TAAQ: We are a product of Bangalore’s inclusivity

We are a product of Bangalore’s inclusivity, says TAAQ

Having opened for Jason Derulo at a sporting event in the city a few months ago, Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ) reflects on Bengaluru’s spirit of inclusivity and how it became a hallmark of their music. As a local band performing in English, with ‘guitars’ no less, TAAQ has faced its fair share of brickbats — along with bouquets — over the years.

Post the lockdown, the band was finding its feet like everyone else. “The pandemic changed so many things. We were unable to meet regularly — something we did every day — catch up in the studio and put down ideas for our music,” says Bruce Lee Mani, guitarist, singer-songwriter and founder of the band.

All that pent-up creativity resulted in the single ‘What World?’, released in October 2022. “What World?’ was a celebration of leaving the pandemic behind; it was also a rumination on what kind of world we were making for ourselves. ‘What you wanted, was what the world would be,’ was the theme of that song,” says Bruce.

“It was heartbreaking that just as the pandemic was getting over, the war in Ukraine started and people started killing each other again,” adds Rajeev Rajagopal, TAAQ drummer and co-founder.

Still, this year has been productive for the band; it will be releasing a new album in the next few months.

“Every album is a reflection of what was going on with us and in this one, we’re exploring stuff we’ve never done before. It is a more evolved sound that we’re putting together. Since you get complacent if you fall back on what comes naturally to you, we’ve taken a conscious decision to go into territory we usually wouldn’t try,” says Rajeev.

“As a drummer, I used to play keeping the song in mind, but this album is different from any of the drumming I’ve done so far. Even in terms of lyrics and song structure, we haven’t followed the regular verse-chorus format. Some of it is free speech and we’re excited about our sound.”