It feels like a trip back to the 60s and 70s as you listen to Miami, the German music band, perform at the soft rock music concert, organised by Goethe- Zentrum and Coimbatore Indo German Cultural association. Songs about love and sunshine, remind you at once of The Beatles and Pink Floyd.
The group features Keshav Purushotham (guitar, vocals), Johannes Stankowski (guitar, vocals), Benedikt Fillebock (keys), Christopher Martin (bass) and Dan Enderer (drums).
The band begins with ‘Over green hills’.” It begins softly with the three lead guitarists. Then, the drums take over and the pace picks up. By their second song, ‘Hazy Notion’, the band warms up. Keshav and Johannes hum “Take your time, take it slow... Emotions swing out of control” as Christopher spices up the mood with his drums.
The band also hums the theme song from Bombay Talkie, a 1970’s film. The drums and the keys go silent for a while as the whole band croons “Tra ra ra”. ‘Post cards from another world’, is a slow and nostalgic number. It is followed by the peppy, ‘Chevrolet’. Heads sway and feet tap for this number as Johannes and Keshav urge us to “take a truck and drive away ”. The drum beats rise to a crescendo, ending the song on a high.
“Our next song is called ‘Fruit bats’”, declares Keshav. “We were frightened when we saw them here. But, we later realised they only attack the flies and fruits. We already had this song ready but then tweaked it a bit to suit the mood better,” smiles Keshav. Slow beats kick start this song that is haunting. The refrain “What do we do to the earth and to the animals” is catchy.
Johannes Stankowski plays the mouth organ in the second part of the evening. Keshav soon joins him and they sing “To fall in love”. The audience falls into the groove. As Keshav claps, they also join him. And one could not help but smile as Keshav sings “I’m not gonna fall in love tonight”. He sounds every bit like a man in love when he croons, “Hold me for a while/ Shoot me into space/ But I’m not gonna fall in love tonight”. The soft, smooth rendition of the keys by Benedikt is just perfect for this number. The evening ends with ‘Train song’. Johannes plays his mouth organ towards the end as the whole group belts out “I am a train song… sunshine is all I believe in”.
The 60s and 70s music have distinctly influenced them, says Keshav. “We are all big fans of vintage music bands such as Pink Floyd. And Beatles, is like a rule book for song writing,” he says. The defining mood of their music is nostalgia. “We spice up these songs with new age electronic sounds and beats.”
It is a pleasure to perform in India, he states. “My father was a percussionist. He played the tavil. And, I am fascinated by the Indian percussion instruments such as the Nadaswaram. I am planning to stay back in India to learn more about Indian music.”
Keshav says that this performance is special for him as his father had performed on the same stage, many years ago.
