A young couple moves with a lane in Cuban Park, each in a single long -lasting rose, shoulder grazing, eyes interlock, clearly moves into the courtyard phase. Some yards away, in the parking lot, a young man wearing a silver cufflink and a barrister band, while beyond the lawn, some big men are in deep Seasta, their rhythmic snors are interrupted by the shouts of showers, which leaves the flags of the cross and the winds in the winds. Next to this, in Queen Park, a young woman in a saree fixes her camera in a stand and starts recording her Bollywood-style dance moves, while tourists call the statue of Edward VII aka “Buriest”, their casual jeans, sneakers and backpacks, former king’s closet-fits-fits, clogs, Long Cloxes, Long Cloxes, Long Cloxas.
This park’s lidback is a generous vib, which is recently released song, ‘Cuban Park’, is trying to tell Derek Mathias, who wrote the song last January, while on Nagaland flight. Bangalore -based musician and band leader Derek and CATS say, “I was on my laptop, and I thought I would just write something because I wrote nothing for some time,” the leader of the band, Derek and the Cats, as we settle on one of the benches located in the middle of the park, is untouched by the traffic and there is unfortunate around it. The song made him felt on Sunday morning like “content and happy …”.
Demonstration at Derek and Cats Cuban Park | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
For Derek, a true blue Bengalurian and trained classical pianist, who began to learn to produce and record his music in college, is essentially essentially associated with Cuban Park on Sunday morning. “I was trying to imagine this Sunday morning’s feeling, and since I came here on Sunday morning, calling it a really suitable thing to call it Cuban Park. This place has a positive impact on my life.”
Yoga enthusiastic in Cuban Park | Photo Credit: Bhagya Prakash
‘Cuban Park’, which was released on YouTube on 1 June, is an Ode for the park, which looks at the city’s green lungs and feels like the weekend morning. In the video, a live performance of cats in Derek and Park, people playing trees and lawn footage, bounding dogs, badminton and fricebi, riding on a toy train or boat, have breakfast at the airlines hotel, and some regularly offer a sound cutting about making the park special.
“You come to Cuban Park in the morning, take your dog for a walk, enjoy the space, go to the airlines, rest under that big banyan tree, masala dosa and coffee and coffee and home.” “This is the complete experience … I wanted to capture the emotion.”
People studying in Cuban Park. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The Journey
The band, which includes Derek on the piano, Edesh Vinod on the guitar, Joel Rosario on the collision, the huge varier on the bass, Keneth Bestervich on the drum, Gautam David on Saxophone and Anandam Murali on the keyboard, began working on music videos in March this year. While he was already playing songs at various places across the country, it was testing and modifying how people reacted to music, Derek wanted to release it after preparing it only once. “I was particularly that it was to come out with a video,” he says, pointing out that the band makes instrumental music, “it’s difficult for someone to listen to just one raga, and think, Cuban Park. We need to find a way to document it.”
Since professional photography is prohibited in Cuban Park, they had to be creative using an iPhone 16 Pro, an iPhone 16 Pro, an insta360 and Rayban meta glasses to document the park over several weekends. “I am an engineer: Jugad They say that there is a way to do things, “he says, with a laugh. He also borrowed an appam to a friend’s dog and attached Gopro to document the Cuban Park through his (dogs) eyes”, “he says.
Dog owner and pet lover in dog park. Photo Credit: Murali Kumar’s
In May this year, the band performed at the century-old bandstand at Cuban Park, which has recently revived, “one of the best giggs I have ever played,” accepts Derek. Unlike a regular gig, where the performance occurs in the dark, smoke color locations at night, this gig is early in the morning, he remembers. He says, “Greenery, the air of Sunday morning, was completely open … it felt very inspiring to do our music … a great way to start the day,” he says. “We were really happy.”
Derek and cats | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Derek hopes that ‘Cuban Park’, which will be included in the band’s second album, will be released in August, creating an impact. “If someone from Bangalore sees this video, they should feel indifferent. And if someone from outside sees the video, they should say ‘Wow, this is a place I want to go,” they say.
In his opinion, people do not know enough about Bengaluru, and they hope that the song will help change it. “We are a Bengaluru band, and if a band from Bengaluru does not spread its culture, who will do it?” He asks. “Most of us in the band are born and raised, so we have to happen.”
can you hear Cuban Park https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcs1j1gtcze
Published – 26 June, 2025 06:25 pm IST
