TAAQing

With every passing year the annual gathering under the banyan tree at the Fireflies Ashram gets bigger and bigger. At this nightlong music festival last fortnight, the assembled crowd was young, old, drunk, stoned, raucous and sleepy. In all some 5,000 Bangaloreans turned up and screamed themselves hoarse way into the wee hours, prompting the normally hardy resident mosquitoes to throw in the towel, for the night.

TAAQ had to fight its way onto stage and once we got there, as is our wont, we kicked ass! Even the odd drunk staggering into microphones and amplifiers on stage could not upset a very tight set. It was clearly one of those nights – if you were there, you weren’t really there. Meanwhile at Cow’s Paradise, a retirement home for cows next door, the members of the genus Bos masticated noisily, unmindful of all the talk about “Paper Puli”.

5 Gigs, 4 nights. One very long day. That’s what it felt like. We’re still working off the high.

Playing sets at the Skylark Lounge and The Wanch to folks that really listened. Sharing stage with Bobby Taylor (producer, the Jackson 5) and his band. Connecting with a whole bunch of new people. Walking the narrow streets, packed in wall-to-wall with skyscrapers. Eating REAL Chinese food. Dumpling Yuan. Nha Trang. And buying the bull at Wooloo Mooloo (that was one pricey steak). It’s a blur; a real doozy of a defocus. And things have never been clearer!

Got to go back. Play. Play. Play.

I have returned!

See pics here

TAAQ Tales - bedtime stories that will keep you awake!

The first ever episode of TAAQ Tales, in which we uncover the stories behind our music. The words, the pictures, the dramatis personae, the unspoken words between the lines, the unsaid lines…. everything.

Be there, ask, and go home with our secrets.

Last month, we kicked off the Kick Out Corruption Music Video Competition. Here’s how the media covered it.

Rolling Stone India:

Oh yeah, right up there next to Slash's elbow, and right on top of Robert's Plant - is it a beanstalk a la Jupiter Cafe?

And here’s the article:

Excerpt: "The theme is corruption. The soundtrack is 'Kickbackistan'. Go make a music video."

Bangalore Times gave us some space. An interview with Bruce went thus:

The Times of India - Kick This

Will your music video win the big prize money? To find out, make it. And then go to www.kickoutcorruption.com and upload it!

After making their stash of funny money, the greasy-palmed triumvirate of Thermal And A Quarter have retired to their own private island. It’s a lavish life that many would envy, but for the ennui. They want to be entertained. So go ahead and make the most kickass music video for Kickbackistan, the song that made them filthy rich. And you could too if your video wins the 2 lakhs on offer for the Kick Out Corruption Music Video Competition. Go on, shoot!

November 21, TAAQ launches the Kick Out Corruption Music Video Competition with a kickass gig at Attitude, Gurgaon. 8:30 PM onwards.

Jurors Ehsaan Noorani and Vishal Dadlani join the three wise men of Thermal And A Quarter in judging the two best music videos.

Total cash prizes of Rs 2 lakh to be won.

Go on, grab that camcorder and go on a shooting spree!

Log on to www.kickoutcorruption.com

Arian Hellsing waxes poetic about our gig at The Park, Kolkata:

It’s Sunday night, and it’s Halloween,
Zombies and monsters are DYING to be seen
But wait, Thermal and a Quarter’s here!
And no, they’re not green.

They jammed, they sang
They had fun, and we did too
Thermal and a Quarter,
We love you!

Oct 31 at Someplace Else, The Park: TAAQ and Skinny Alley urge you to relish the ilish, and everything else that’s lovable about the City of Joy. Be there 8ish.

RSVP HERE

Kirtana Kumar, Priya Mendens and Shalini Subramanian join Thermal And A Quarter at The Highland Nectar, a spacious and lively bar occupying pride of place at the Grand Arrival Court of the ITC Royal Gardenia. Look forward to an evening of uplifting performances as the divas regale you with their chosen favourites and lend their signature flourish to TAAQ’s unique repertoire.

Bangalore-based actor and theatre personality KIRTANA KUMAR keeps her fine singing talent carefully obscured though, in an unguarded moment, she admitted to us that “in my dark (albeit lovely) past, I used to sing.” Her most recent singing gigs were for Kevin Oliver’s “Shakuntala” in Dubai and her own production (with husband Konarak Reddy) “One Night in Paris” in Bangalore. She is currently on tour with Anil Abraham’s “Gentlemen”.

Few music-loving Bangaloreans need an introduction to PRIYA MENDENS. For 15 years she has been performing lead roles in musicals such as “Hello Dolly”, “Fiddler on the Roof”, “Grease”, “Kiss of the Spider Woman”, etc. She has shared stage with TAAQ in the past and looks forward to a memorable reunion.

SHALINI SUBRAMANIAN is equally excited about discovering new soundscapes as she is about designing clothes for her fashion label “Plantation House”. Trained in Indian classical voice from the age of four, she was influenced by her dad’s indiscriminate attention to harmonies that range from refrigerator drones to tanpura tones. She loves Hindustani classical music, classical and contemporary jazz, and enjoys folk music from all over the world. She has previously joined TAAQ in concert.

