Sunday Driver

Award-winning British-Asian 7-piece band Sunday Driver are forging a new genre of fusion that blends contemporary styles with eastern influences and instrumentation. The band is becoming well-known on the growing Steampunk scene, with headline gigs in the UK, Germany and the US booked for2011.

Following their acclaimed album In The City of Dreadful Night – for which they received an innovation award from Fatea magazine - the band have been shortlisted for the 2011 Decibel arts showcase, and have been awarded funding from Arts Council England to produce a second album and live show incorporating Indian dance and spoken word.

Find out more about Sunday Driver in their new short film, 'Exceedingly Good Steam': http://www.youtube.com/sundaydriveruk#p/a/u/0/ErEVBKHMk8k

Their widely acclaimed album "In The City of Dreadful Night", released in 2009, evokes the shadowy landscapes of Victorian Calcutta and London and won FATEA music magazine's innovation award in 2010.

"Dreadful Night" was featured on radio stations including BBC Asian Network (both the Nikki Bedi show and Pathaan’s musical rickshaw), BBC 6 Music (Tom Robinson), BBC Radio Cambridgeshire (Sue Marchant show) and BBC 3 Counties “Introducing”.

Sunday Driver are well known for their curiosity for experimenting with new sounds, and have been constantly evolving their sound over nearly a decade. The new album, recorded in April 2011 with funding from Arts Council England and provisionally titled "The Mutiny" represents a significant step forward in the band's songwriting and musicianship, drawing on influences as diverse as the Indian Mutiny of 1857, a malevolent mechanical tiger, traditional Indian melodies and mantras and fallen dictators.

The band has gigged frequently in the UK, and has booking in Europe and the US lined up for 2011. Recent highlight performances include the Cambridge Folk Festival, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the world famous Café de Paris in London, Cambridge University’s 800th Anniversary Party, headlining the Asylum (the UK’s first ever Steampunk festival) and a headline slot at the Inselsommer Festival on the Rhine, Germany.

-"The result is a remarkable album that comes across as a street festival distilled into music in a genuinely innovative way." - Fatea Magazine (2010), giving Sunday Driver their 2010 award for innovation.

-"Like XTC and the Beatles before them Sunday Driver know how to entertain... how to simultaneously make us smile and to think. Sunday Driver is quietly surreal, images and colors bloom in your brain as you listen to theirsongs." - Sepiachord (2010)

-"..real, honest-to-god, talented ensemble" The Steampunk Workshop (2010)-"An act to watch for the future." Pathaan (BBC Asian Network) for I-DJ Magazine (2009)

-"This tune is one of those you put on when you want to forget about the world and transfer yourself to a different reality." - London Music Directory (2009)

-"Chandrika Nath is a commanding presence as band leader ..... the instrumentalists cook like a band that have taken their chemistry to another level" – Music-Zine (2009)

-"Breathtakingly cool and stunningly compelling....In The City Of Dreadful Night' is afantastic album that's diverse and tantalising; beautifully conceived, stunningly executed and just such an absolute joy to behold. " - ToxicPete (2009)