Jaya The Cat is a Dutch/American

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band originating from

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, but currently based in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. The band formed in 1998 and has released four full-length

studio albums An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

, one independent release and one

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

History

Jaya The Cat was founded in the late 1990s by Geoff Lagadec (vocals/guitar), Dave Smith (guitar/vocals), Hugh Brockmyre (drums) and Ben Murphy (bass/vocals) in Boston, Massachusetts. Their first recording "O'Farrell" was an independent release that gained much attention and got them their first record deal on

Gold Circle Records Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal, a group 1 ...

. Their first major release album ''

Basement Style A basement is any floor of a building that is not above the grade plane. Especially in residential buildings, it often is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, car p ...

'' was recorded at Slaughterhouse studios in Amherst, Massachusetts with studio drummer and longtime friend of Murphy's JJ O'Connell. It was received well among critics and fans and gained attention in the northeast and southwest of the United States, but really began to pick up steam in Europe. After drummer David "The Germ" Germain (formerly with

Shadows Fall Shadows Fall is an American metalcore band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1996. Although Shadows Fall has experienced several line-up changes, for most of its recording career, Shadows Fall has been composed of guitarists Jon Donais and ...

) joined the band they began touring the US on the

Vans Warped Tour The Warped Tour is a touring rock music festival that toured the United States and Canada each summer from 1995 until 2019, and returned in 2025 for its 30th anniversary. By 2015, Warped was the largest traveling music festival in the United S ...

and Europe. In 2001, the band arrived in the Netherlands to play the

Lowlands Festival A Campingflight to Lowlands Paradise (commonly called Lowlands or Lowlands Festival), is an annual three-day music and performing arts festival, held in the Netherlands. The festival is held east of Amsterdam in Biddinghuizen, at Spijk en Breme ...

, and in 2003 they recorded a live album, '' Ernesto’s Burning''. After the release of the second studio album ''

First Beer of a New Day First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

'', Dave Smith (guitar) and Ben Murphy (bass) quit the band. Shortly afterwards, Smith and Murphy formed the American rock/punk/country band

Ragged Old Flag ''Ragged Old Flag'' is the 47th album by American country music singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in 1974. The album addresses several political as well as ethical issues, like many of Cash's other releases. The title track, and ...

. The remaining members of Jaya the Cat decided to move to Amsterdam where they teamed up with Jan Jaap "Jay" Onverwagt (bass, ex-

Green Lizard The European green lizard (''Lacerta viridis'') is a large lizard distributed across European midlatitudes from Slovenia and eastern Austria to as far east as the Black Sea coasts of Ukraine and Turkey. It is often seen sunning on rocks or lawns, ...

) and Alejandro Londoño (guitar,

Cultura Tres Cultura Tres is a band that started in Maracay, Venezuela in 2006. The band was formed by brothers Alejandro and Juanma Montoya. During the band's time making sludge-doom music, guitarist brothers Alejandro and Juanma Montoya produced independen ...

) to continue their efforts from Europe. In 2005, Brian Tjon Ajong (guitar, also ex-Green Lizard) joined the band to replace Londoño. Shortly after, Jordi Nieuwenburg replaced Tjon Ajong on guitar and Onverwagt, who had moved on to play keyboards for the band, was replaced by Steven Brautigam on bass. The band's third album '' More Late Night Transmissions With... ''was released on November 16, 2007, by

I Scream Records I Scream Records is an independent record label founded by Laurens Kusters in 1994 in Brussels, Belgium. The label has an extensive catalogue and is one of the leading punk and hardcore labels in Western Europe. History The label's first r ...

. ''More Late Night'''s sound is considerably more laidback compared to their previous releases, drawing more on reggae influences than the previous two albums. ''More Late Night Transmissions With...'' was re-issued by

Bomber Music A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles. There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strategic bombing is do ...

in April 2014, on CD and green vinyl. The fourth studio album ''

The New International Sound Of Hedonism ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...

