a history

Karmadillo are a Cambridge based trio formed in 2002, where they produce their unique brand of quirky acoustic pop folk-rock.

The music of Karmadillo is based on the sound of a traditional yet fun South American instrument mixed with British pop and rock melodies. Sometimes, it'll make you think of George Formby winning the Eurovision Song Contest. At others, the type of sound you'd like to hear on a Caribbean beach relaxing with a rum and coke. There is plenty of room for melancholy and sad sounds as well - the charango can be used to produce beautiful, haunting notes.

Thats my way of saying it really doesn't fit into many of the Western 'categories' of music. Although based on an ethnic Peruvian instrument its not ethnic. Its not folk. Its not pop. Its not rock. Its not jive. Its not Indie. But its a little of all of these with a good dose of fun and melancholy. Probably the best category for it is alt-country.

They also have a MySpace page.

So who's in the band dude?

Well the people in this band are all here, live in action, in the photo below...

Actually, they didn't all squeeze into view together did they? Here's another photo of them, playing a relaxing game of croquet.

So lets introduce them to you boys and girls, one by one, in the order in which they started or joined Karmadillo.

In the Millenium Year 2000 Rishi went to do volunteer work in Guyana, South America as a VSO, an adventure that is detailed in a different story. As well as doing good as a volunteer teacher, he picked up an instrument called a Charango during travels in Bolivia. He made the purchase after being dragged by travelling companions (Jim and Jean) to a clothing shop which conviniently for him was next to a musical instrument shop. Going in to try and chat up the lady behind the counter with his bad Spanish, he ended up walking out of the shop with an instument he'd only first ever heard of a week before, but seen earlier on in the day in a trip to the local music museum. Upon leaving Guyana in Feb 2002, he came back to England to start Karmadillo.

After starting to play and perform with it (live under the Karmadillo moniker) he thought this actually sounds quite nice, and audiences enjoy it so invested in a professional one rather that the cheap one first obtained. But the charango is too highly strung and needs some accompaniment to give the songs the groove.

Enter James

James drunkenly agreed to join the band after three days and nights at the Cambridge Beer Festival in 2003. The first gig was in August 2003 and started playing bass which offsets the high pitched charango just nicely: Karmadillo proper was ready to hit the world.

From the first concert they did together James' bass lines really were adding so much to the songs. People seemed to enjoy the band, coming to see Karmadillo more than once, and friends didn't bother with make up excuses to not see them as they had done for Rishi's previous heavy metal meets Tibetian throat music ensemble. Fanzines gave good reviews. So after gigging for a bit they finally sat down and had our first go at recording stuff together (and with a few very talented friends as well) - we ended up putting together 'Women are Aliens from Venus, Men are Monsters from Mars'. That was released on the 15th of May 2004.

It was when they started to record their first full album that someone else turned up to join the gang...

Enter Kate

Kates official blurb goes along the lines of: Australian, plays great oboe and performs with classical ensembles. Look what playing with Karmadillo did for her.

Originally invited to guest on oboe whilst Karmadillo were recording 'Still' in 2005 she just wouldn't go away, so the other band members made her part of the part. She was such a great find, playing oboe, flute, keyboards, percussion and kazoo to the band. A good pair of lungs to holler with don't hurt much either. With the great songs as a springboard, she adds yet a dimension of WOW to what Karmadillo do musically, making them a truly unique and talented trio.

Purple background photos courtesy of Mike Da Hat

Where can I hear Karmadillo music?

Karmadillo are based in Cambridge, UK. Try the following to hear Karmadillo music....

You can find more about other Cambridge bands at the CamCity website.

Where does the logo come from?

The logo was drawn by Miss Roberts, the singer of another Cambridge band, called the Rude Mechanicals. It was based on pictures of the old fashioned charango. The logo was christened 'Snout' in a 'Name The Mascot' competition in 2003.

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