OCT 29 at Highland Nectar, ITC Royal Gardenia, 1, Residency Road, Bangalore. Entry free (it’s not some fancy invite-only do). Be there with friends.

RSVP here

Our gig at Firangi Paani, Andheri, as experienced by Raghavendra Singhania:

Thermal And A Quarter were in town last night at Firangi Paani. And they were so awesome that this is the first blog post I’ll be doing for a band, considering the fact that I’ve been for shows like Iron Maiden, Porcupine Tree, Joshua Redman and various other shows. The reason for this is these guys have the potential, the skill… Putting it in other words this band begs to differ using their unique set of skills (IT’S TIME FOR US INDIANS TO SHINE ) It’s not the same old usual stuff/covers what everyone out there is replaying.

Secondly, the whole world is following existing musicians; very few like TAAQ are differentiating with a very thin line which is really, REALLY awesome.

Thirdly, India has to start creating its mark on the world by fabricating something diverse/different. For example, at last night’s show there was this song (Look At Me) where Bruce improvised vocals with “balle balle” and other songs like Jupiter Cafe where he uses ragas — which is awesome (trust me on this one).

Every song performed by them was gripping the crowd. I was standing right in the front of the stage all-show-long. LOL!

They played unexpected stuff like Hey Jude (The Beatles), a jazzy cover which was a simple jaw dropper.

Right after a few songs I happened to ask someone if Bruce takes classes anywhere, and I was surprised to hear that there is a TAAQademy, I was expecting a sarcastic answer like: YEAH RITE!!

BUT HE TAKES CLASSES!! Unfortunately, they have them only in Bangalore.

Overall a very lively band to be catch! I can today say that even if you haven’t heard even a single song of TAAQ you still should catch them live and you would love it!

- A SATISFIED CUSTOMER.

TAAQ and Swarathma turn it on at the JD Rock Awards at Hard Rock Cafe, Bangalore on October 21.

Details here

Bits from our gig at BITS on Oct 19. An enormous show of strength by the elements delayed the gig by aeons, but left us enough time to pull off a 40-minute set and put up a cracker of a show. BlackStratBlues played a super set before us. And in the end it was an awesome night.

Thanks to the excellent people at BITS — fabulous festival, great hospitality and a fantastic venue. You guys are the real rock stars!

Watch!

Sorry about the earlier announcement. The Firangi Paani has been moved from Bandra to Andheri. Still, you can make October 19, a Tuesday night like no other. Dump your boss (and his wife) for a stash of funny money.

Saturday, October 16: The Kickbackistan bandwagon goes to Goa. Claim your funny money and stand by for an important announcement.

Back in the day when we had a heavier prog-rock sound dominated by Bruce Eddie Shredder on lead guitar, Rajeev with the Alice in Chains cap on drums and the elemental Mr Sunil Chandienne on bass, we used to play this absolute crowd-immobilizer called Late O’Clock. We started performing it around 1997-8 and essayed it live as late as 2005.

If you haven’t ever heard of it, take a listen to this unreleased studio session from the taarchives.

The legend (for those who like to keep a tidy catalogue):

Late O’Clock (Instrumental)
Recorded 1997-98 @ Ebi Studios, Banaswadi, Bangalore
Personnel: Bruce Lee Mani: Guitar | Sunil Chandy: Bass | Rajeev Rajagopal: Drums | Bryan Richard: Rhythm Guitar

Yes, yes, we’re feeling generous. So, head to our ReverbNation page and download it. Just one thing — please don’t heckle us for lyrics.

First time in Goa. Live tonight at Cape Town, Bardez.

Keep your ears peeled for Kickbackistan and several other favourites. Demand your funny money!

Address: Tito’s Lane, Bardez, Goa
Enquiries: +919822042291

MAP | RSVP

On September 18, Sayash Kumar beamed himself down to Pondy from Chennai to watch TAAQ in concert at Seagull, that balmy little cafe by the beach. Here’s his review of the gig:

Once upon a time, in a concert far far away, a desperate voice cut its way through the crowd… craving, needing and demanding Metallica or some music like that with the gain turned way up. And then the 3-piece band on stage, looking cool behind their shades, beards and hats and shiny guitars connected to seriously sweet amps played such mind-numbingly awesome music that people just shut up and listened. Who knows, maybe they even went back, voted and started to work to rid their country of corruption. But then again, that place was Pondicherry and it’s likely that everyone just got very happily drunk and passed out at the beach.
Now, ever since I heard the extended intro in Jupiter Cafe, I’ve always been rather fond of their unique sound and song-writing. I happened to watch them live during the Jaago Re tour (March 2009) and I knew I just had to see them play many many more times after. So then I began the exercise of waiting for dates and venues to match schedules and convenience and if you’re from Chennai, you’ll agree that the best places in Chennai is actually, Pondicherry. No kidding. And if you’re a Chennai fanatic, one visit to Seagull could change that. It was a really nice venue for the concert – an open air restaurant right next to the beach where you could just sit back on the grass and experience a very high degree of peace.

