Hard beats and screaming strings is in the air at kARNATRiix frontman John Anthony’s heritage bungalow at Poojappura. A flamboyant voice sings ‘I wanna break free’, the famous song by legendary British rock band ‘Queen’. Entering the dim-lit jamming room, I see the singer channelling the inner Freddy Mercury - 68-year-old Rajasekaran from Madurai. It is a rehearsal session of ‘Time was’, a coming together of John Antony, Rajasekaran and Vijayan Krishnan a.k.a Kaveri Vijayan (drummer), stars of Kerala’s 70s’ rock scene, for a gig on February 4.
The seniors continue jamming as their young accompanists watch in awe. “We are all young. Only our chronological age have gone up, but mentally we are still in college,” declares Rajasekaran as the trio sit down for a chat. They were once part of a city-based band in 1975-77.
All of them had individual bands before they teamed up to rock the city. Vijayan’s first band was ‘Team Beats,’ which he founded in 1968 as a student of St. Joseph’s Higher Secondary School. “But after school we went different ways. Later I joined ‘Copper’, a major rock band during the seventies in Kerala,” says Vijayan.
Vijayan Krishnan a.k.a Kaveri Vijayan
Rajasekaran was a star vocalist known as “Mick Jagger” of South India, who often used to perform in Kerala as well. “He used to sing with Hijackers, the band I was a part of in Kochi during the early 70s. In 1975 I shifted to Thiruvananthapuram. I became a teacher at Tharanganisari music school,” recalls John. He also used to play with Vijayan’s band at that time. But then three of them came together to form a band. “I think we used different names for different shows,” adds Vijayan. The last time they played together was 40 years ago in 1977.
The idea for the get-together came from Vijayan, a resident of Dubai when he visited the city six months ago. “He told me that we really needed to do something like this before we get too old. He said he wanted to record it and show it to his grand kids how big a rock star he is,” quips John, as the trio burst out in laughter. Soon after that Rajasekaran, a resident coordinator for an American university for 30 years, joined the twosome.
“After retiring in 2008, I decided to revive my music career. I perform solo as well with other bands,” Rajasekaran adds. He also revived his 70s’ Madurai band ‘Bluebirds,’ with whom he is jamming nowadays.
The preparation was not easy. During Vijayan’s December visit, he and John practised together for more than a week from morning till evening. Vijayan hadn’t played the drums for the last 30 years. Some real drilling was required, he says, to revive the magic. John chips in joking that the toughest part of the whole exercise for Vijayan was hearing John scream instructions at him while playing. “Basically the decibel levels are up with drums and guitar distortions. So the audibility is pretty low sometimes and no one will hear anything if you talk softly,” explains John with a chuckle. But the screaming has done the trick and Vijayan is again the tight drummer that he was once.
The concert will cover 15 rock numbers of some of the most iconic rock bands such as Pink Floyd and Rolling Stones. The songs, John says, was chosen to give the youngsters of Thiruvananthapuram a taste of pure rock. Even the young musicians who are playing with us hadn’t heard some of these classic 70s’ works. They have grown up listening to pop and disco music,” rues John.
(From the left) Kaveri Vijayan, John Anthony, Rajasekaran, Rahul C.R., Rohith Krishnan, Sruthi Shasidharan, Akhil Jaya Chand, Chandrasekhar
The trio are amply supported by a gang of young rockers. Rahul C.R. will be the bassist with Rohith Krishnan on keyboard and backing vocals by Sruthi Shasidharan and Akhil Jaya Chand. John’s long-time associate Chandrasekhar will be managing the sound. The free concert is at Bharat Bhavan and will start at 6.30 p.m. on Saturday, February 4.
