Garden City Movement has an innovative force in the world indie-pop/downtempo/whatever box you want to put them in since 2013, when their excellent first EP ‘Entertainment’ was released. Many shows, releases, amazing music videos and tours later (including a performance at Magnetic Fields in 2015), they are now in India for a 4-city tour. After playing a huge set at NH7 Weekender in Pune last weekend, they are due to play in Mumbai tonight, followed by Delhi and Bangalore at Echoes of Earth. We spoke to the band ahead of tonight’s show about all things music and more.

How have you found India so far, and how was your experience at NH7 Weekender?

This is our second tour in India and so far it’s been amazing as always we just started our tour but we always find our way to the best restaurants and attractions. NH7 was one of greatest shows ever. The stage, lighting and the crowd; wow, the crowd. So much vibe and positive energy. Much more than we could’ve expected. Fantastic festival. We want to be residents, ok?

You released your ‘debut’ album ‘Apollonia’ just last year but have been around and releasing music for six years now. Everything before this came out as an EP or single; what songwriting changes if any prompted you to make a longer full-length?

We always wanted to record an album but something always came up and when the time became right and we had the privilege of sitting and writing we created Apollonia. The songs were in the barrel for a long time but as always it reflected a certain part of us in time.
 

Can you take us through your association with The Vinyl Factory? Are you guys big fans of vinyl in general and has that format inspired your musical influences in any way?

The vinyl factory collaboration was our third EP Modern West. They had contacted us and we decided together to record this one. One of the reasons the work on the LP was delayed. They are a great team and we will always support their work. As for vinyls we are collecting vinyls for years now so yes we are very much in favor of the of platform and maybe it was something that was in our mind when we decided that Apollonia will be without gaps between the songs, at least most of the album. But you need to create music for the sake of music, not what holds it.

Your live shows are very well put together, and it’s fair to say that some of your gigs like at Boiler Room in Tel Aviv all those years ago helped broaden your fanbase quite a bit. How much thinking and importance do you attach to your live sets and how well you represent your recorded music?

Yes the boiler room helped like every show from the smallest to the biggest supported in their own way. You need to work hard to find your crowd. There’s no shortcut. We give a lot of thought to our show. Some of the parts we like to stick to the original idea while in others we make interpretations. It’s changing all the time. Always keep the fire.

Israel has had quite a history of ‘Western’ music with artists like Aviv Geffen or even Berry Sakharof back in the day exploring genres and gaining acclaim. What are your musical roots and what was the movement in your city like in your youth?

Yes there were acts like Minimal Compact and other along the years that made their name outside and in Israel and there was always interesting stuff going on. But mostly with the underground scene (which became the scene that is most successful outside of the country) growing up with being the first generation enjoying from things like torrents and especially soulseek, we had an endless of world of music to get inspired by. Like literally going through people’s folders and downloading everything we can. Hours of bootlegs! So just like LCD Soundsystem said, people were losing their edge to the new generation.
 

Not only have you all named an EP Bengali Cinema (and been exposed to it), you have also made some striking music videos (Move On went to the LA Film Festival, didn’t it?). How interested are you guys in the visual identity of your band and what can we expect in that regard at a GCM show?

Our videos were created by the talented photographer and director Mayan Toledano (the first video alongside Michael Moshono) and we gave her the artistic freedom. When you trust the people you work with great stuff can happen. The connection between our music and her art direction created a bit of what the band turned to be. So yes visuals are super important to us. In our shows we like to play it once in a while. You’ll have to come and see what we’re doing now.

Find tickets for their show tonight here.