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Thermal and a Quarter at Storm Festival

This Is It: Thermal and a Quarter

Thermal and a Quarter have gone places in the last year. 50 shows in 60 days at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival  and many other national and international venues later, they have recently put out a collaborative recording with Baycity Lights, formerly, Something Relevant, for MTV Indies. As a project aimed at artist collaboration, the musicians cut a song in just two days, mixed by Warren Mendonsa of Blackstratblues. Baycity Lights, an inherently Mumbai band, was chosen as a good mix for TAAQ, and Bruce, Rajeev and Leslie all sat with the six-piece urban pop outfit and moulded together an amazing track.

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With five studio albums out, their breed of ‘Bangalore Rock’ is now an internationally recognised sound, having opened for acts like Jethro Tull and Deep Purple also. In 2013, they put out a colossal 3-CD 28-track album based around Bangalore called Three Wheels Nine Lives that truly set them up as a professional act with near on two decades of experience.

Ravichandra Kulur, with whom they have played a few shows with, on and off, is a flautist from Udupi who has played with several classical greats and toured international cities. Adapted versions of TAAQ songs that incorporate flute sound fresh and give the songs a new vibe completely.

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soundplunge_test caught up with the band during the latest edition of the Storm festival and questioned them about their collaborations, future plans and Ravi Kulur.

soundplunge_test: How was the experience of playing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival?

Bruce Lee Mani: It was challenging but a lot of fun as we had to just play and travel, play and travel, but it was an invigorating experience to see the responses of people over there towards our strain of Bangalore Rock.

soundplunge_test: What was the thought behind your set at Storm Festival?

Bruce Lee Mani: Well we had been rehearsing a fixed set of songs with Ravi, so obviously those had to feature in today’s set. We had pretty decent sound and I was happy with the set.

soundplunge_test: Is Ravi Kulur going to be a permanent edition to your line-up?

Bruce Lee Mani: Well we are just going for what works. Rearranged versions of the old songs are turning out nicely with the flute and we’ve played with Ravi before, but no, it won’t be permanent. We haven’t rearranged any songs from Three Wheels Nine Lives.

soundplunge_test: 3 Wheels 9 Lives was a mammoth record. Any plans on cutting a new album?

Bruce Lee Mani: As Prakash, our former bassist had left, we are rebuilding our sound with Leslie. Most definitely! There should be one out this year. Our sound is very dynamic, and we’re ready to shift into any groove that works. Having said that, our jams have been very eventful and we should be getting into a studio to record sometime this year.

With all manner of collaborations and new projects, Thermal and a Quarter are keeping things fresh and alive for themselves. Working with the urban youth, touring fringe festivals, and constantly putting out music in dedication to the city of Bangalore, their sound has been flowing since their first album, www.thermalandaquarter.com and will definitely continue to do so in the future!

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