Formed in 2009 by a London-born Sikh raised in relative tumult and an Afrikaner from a Christian community in post-apartheid South Africa, the duo instantly responded to each other’s explorative melodies. 

Pavan was nurtured on raags and ghazals by a penniless virtuoso at the age of five, and went on to play Beethoven, Mozart and Saint Seun on other people’s pianos by ear. At 17, she bought her first guitar for a tenner and worked out The Beatles’ Blackbird from memory. In her twenties, she bought her own piano and finally completed the first movement of Moonlight Sonata, which she’d begun on the school piano aged 15. 

Duncan first encountered heavy metal aged ten, when his half-brother handed him Guns ‘n’ Roses and warned him not to tell their dad. Music became a secret escape into an underground evolution of intense contrast to his conservative surroundings.

First they were ‘YaKu’, named after Duncan’s best friend and collaborator Jaco Swart, a gifted musician who left the world before his 21st birthday. (“YaKu” is the phonetic spelling of Jaco; fans never quite got the pronunciation). Recording their eponymous EP at Bush Studios, they took a hiatus. 

Today, Satrang brings their dark and dreamy acoustic set of ethereal originals and inspired covers (Nirvana, Radiohead, Sigur Ros et al) through a carousel of electric, steel-strung and slide guitars, interspersed with piano, distortion, reverb and vocals. 

See Satrang on Instagram

Listen on Spotify

This is a free event at the Applecart Café.  No tickets needed.

9th June at 8pm