'' was released by Bomber Music in the summer of 2012. After the release of ''Hedonism'', the band was joined by Johan "Leon" van 't Zand (live keys, ex-Mark Foggo) to complete the live formation. A year later, guitarist Nieuwenburg left the band and was replaced by Dino Memic (ex- Vine Yard). In June 2013, original bassist Ben Murphy rejoined the band on stage in the Netherlands to play a handful of songs from the first two releases as Jay took over duties as party MC. In November 2014, the band announced that van 't Zand left. Karl Smith (ex- Mr Shiraz, ex-

Tropical Contact The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's axi ...

and drummer of Complicated Men Of Leisure) took over his duties on keys at the start of Jaya the Cat's UK tour with the

Mad Caddies The Mad Caddies (or the Caddies) is an American ska punk band from Solvang, California. The band formed in 1995 and has released seven full-length albums, one live album, and two EPs. The Mad Caddies sound has influences from broad ranging g ...

. Though the lineup has changed numerous times throughout the years, Jaya the Cat manage to remain true to their roots and continue to press on forward. With the departure of Dino Memic in September 2016 Smith moved on to guitar, and Christian Greevink filled his former position on keys for live shows. On November 17, 2017, the band released their fifth studio album '' A Good Day for the Damned'' through Bomber Music. It was also announced that their long time friend and former roadie, 'Sexy' Joep Muijres, has taken over live keyboard duties from Greevink indefinitely. In March 2023 Karl left the band and is with The Barstool Preachers since. The name of the band is speculated to come from the fact they had a cat named Jaya which they drove in their van when going to gigs.

Members

Current members

*Geoff Lagadec (1998–present) -

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

*David "The Germ" Germain (2002–present) -

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

*Jan Jaap "Jay" Onverwagt (2004–present) -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, keyboards,

*Joep Muijres (2017–present) - keyboards *Tommy Kennedy (2023–present) -

Former members

*Dave Smith - guitar, vocals (1998-2003) *Hugh Brockmyre - drums (1998-2002) *Ben Murphy - bass, vocals (1998-2003) *JJ O'Connell - drums (2002) *Alejandro Londoño - guitar, vocals (2004) *Brian Tjon Ajong - guitar, vocals (2005) *Jordi Newcastle - guitar, vocals (2005-2013) *Steven Brautigam - bass (2005-2008) *Jeroen Kok - bass (2008-2010) *Daniel Peper - keys, vocals (2010-2012) *Johan "Leon" van 't Zand - keys (2012-2014) *Dino Memic - guitar, vocals (2013-2016) *Karl Smith (2014–2023) - guitar, vocals, Keyboards

Live musicians

*Christian Greevink - keys *Brian Tjon Ajong - guitar, keys *Yanko Brekov - guitar *Russ Abu - bass *Matt Crosher (formerly of

Random Hand Random Hand is a British punk band, formed in Keighley in 2002. Their sound combines a variety of genres, including ska, reggae, punk rock, metal, hip hop and dub. The band is typically associated with the punk subculture, due to their ethics ...

) - guitar (One time performance Rebellion 2011 and guest on El Camino during 2012 winter UK tour) *Marcia Richards and Joshua Waters-Rudge of

The Skints The Skints are an English reggae punk band from London, described by Clash Music as "the torchbearers for modern British reggae music." The Skints mix reggae, ska, dub, punk rock, dancehall, soul, and rap, touring extensively across the UK, ...

