KOCHI: Pioneers of the ‘Bengaluru rock’ genre, the band Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ) is known for doing things their own way.
In 1996, when the nascent Indian rock music industry focused on releasing covers, TAAQ produced their own songs, each capturing the free-spiritedness of an evolving Bengaluru.
Now, ahead of the release of their ninth album, the group was in Kochi for the Freeground Music Festival. In a free-wheeling chat with TNIE, Bruce Lee Mani, Rajeev Rajagopal, Leslie Charles and Tony Das recoun their decades-long journey, the intricacies of their music-making process, and more...
TAAQ has been in the industry for over two decades now. How do you keep the momentum going?
Bruce: To be precise, this October, Thermal and a Quarter will turn 28. It has been fairly easy for us. I mean, we live to do gigs and write songs. Also, we are lucky to be consistent in music-making. We find ways to keep it going.
Can you elaborate on the band’s origin?
Rajeev: When the band was formed in 1996, it was just me and Bruce. We were part of the Christ College band. That’s how Thermal and a Quarter came to be. Tony and Leslie joined us later, but the four of us have been together for over ten years now.
Leslie: Even before joining the band, I knew Bruce and Rajeev. They were quite popular in the city. To be honest, I wasn’t familiar with their songs. During that time, I was playing for some local names in Bangalore. My entry into TAAQ was quite random. I got a call from the duo asking me on a Friday if I could join them for a gig on Sunday. (laughs). That’s how it began.
Tony: I joined the band 10 years before Leslie did. To be honest, I was a big fanboy. Back in college, I was broke and saved up whatever I had to go see their shows. After three or four years of joining the band, I had to step down as I got involved with other errands. However, in 2015, when they came to do a show, they invited me over. In the practice room, the group realised that I still knew half of their songs. That’s how I rejoined.
TAAQ is known for the genre ‘Bangalore Rock.’ How did this genre materialise?
Bruce: No, that’s not what we called the music early on. We struggled to categorise our music under one umbrella. All of us come from a different musical background and grew up in a melting pot of culture. We had a mixed bag of influences. For the first few years of our journey, we were associated with ‘multi-hyphenated’ definitions for our music, like progressive, jazz, blues, and so on. Later, a friend pointed out that our songs reminded him of Bangalore. That’s when we realised that we should have the name of the city as the definition of our music. That’s how Bangalore rock came into form.
TAAQ was one of those few bands that wrote and produced their own songs. How did you manage that so early?
Bruce: One of the factors that drove us to write our own music was taking part in college competitions. Also, limitations pushed us to be creative. I don’t think we were great musicians back then. All of us learned the process along the way. We were pretty much self-taught. When compared to other bands, who had better gear and equipment, what made us different from the rest was that we could write our own music.
You must have been introduced to various kinds of music production in the last 27 years. For TAAQ, how has this journey been?
Bruce: Pre-internet or Internet era, we believe the fundamental aspect of music doesn’t change very much. When it comes to us, the process is messy and organic. I write most of the song’s lyrics, and the process in the jam room is fluid. After many years of making music together, you kind of trust the energy of other members. Sure, there are conflicts and disagreements. If a stranger walks into the jam room, they might feel there’s some dysfunctional relation going on. But all that’s in the spirit of creating what we all like. We are on album nine now. Whatever process we have, it is definitely working.
The name Thermal and a Quarter takes after the fact that there are three Malayalis and a ‘quarter Malayali’ in the band (Bruce). Why haven’t you produced songs in Malayalam yet?
Bruce: We went to a typical convent school in Bengaluru and we mostly think in English, so producing a song in Malayalam has never crossed our minds. For the first time, we introduced a Malayalam phrase in our Kochi show — ‘Árude Daivam’. It was the translation of a line from our song Believe it All.
Musicians often stay far away from thorny subjects like religion, politics and other societal issues. However, some of your lyrics highlight them. Has that always been TAAQ’s philosophy?
If you take the lyrics of our songs, they are pretty much a documentation of our lives - our life in the city, its changing landscape, etc. The lyrics are a reflection and response to what’s happening around us.
Because you are an independent band, do you experience a sense of freedom to revel in the realm of creativity, to express yourself without expectation...
Bruce: Absolutely, I think you hit the nail on the head right there! We are fortunate to enjoy freedom throughout our creative journey. We’ve been free to do what we thought was the most relevant for us at any given point in time. If you look at the output of any artist, eventually it is the reflection of the artist’s personality. Since we touch on the so-called ‘sensitive’ subjects, doesn’t mean we are confrontational or an activist kind of band, but we are not afraid to be that. That’s our personality. At the end of the day, it’s art, and people can make what they want.
How do you stay relevant amid intense competition from other bands mushrooming across the city?
Bruce: First of all, stay honest. The other aspect is not being bothered about the current trends. There’s nothing wrong with following these trends, but it is essential to keep doing what comes naturally to you. Having said this, there’s also a conscious desire to make sure we relate to our audiences. We aren’t completely self-indulgent in doing exactly what we want. We also want our art to have an impact on people, and see our songs as a soundtrack to their lives in some way. There’s no fight to stay relevant. The fight is only to be a better version of yourself.
Are there any TAAQ traditions you follow to date?
We don’t have any hardcore traditions or any ritual of breaking a coconut (laughs). But we do have a motto -- ‘Slowly, slowly, catch the monkey.’ One of our mridangam players’ father used to tell him this. We kind of adopted that. It works for us. I don’t think we have got the monkey yet. For us, the phrase means patience.
You’ve done opening acts to many names. Is there one you truly cherish?
One we did for Deep Purple. We will always remember this. It taught us a lot and made us understand that music is possible and it is a beautiful career.