I reached Pondicherry a bit late, missing the first ten minutes, and apparently I missed a lot of rock and roll moments… drunk people in shiny shirts trying to take over the stage and what not! But that enthusiasm-dampener notwithstanding, TAAQ slowly built their energy levels and tightness over the next couple of songs, particularly around Between the Lines. The skill and proficiency of this band clearly stands out with their songs sounding practically indistinguishable from the studio versions! It’s quite something to see Bruce hum his solos AND play them note to note! Not an easy feat, but it sounds terrific. However, VERY demoralising for anyone who has plans of playing a guitar. Unfair Bruce. Plain unfair. The ‘baby’(!) of the group, Prakash, has brought in a bit of a new sound to TAAQ, and it was great to see the band at ease with their new bassist – his extended solos flowing right back into the songs on every occasion. Just one doubt though… Can he see anything from behind his hat?

The sound though wasn’t top notch, there was some static and some jarring. I really wish that wasn’t the case as it lessened from their typically perfect patches and tones.

The crowd though didn’t take much notice of that and really got into the groove around the song Drunk, probably as it reflected their state at that moment. With the audience and TAAQ’s energy levels rising, Paper Puli was timed to perfection. In fact, Rajeev was throwing away his drum sticks in a fit of drum-rage too! You can’t deny it, that song is rather sticky. At the risk of making a very bad pun based on a common tea ad… Wah TAAQ Wah… The wah of that guitar!

Now I’m not sure about one thing, but there was this shockingly original rendition of Hey Jude! I swear you haven’t heard anything like that before and The Beatles would have been proud to see a 3-piece band from Bangalore pull that off! I hunted on their website but couldn’t find a studio version of that, but I hope that changes soon and a few more ‘original covers’ follow. And no, its not an oxymoron with TAAQ.

It’s a pity that to see the end of their shows, but the evening did come to an end amidst many shouts for an encore performance! Nonetheless, great music at a great place. Hoping to catch another show again soon. Though I often wonder… with all the other worldly skill that they possess, how would they sound in a completely acoustic setting, a fusion-ified and Carnatic-ified version or one with an all out backing orchestra and what not? Damn. Need more TAAQ!

Over the weekend, a fat old rodent gnawed its way through the circuitry of the TAAQ Time Machine. Something snapped and everything (and everyone) went ka-boom! That explains why there’s so much of ye olde TAAQ music up for grabs on ReverbNation.

Feeling covetous? Simplest way to make it all yours:

– Go to http://www.facebook.com/thermalandaquarter

– Click on the My Band tab.

– Under the Music playlist, look for ‘That Day This Morning (unreleased demo version yada yada)’ and click the download button next to it. Sign up and its yours!

This is an ancient recording (circa 1997) and features Sunil Chandy on bass, Bryan Richard on backing vocals, and Thomas Joseph (TJ) on tabla and backing vocals. But it’s of very listenable quality, even if we say so ourselves.

And while you’re there, don’t miss more prehistoric tracks like Damn Glam Man (1997), Potatoe Junkie and Somebody’s Fool. Stay tuned for more goodies.

And, by the way, have you downloaded Grab Me yet? Get it here before we take it off the list (or fix the time machine).

This Saturday, funny money makes an appearance at Seagull, Pondy. Bring your unctuous self over and grab at the stuff with greasy palms!

RSVP here

In the wee hours of September 8 Sankalp Khare, who had attended TAAQ’s gig at 10 Downing Street, Hyderabad, found himself trying on a tad-too-tiny TAAQ tee (note the alliteration). Aghast at the bikini-like fit, he vowed to have it exchanged. Or have his funny money back. Braving the terrors of the night he set out on an expedition to the hotel where the band was put up. Expecting hostility and badass band attitude at these odd hours, he made sure he came armed to the gills with some of his own. But quod erat demonstrandum, he mused as he rode home unscathed, “Luck comes hidden in the most unexpected things”.

Here’s Sankalp’s story in his own words…

The band and some friends were chilling at their hotel room when I arrived. It was great to meet them all and I’m quite sure I was acting mighty strange, trying to keep the excitement bottled up. Now I don’t know what you may have read about bands having attitude or ego issues or blah, but this was a group of fellers who made me feel at home almost instantly. Heck, the way Rajeev expressed his concerns about me riding all the way & back “all alone in the big bad city” would’ve reminded anyone of home! So after a teeny sip of what Rajeev was having and some chatter, someone (bless his soul!) said I should have a pic with my new TAAQ T-shirt. The way I’m looking like a 16-year-old kid on cloud 9 in the pic brings back some memories of Stillwater & the kid from Almost Famous. Bruce gave me a copy of “This is It” as a keepsake for my nightly visit.

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