TAAQ welcomes Prakash K N, our new bass player

After 15 years of being hardcore Bangaloreans, it doesn’t make sense to shop for a bass player in Kerala or even Kasaragod. Vee arr nyot ay gellf combany, you see, and then there arr oll those imbort-yexport regulayshens. Think global, act local (except for vocal) is our policy.

So, with heartfelt namaskaragalu to this land, our land — Kannada naadu — and complying with local recruitment directives we bring on board a true-blue (more like red-and-yellow?) mannina maga whose roots lie in Shimoga and Tiptur. Dilutes the mal-ness a bit, we know, but then akki roti goes well with pulissery, no?

People of TAAQ, please welcome our new bass player, whose CV is presented below for your kind perusal:

Name: Prakash Kandachar Nagaraj

Weapon of choice: Electric Bass

Gear: Yamaha BB 605

Started playing in: 1999

What he digs about bass playing: Locking with the drummer to form a tight rhythm section and to play melodic lines when improvising or soloing

Other instruments played: Classical Guitar, Kanjira

Previously played/ sessioned with: Cryptic, Thermal And A Quarter, Gerard Machado Network, Amit Heri Group, Antaragni, Kumaresh and Ganesh (violinists), Dr L Subramaniam (violin), Layataranga and Kaya

Biggest moment of career: Opened for Bryan Adams with band Antaragni for 35,000-strong crowd

Influences: Jaco Pastorius, Victor Bailey, Garry Willis, Matthew Garrison, Victor Wooten, Tal Wilkenfeld, Hadrian Feraud, Richard Bona, Charles Mingus, Ron Carter

Favourite bands/ artists: The Beatles, Rush, Pink Floyd, Yes, The Police, Steely Dan, Porcupine Tree, Tool, Radiohead, Air, Alice In Chains, Eric Trufaz, Joni Mitchell, DMB, IAMX, Jamiroquai, Jimi Hendrix, John McLaughlin, Led Zeppelin, Ozric Tentacles, Pat Metheny Group and Michael Jackson

Hometown: Bangalore

School/ College: Kendriya Vidyalaya ASC and SJP College

Philosophy: To wait for things to happen naturally and not run after them

First heard TAAQ in: 1997-98, when we were moulting out of the rags and feathers of the Christ College ‘A’ Team

First played with TAAQ: Kingfisher Octoberfest, Bangalore 2009

Why TAAQ appeals to him: Originality and brilliant musicianship

The next five years with TAAQ: Write, compose, record and release 3-4 albums and back them up with kickass live gigs

Welcome, Prakash! Here’s to the next!

The post TAAQ touches bass with namma Prakash appeared first on Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ).

Ergo, our sound onstage was so murky that we could hardly hear ourselves think. But how many inebriated men and women (and children — we hope they were the ones driving their parents home) in the audience cared?

It was, in the final analysis, not a bad show after all. We had a lot of fun on stage playing just before Indian Ocean who put together a nice act despite the shock absence of their singer and tabla player Asheem Chakravarty (who is in a coma at a Qatar hospital following a massive heart attack). That did muddy the evening’s mood. Our thoughts are with Indian Ocean and with Asheem’s family, and we hope he recovers quickly and gets back on his feet.

We, too, had our own absence to complain about. We were without Rzhude, who is convalescing after a viral fever. Prakash (Cryptic, Antaragni, Karma 6) filled in quite solidly for him despite the short practice time he had on hand. We also had Jason Zachariah guesting on keyboards.

Enough words. Here are the pictures:

And finally, one of the crowd. It’s always quite characteristic of TAAQ audiences that the people who appear to be enjoying themselves the most aren’t waving or jumping up in the air but watching calmly with a wry smile.

Person in picture (with Hard Rock tee and looking stagewards with hands clasped) may please claim one numbers free autographed CD upon producing ID proof. Please send us your name and address via email along with your Orkut/Facebook/Twitter account profile as photo ID.

More in our Octoberfest Flickr photoset

The post Octoberfest – the photographic evidence appeared first on Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ).

High up in the blogosphere, a certain journalist has taken exception to two parts of the song title: ‘Shut Up’ and ‘Vote’.

His first blog post, titled ‘On Dumb Editors… and Dumber Rockers’ accused TAAQ’s anthem of being ‘exceedingly stupid’. We popped in to say our bit. Over the last couple of days, the conversation did hot up and today, he has a fresh new post where he snipes at TAAQ again.

Sauvik Chakraverti writes:

TAAQ confessed to having composed their song “Shut Up And Vote” in response to a “brief.” In journalism, we call this a “command performance.” As I said, this song is not from the heart nor from the mind. It is just an ad jingle – and a rude one at that. It cannot work. You cannot compose a jingle that says “Shut Up And Drink Coca-Cola.”

Our response: You can (in a bottle or in a can). And lots of people are doing that. But we won’t. And not just because we like our cola with rum.

A command performance, indeed! You wish!

Let’s get this straight. The Jaago Re One Billion Votes campaign is a citizen initiative spearheaded by the voluntary organization Janaagraha along with Tata Tea. If we were singing this anthem for a particular political party, the blogger’s accusation would hold water (or cola, or whatever). But what’s dumb about speaking out along with like-minded, progressive citizens, and what’s dumb about persuading young people to participate in electing our leaders?

Now, Mr. Chakraverti comes across as a reasonably intelligent, articulate sort of chap but, like many of his kind that we know of, his views are clouded with pessimism and this, in our observation, is nothing new to this creed of non-participants. And that’s what we tried to remind him about.

Go to the coffee shops and watering holes and pot parlours of the world and you will find plenty of them – bottom-feeders that drink deep but taste not the spring of citizenship. What we have exhorted the youth to do through this song is participate in the electoral process, to exercise their  right as citizens. That, Mr. Chakraverti, is a necessary first step. Before crying foul, before finding fault with the system, or even before poking holes where none existed.

Through this song and through this series of concerts, we urge the youth: Do not stand back and submit to pessimism and inertia. Participate as citizens. Idle debate is no good unless you have exercised your right to bring in change. Ok, you know and we know that the system sucks. You know and we know that even this time round, we cannot do away with corruption. You know and we know that the usual suspects may share power again. But all of that said, your inertia is not a fitting response. It will take us nowhere and will only leave us more frustrated at the way things are.

We’ll write another song for the cynic and the pessimist and the non-voting beefburger (haven’t we, already?). When it’s time.

Until then, shut up and vote.

Et tu, Mr. Chakraverti!

The post Shut Up? Vote? Or none of the above? appeared first on Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ).