Bruce Lee Mani, lead guitarist and vocalist of the rock band Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ), in a Freedom Chat with IBNlive readers, answers queries on rock music, its business and future in India.
Moderator IBNlive: Hello and Welcome to the Freedom Chat, Bruce!
Karthik R J: Hi Bruce...Good to hear from you... I know it’s a struggle to get to the place where you have gone... However some tips like the first time you did recording, how tough was it? Where did u do it? Things like this would be helpful... and what is your input on a solo guitarist for a solo album in India? By the way I am from Bengaluru, too :) Enjoy maadi :)
Bruce Lee Mani: Hi Karthik. The first recordings are always tricky - and we have to thank the long suffering engineers who dealt with us pesky kids who couldn't figure out how to play without looking at each other (we had to be in separate booths in the studio)! It's always good to get advice from peers - speak to everybody you know who's already done some work, and you'll get valuable advice. Solo guitar in India - tough! But all the best. Be smart.
Sam: What are TAQs future plans?
Bruce Lee Mani: Well, as one of roadies once said, TAAQ plans to be 'Present in the Future'. That's basically it!
beej: Bruce, is hip-hop killing rock?
Bruce Lee Mani: Harumph! Nothing can kill rock man! Except itself, maybe! I think the 'idea' of rock music, if you think about all its connotations, is too big to be affected by musical fads. As long as there are hormone-addled teenagers (and aging neo-hippies) on the planet, there'll be some kind of rock music going around.
madhu: How does a beginner learn the guitar?
Bruce Lee Mani: Hi Madhu. Find a good teacher. That's where it usually starts. Cheers!
Choco: Which is your favourite number
Bruce Lee Mani: Four, and then nine.
perumal a k: As a band, where is your future? Or the biggest listenership in the USA? In UK? Or in India?
Bruce Lee Mani: Hey Perumal. The reviews we've been getting from the US and UK seem to indicate that a fair amount of interest exists there in what we do. The thing with India is just the sheer numbers - even if one per cent of our population trips on TAAQ, that's like some staggering number. But you probably know how it has worked here before - you go abroad, get some kudos, and suddenly you're bigger here. Go figure.
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pruthvi: Music is not a money-making art. It is the heart beat of Indians, what is the future of Indian music?
Bruce Lee Mani: Hey Pruthvi. If music didn't make money, you wouldn't be listening to half the stuff that you do. At some level, it is a business - and the sooner musicians can be smart enough to do what they do best while finding ways to make it work - artistically and financially the better!
samrat s: Why doesn’t Thermal and a Quarter sing in Hindi? Surely that would bring you more audiences?
Bruce Lee Mani: Hi Samrat. Ah, an oft-repeated question. TAAQ has always believed in being true to what it really IS. And what we really are is a bunch of Bangaloreans that went to convent-English schools, think in that language and express ourselves best in it. If I somehow managed to teach myself to write great Hindi verse, sing it in the accent it needs to be sung in and learnt to express myself as well as I do in English, why, I would sing in Hindi! That, BTW, doesn't make me any less Indian, IMHO. The stuff we write about is as Indian as anything.
Maa Lee: Parikrama, Indian Ocean, the only two names who seem to have made it somewhat big. And out of those Parikrama is more of a pimp-the-young-bands manager and Indian Ocean is still wallowing in hawai chappals. Is there a future for rock bands here? Meaning the same band that keeps going for a while (yes, we know TAAQs been around for a decade)...
Bruce Lee Mani: I think, and want to believe, that there IS a future. It all depends on how smart a band is in making its music and selling it as well. It also depends on how persevering the band is, how much it believes in its music and is willing to put down, in terms of sheer time and effort to make sure that that music is heard. The rest is luck, circumstance. And believing like hell in people like Paulo Coelho (so I've heard - never got completely thru The Alchemist myself)!
Maa Lee: Sex, drugs and rock and roll... in what order and what's your preference?
Bruce Lee Mani:Numero Uno, my friend. Without a doubt.
Vikram: How does an artiste capitalise on the MP3 boom? Is it feasible for record companies to market music in this format?
Bruce Lee Mani: Hi Vikram. The Mp3 boom has allowed artists to reach their audiences in unprecedented ways. Naturally this means that there's less control on the actual music once it's in the public domain - but that is now seen as a good thing at least by most artistes. And it's an inevitable given what technology is like now.
Just look at the way the dissemination of music has changed over the last 100 years - from shellac records to tapes to CDs to MP3s - but the whole live experience has largely remained exactly the same. Artists are going back to making a living the traditional way - playing live. That's where it's at. Record companies are really working hard to control the MP3 market - with not very much success, but it's clear that they see and recognize the enormous potential.
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rahul: Hi Bruce, I am one of your old fans and Rajiv's friend. I am almost sure that you won't remember anyone called ETAH :-) I am really happy to see you all where you are now. I am sure lot bigger things wait for you in the future. Best of luck.
Bruce Lee Mani: I say, thankya!
Maa Lee: God bless you for NOT finishing The Alchemist. Don't bother either. That apart, with mummy, papa, aunty, uncle and neighbours asking rockers to be good boys and earn a "decent" living - how hard / easy IS it to practically give your all to rock? Most Delhi-based rockers have day jobs... that are NOT related to music. Editors and what not...
Bruce Lee Mani: Mr Maa Lee again - A day job, contrary to what people may say, can even give said rockers inspiration! Where else are you going to find the angst to churn out all those blood-curdling lyrics and sledgehammer riffs and whatnot? Lets face it - most of us live humdrum, curd-rice-biryani atomised urban existences. Where's the material coming from? Back in the days of Chaucer and suchlike, there was always a good massacre going around somewhere, always a crusade to die in, and always some dude to nail to a tree...
Balaji Perumal: Hello Bruce. I guess my previous question was rejected. Anyways, I am 26 years old and have no talent whatsoever. Would it be possible for me to learn the art of playing the Mohana Veena and how quickly will I notice return on investments?
Bruce Lee Mani: Er... If you've just confessed to a complete lack of talent, then I guess you'd be better served by investing in stock and suchlike. Don't look now, but the Sensex just tumbled a few points.
Sad: I was looking at the lives of famous rock/music stars - Jimy Hendricks, Jim Morrison, Bob Marley, Nivarna lead singer to name a few... Most of them did not have a peaceful end. Is rock a bad influence?
Bruce Lee Mani: I don't think rock is the bad influence. People are a bad influence. It's the human condition.
test: This is how it goes:q: what do u do?a: I play the guitar q: Ok, but what work do u do?Many people feel that playing a guitar is not full time work. What would you say? Also in an industry like this if you are successful you could have tons and tons of money but if not successful you may not manage two meals a day? Do u agree? Any solution?
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Bruce Lee Mani: For the large majority of musicians here and abroad, yes, the day job is what pays the bills. That's the way the industry works now, and the way it has always worked. How does an artists capture the imagination of the madding crowd?
There isn't really a formula, even though the B-schools of this world keep churning out bright sparks that believe they have it cracked. But you can't explain the shelf life of The Dark Side of the Moon with something from Kotler. The solution - well, keep at it dude. Don't play that guitar expecting to become a star. Play it because there's nothing else you really want to do more.
Maa Lee: That would be MISS Ma Lee: also, dude, Kashmir? Al-Qaida? 9/11? Even goddarned Bush?! We have enough crisis now... Without getting into arguments - what sells more: happy songs or angsty ones? Do you also write... by any chance?
Bruce Lee Mani: Whoops! Sorry love. The big screaming headlines that make our watered-down blood boil are still somehow far away, don't you think? Nothing like a damned unreasonable deadline, with a hard-as-nails unreasonable superior breathing down your neck to generate some angst. Speaking of angsty songs - take a look at protest music over the last 10 years (does it even exist any more?) I think it took an aging hippie-rocker like Neil Young to really stand up and write, record and release an album that really said it like it is. Hardly a single mainstream young musician stood to be counted in that lot - at least not with the same intensity. Yes, I do write most of the words that TAAQ sings.
mubeena: Why do people say that music is for those only who learn it? Why not for others?
Bruce Lee Mani: What people are you talking to? Music is for everyone. I haven't met a single soul yet who said "I hate music". There are definitely genres of music that make it really difficult for non-musicians to get involved - well - to each his/her own.
manish: After playing for 10 years and having a big name, how does TAAQ approach issues of payments - is it right to play for very less money, does that hurt smaller bands? What is your message to bigger bands on how much they should charge? There is so much more money in the markets today but bands never gets paid enough. Is it due to under-selling?
