take, take what will you receive?
When you lie, lie, lie, lie what can you believe?