Rhythm and The City

The surprising part about them are the names – the band name was influenced by the original line-up that consisted of three Malayali guys and one member who was ‘quarter’ Malayali. ‘Three Mals’ gradually got shortened to ‘Thermal’. The vocalist and lead guitarist is named Bruce Lee Mani and he chuckles when asked if that’s his legal name. “Yes it is. My dad was a big Bruce Lee fan and Enter The Dragon had just released when I was born,” he offers as explanation. The band is a three-member outfit now,with Rajeev Rajagopal on drums and Prakash KN as bassist.

A night before the Saturday performance,the band was in Goa,headlining the BITS Pilani fest. Their set list for Pune however had to be tweaked at the last moment. “We had to play fewer songs because we didn’t know Pune too had music deadlines like Bengaluru,” says Mani.

To mark the 15th anniversary,the troika played songs from their repertoire of four albums. “People have tried for long to figure out our genre,” says Mani of the music. “We call it Bangalore Rock,because our music is defined by the city and what’s around us. If there can be Chicago Blues and New Orleans Jazz,why not Bangalore Rock?”

The band is currently engaged in multiple activities – performing live,writing for a new album and setting up an academy called TAAQademy at Bengaluru. “We have been teaching for a very long time and it is part of what we do. So the academy was a natural follow-up. Our new album is a big secret,so if I tell you I will have to kill you!” jokes Mani.

The last TAAQ album,This Is It,produced by multiple Grammy-winning producer Jeff Peters,was released in 2009. Since then the band has released many singles,including Shut Up and Vote in the lead up to the 2009 general elections. Mani feels that in the future too,their mix of many musical styles will continue. “There is no longer pure country music or pure jazz music. Now people know each other so much and there is more and more mixing of styles happening. In our music,you will find spots of all our influences,but we still have a unique sound that some people say is recognisable,” says Mani.