ELEPHANT STONE at Rancho Relaxo (300 College) as part of CMW, Friday (March 11), 1 am. $10 or wristband/pass. cmw.net. See listing.
Taking his band name from a Stone Roses song and boasting a pedigree that includes co-founding the High Dials and collaborating with the Black Angels, Elephant Stone’s Rishi Dhir makes music that’s both danceable and trippy. And while many bands can be described as “psychedelic pop,” few have a singer/guitarist who can play a mean sitar.
“I bought my first sitar in 1997,” Dhir says from his home in Montreal. “I’ve taken lessons since about 2000, 2001. I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to perform classically professionally you need a lot of focus. Pieces last 45 minutes. Pop songs are three minutes.”
The Montreal quintet may be at the beginning of their career – their debut, The Seven Seas, came out in 2009, and The Glass Box EP (Maple) last year – but they’ve existed long enough for Dhir to have realized a long-standing dream: to share a stage with Scottish pop band Teenage Fanclub.
“I was 13 years old when I discovered Bandwagonesque,” Dhir says, “and playing with them was one dream I thought I’d never achieve. It was the high point of my career so far.”
music@nowtoronto.com
