The band that created Bangalore Rock

For music taxonomists fond of classifying what they hear tidily into categorical and typological constructs of genres, subgenres and sub-subgenres, Thermal And A Quarter (TAAQ) may come as a severe disappointment. “We’ve been trying to stay away from a definition for the last 15 years,” confesses one of the genre evaders, Rajeev Rajagopal, who plays drums for the veteran Bangalore band.

Then how does the band define itself? Rajagopal traces the various inclinations that the band has passed through. “We’ve played at different kinds of music festivals. Initially, I think we leaned a bit towards progressive rock, then we had a rock phase, later there was a more jazzier sound…” he explains.

He then rewinds to the phase when the band, irked by repetitive questions about their ‘type of music’, paused to contemplate. “I think we heard close to a hundred of our songs over time and tried to figure out what was the common thread that ran across our work.” What the band discovered was that a central inspiration to their work was the city where the band was born. “A lot of it was about what this city has done for us,” he confesses. For two years, TAAQ has called its music ‘Bangalore Rock,’ a nomenclature coined by the band and one that the clique’s at perfect peace with.And why not? “Bangalore has been pervasive in a lot of TAAQ’s work from the beginning. The album Jupiter Café, for example, resonates with what was happening in the city at that time — the IT boom, jobs shifting to Bangalore. Even This Is It has references to the city,” points out Rajagopal.  

So it’s little wonder that the band that’s given hundreds of live performances across places such as Glasgow, Itanagar, Dubai, Jakarta, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Kochi, Male and Hong Kong finds the city of its inspiration a joy to play in.

Karthik Basker, vocalist, The Bicycle Days, explains that the thing about TAAQ is that though they’ve played for so many years, they’re hardly ever been complacent. “They’re pioneers in Bangalore’s music. They’ve always been making their own music; they didn’t let themselves stagnate and have always been getting better,” he raves.

Prakash KN who wields the bass guitar for TAAQ says the reason perhaps for TAAQ’s mix of various sounds is also the fact that the band has been influenced by so much music and so many genres. Add to this the fact that the urban landscape is a never ending source of inspiration: “There are so many urban issues and so much happening at any given point of time in this country, there’s enough to be said,” he says.

TAAQ will be performing today at Counterculture, Whitefield, a restored old factory converted into a restaurant surrounded by almond, chikoo, mango and coconut trees. While Rajagopal is happy about the ample space at the venue, a rarity anywhere in the city, he says, Prakash drops in a few clues about what’s lined up. If you must know, Rajeev will be singing, he reveals. He’s one of those shy guys who just won’t give in.

The band will also be swapping instruments for a bit, as part of the persuasive measures to elicit vocal expressions from Rajeev.

That apart the trio will be joined by Martin Visser on horns and Jason Zachariah of Nathaniel School of Music on the keyboards. Of course, lots of other surprises in store, he adds.