Eight Octaves: How did “Thermal and a Quarter” come together? Any significance attached with your band name?
TAAQ: The foundations of Thermal and a Quarter were laid back in our Christ College days. When we first came together as a band in 1996, the band had three mallu guys and one guy who was a quarter mallu. Three mals and a quarter mal became Thermal and a Quarter!
Eight Octaves: What would you say has been the source of inspiration for your music?
TAAQ: If we had to name one single source of inspiration, it would be the city of Bangalore. Even though so much has changed over the last few years, so much has also remained the same in terms of the way of life. Our music itself is a very Phish-meets-Steely-Dan sound.
Eight Octaves: Winning “World Space Radio Award for Outstanding Contribution to Indian Rock” is definitely an awesome achievement. How are you planning to take the genre to a different level?
TAAQ: Now that original rock music in India has matured to a certain extent, the defining boundaries of Indian Rock are becoming less blurred by the day. The best way to develop the genre is to support and love the Indian music scene and give bands a reason to channel the creativity and continue making great music!
Eight Octaves: What inspires and influences you the most while making music?
TAAQ: The wind around us, the birds, the traffic, the billboards, Tamil folk dances… no, seriously! We derive inspiration from the world around us, the music just happens as we go along! There is so much about this city that influences us, it’s difficult to list down!
Eight Octaves: How was it to perform amidst big names like Prasanna and Vinnie Valentino? Tell us your experience.
TAAQ: What can we say, it’s truly an incredible feeling. There’s so much to learn from these celebrated musicians and playing on stage with them is a humbling experience if anything!
Eight Octaves: Can you tell us about your upcoming album?
TAAQ: Living in different cities across the country, the experiences we go through are different everywhere. But the one experience we’ve all been a part of, many times over, is the auto. In a strange way, experiences with Auto’s and Auto Drivers unite us all in this magnificient country. It’s a great leveller and our music has always been vehemently Indian, though we use tools of western origin to create this music. Our upcoming album, 3 Wheels 9 Lives is dedicated to the auto. We’ve already been playing some of the new songs at our gigs, including our eponymous tour in the US! It looks like it’ll be a double or triple CD, but who knows!Eight Octaves: What message would you like to share with upcoming bands and your fans?
TAAQ: The one thing that’ll be constant across any genre of music that you play will be the initial struggle. But take it from us, that it’s all worth it in the end. It’ll be a constant struggle, don’t get us wrong, but at some point you’ll start loving it too much for it to be a struggle anymore.
