It was in December 2020, during the only online edition of music festival NH7 Weekender ever that Suryakant Sawhney aka Lifafa played his set. It wasn’t a regular set—the Delhi-based musician, also the front-man of the popular five-piece band Peter Cat Recording Co, who moved to Goa three years ago, played an all-acoustic, eerie but beautifully-shot set from a 300-year-old abandoned house. 

It’s now found a home online. His newly released video, the 41-minute long Lifafa Live at Village Carona, is a pleasant change from the usual music videos. The performer, often seen with a cigarette in one hand as he sings his songs, is seen playing the guitar, harmonium and singing. “I just don’t think it’s very interesting to see somebody performing mostly electronic music on screen. You need an element of something live, something theatrical and that is much more enjoyable,” says Sawhney over a telephonic conversation. Since most of his music is electronic, the first thing he had decided when he was supposed to play for NH7 was, “to perform a lot of songs in an acoustic set up without any electronic or backing music.” “I wasn’t satisfied with the idea of sitting at home in front of a camera in a chair and just performing.”