hink of Bengaluru’s music and the first band that comes to mind is Thermal And A Quarter. The unofficial flag bearers of the city’s music scene, pioneers of a genre of music they’ve christened Bangalore Rock, TAAQ has been raising the bar of quality music, not just on stage, but also off it, through Taaqademy, their music school.
Featuring guitarist and vocalist Bruce Lee Mani, drummer and co-founder Rajeev Rajagopal, bassist and backing vocalist Leslie Charles, TAAQ and Tony Das on guitars, the band celebrates two decades of making music.
Frontman Bruce Lee Mani says, “For us, 14 of those 20 years were spent in college and at work. It is only the last six years that we are full time musicians. We still feel like we are just getting started. We’ve got a long way to go and lots of things to do.
“However, when people wish us and we look back, we realise we’ve been around for 20 years. We’ve played all over the world and released albums. It feels like we’ve done something with our lives.”
That’s what brings them to the cause. TAAQ will make their anniversary memorable by sharing music with underprivileged children in their No Wall Too High campaign. Under the banner of Taaqademy, the faculty will teach and empower 1,500 underprivileged kids in three schools over the span of a year, apart from providing musical equipment and giving the kids an opportunity to record and perform. “This is our way of giving back to society. We know this was the right thing to do,” says Bruce. To raise funds for the initiative, the band has launched a crowdfunding campaign. “Usually, a band would crowdfund a music video or an album. But, this cause goes beyond us. It deserves all the attention it can get.”
Bruce says music education is nothing new to them. “Taaqademy has been around for five years now. And the conversation over doing more with music education has been around for a while since we did No Wall Too High last year with Dr. Matthew Kurian. It was the beginning of bigger things for him. We were interested in making music education accessible to all and showing how it’s as important as anything else you study in school.”
Talking about sustainability, Bruce says, “Taaqademy has been a success because of its sustainability. We run two centres and employ 35 musicians. We’ve established an self-sustaining eco-system. They are able to work on their own music and earn reasonably well. Many of our students are writing their own music. For us, if we’re bringing music education to underprivileged children, it also has to be sustainable.”
Admitting that there are definitely bigger problems than not learning music, Bruce says, “Music, art and theatre, as tools to improve lives, can sometimes be more effective than history, geography and physics. Artistes need to implement the programme with the right amount of integrity and purpose. For most artistes, the first charity is themselves. Surviving in the arts is not an easy thing anywhere in the world. That is why we need to support them.
“This is what we want people to know and contribute towards. We want these kids to have the same facilities as any other kid in Taaqademy.”
Bruce insists, “We are not doing this to make maestros or rockstars, though if it happens, that’s great. The basic idea is to impart quality, structured music education which we believe will make a positive difference in their lives.”
Talking about TAAQ’s contribution to Bengaluru’s soundscape, Bruce says, “Calling our music Bangalore Rock happened quite organically, and it has become the way people identify Bangalore even outside the country.”
Obviously, they owe a lot to Bengaluru. “It is the city that allowed us to do what we do. Our identity is inevitably tied up with the city. The kind of school that we went to, thinking in English, the exposure, growing up with the Anglo-Indian influence – the sum of all these parts is what created this Bangalore Rock identity.”
And what is in the pipeline? “Lots,” Bruce guffaws. “Apart from working on a new album, we are playing at Indigo Live Music Bar every Sunday till December 11. Featuring faculty, students, ex-members of the band and guest artistes, this will be a big community get-together. And the proceeds of the gig go to the cause.”
Visit https://www.fueladream.com/home/campaign/416 to support No Wall Too High and join the band every Sunday at Indigo Live Music Bar from 4 p.m.