- vocals (One time performance Rebellion 2011)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:140 bottom:60 top:0 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1998 till:01/01/2025 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1998 ScaleMinor = increment:2 start:1999 Colors = id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:Guitars value:green legend:Guitars id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Keys value:purple legend:Keys id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Lines value:black legend:Studio albums LineData = at:17/09/2001 color:black layer:back at:31/05/2003 color:black layer:back at:16/11/2007 color:black layer:back at:29/07/2012 color:black layer:back at:17/11/2017 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:Lagadec text:"Geoff Lagadec" bar:Smith text:"Dave Smith" bar:Londono text:"Alejandro Londoño" bar:Tjon text:"Brian Tjon Ajong" bar:Newcastle text:"Jordi Newcastle" bar:Memic text:"Dino Memic" bar:Murphy text:"Ben Murphy" bar:Onverwagt text:"Jan Jaap Onverwagt" bar:Brautigam text:"Steven Brautigam" bar:Kok text:"Jeroen Kok" bar:Brockmyre text:"Hugh Brockmyre" bar:Connell text:"JJ O'Connell" bar:Germain text:"David Germain" bar:Peper text:"Daniel Peper" bar:Zand text:"Johan van 't Zand" bar:SmithK text:"Karl Smith" bar:Greevink text:"Christian Greevink" bar:Muijres text:"Joep Muijres" PlotData= width:2.5 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Lagadec from:01/01/1998 till:end color:Guitars width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Lagadec from:01/01/1998 till:end color:Vocals bar:Smith from:01/01/1998 till:01/01/2004 color:Guitars bar:Londono from:01/01/2004 till:01/01/2005 color:Guitars bar:Tjon from:01/01/2005 till:01/05/2005 color:Guitars bar:Newcastle from:01/05/2005 till:01/05/2013 color:Guitars bar:Memic from:01/05/2013 till:23/09/2016 color:Guitars bar:Murphy from:01/01/1998 till:01/01/2004 color:Bass bar:Onverwagt from:01/01/2004 till:01/08/2005 color:Bass bar:Onverwagt from:01/01/2006 till:01/12/2010 color:Keys bar:Onverwagt from:01/12/2010 till:end color:Bass bar:Brautigam from:01/08/2005 till:01/09/2008 color:Bass bar:Kok from:01/09/2008 till:01/12/2010 color:Bass bar:Brockmyre from:01/01/1998 till:01/07/2001 color:Drums bar:Connell from:01/07/2001 till:01/10/2001 color:Drums bar:Germain from:01/10/2001 till:end color:Drums bar:Peper from:01/12/2010 till:01/04/2012 color:Keys bar:Zand from:01/04/2012 till:21/11/2014 color:Keys bar:SmithK from:21/11/2014 till:23/09/2016 color:Keys bar:Greevink from:24/09/2016 till:30/09/2017 color:keys bar:Muijres from:01/10/2017 till:end color:Keys bar:SmithK from:24/09/2016 till:23/09/2023 color:Guitars

Discography

* ''O´Farrell'' (CD, 1999) * ''Basement Style'' (CD, Gold Circle, 2001) * ''First Beer Of A New Day'' (CD, 4Tune, 2003) * ''Ernesto’s Burning'' (CD/LP, Music Machine, 2004) * ''More Late Night Transmissions With...'' (CD, I Scream, 2007) * ''Closing Time'' (CD Single, I Scream, 2007) * ''First Beer Of A New Day'' (LP, I Hate People Records, 2011) * ''First Beer Of A New Day'' (CD re-release, I Hate People Records, 2011) * ''The New International Sound Of Hedonism'' (CD, Bomber Music, 2012) * ''The New International Sound Of Hedonism'' (LP, Ring of Fire Records, 2012) * ''O'Farrell'' (LP, Ring of Fire Records, 2013) * ''O'Farrell'' (CD re-release, Ring of Fire Records, 2013) * ''More Late Night Transmissions With...'' (CD re-release, Bomber Music, 2014) * ''More Late Night Transmissions With...'' (LP re-release, Bomber Music, 2014) * ''Basement Style'' (CD re-release, Ring of Fire Records, 2017) * ''Basement Style'' (LP re-release, Ring of Fire Records, 2017) * ''Basement Style'' (MC re-release, Ring of Fire Records, 2017) * ''A Good Day For The Damned'' (Bomber Music, 2017)

Videography/Singles

* Final Solution (2003) * Closing Time (2007) * Here Come the Drums (2012) * Fake Carreras (2016) * Sweet Eurotrash (2018) * Amsterdam (2018)

References

External links

Jaya the Cat OFFICIAL WEBSITE

Jaya the Cat FACEBOOK

Jaya the Cat TWITTER

Jaya the Cat MYSPACE

Jaya the Cat "HERE COME THE DRUMS" Music Video

Jaya the Cat "CLOSING TIME" Music Video
{{Authority control Musical groups from Boston Musical groups from Amsterdam Musical groups established in 1998 Dutch punk rock groups