Bruce Lee Mani: Bands don't get paid right because they're not organized. If we all got together and decided that if an organizer/event wanted a band of a certain calibre, nobody would play for less than some stipulated figure, things would definitely improve. Yes - if the bigger, more established bands played for smaller amounts, the emerging bands would soon be playing to play (if not already). There's also this constant "you know how it is - nobody wants rock bands, everything’s about Bollywood, etc etc, we're doing this for the sake of rock maaan, we really want to bring it back maaan, so please give us some discount, naa..." Gripe that bands get to hear a lot. It's eventually about business right? And there's enough business around, at least so we think, to give a hardworking, smart band its dues.
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Venkatesh: Err... How much do you earn? That would give me a real picture of what life's like as a musician, no?
Bruce Lee Mani: Err... Lets put it this way. I pay my bills, and my EMIs. More info than that and Mr. Taxman will give me a call.
Kris D'Souza: Hi Bruce...
You could make money in the field of music provided you have a Godfather in the field. Anyways Brcue, I wish you and Tony all the Best for your shows in TAAQ. You'll rock man!
Bruce Lee Mani: Thankee Kris. No Godfathers in sight yet, though.
sonu nigam: Who is better between Himesh, you and me?
Bruce Lee Mani: Miles Davis.
vijay: Hey Bruce... Why is rock in India has come to be fusion or world music? Almost everybody is now playing with a tinge of Carnatic or Hindustani? And people like Steve Kimock and Derek Trucks also do that.
Bruce Lee Mani: There is this perception that rock music which is more 'Indian' is more marketable - especially in international markets. I personally think that for that sound to work, it has to be the only way a group makes music - i.e., when the band gets together, the only honest sounds they create together happen to fit into one of those fusion categories. Many a time, when ethnic instruments are simply added on for 'flavour', its sound. Well, forced. As far as musicians from other lands - why, they're as interested in the great sounds we've got here as we're interested in their stuff!
ravi: Thermal and Quarter was one of the first bands in India to license music in a liberal - Creative Commons Licence, what made you do it? And did you benefit from that initiative?
Bruce Lee Mani: Oh yes we did. We got nine minutes of prime time airplay on NPR in the US and our website crashed the next day with literally hundreds of thousands of hits. And the music was there for people to listen to and download. Wouldn't have happened if we had to use traditional promotional/distribution methods.
Deepa Param: Hi Bruce... You thought me English in Christ College, do you remember?
Bruce Lee Mani: And you would be the girl in the baseball cap and the Tantra Tee-shirt, the outrageous Nike shoes and the quizzical expression? Of course I remember!
Dilip: Why is TAAQ never seen in Mumbai? Two gigs in 10 years... Who controls the rock scene in Mumbai and why are you guys never here? Please come soon, its unacceptable that you play so much in Delhi and never in Mumbai. Why?
Bruce Lee Mani: Goood question. It's all a conspiracy maan...
mubeena: Hi dude... U really rock man... Are you interested in music with dance?
Bruce Lee Mani: Have two left feet and ten big toes myself.
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Moderator IBNlive:Yo Readers,
Thank-you for all the questions, you guys have been brilliant; and of course so has Bruce. But unfortunately, the clock's ticking and Bruce has got to go. We wrap the chat at 4:15 pm and hope Bruce comes back for more. Over to Bruce again.
Bruce Lee Mani: Thank you
delhirocker: What makes Bangalore a more happening place for rock?
Bruce Lee Mani:Actually, Delhi is right now the happening place for rock - simply because there seems to be an active scene - the pubs are open to bands playing etc. Bangalore has some very unclear rules on the whole live scene - it isn't really very 'healthy' here yet, in the sense that there's no real synergy developing between sponsors, event managers, venues, and bands. Stuff that happens is sporadic and uneven, which explains why TAAQ hasn't done a gig in Bangalore for a while!
Rajesh Kamath: Bangalore has its share of excellent bands like TAAQ, Galeej Gurus, Bhoomi to name a few, what do you think is the difference between the ones I mentioned and TAAQ? And also what are the similarities? Do you think these bands stand a chance in the national scene, cause we don't see them play too many gigs outside Bangalore, or rather even in Bangalore (including TAAQ).
Bruce Lee Mani: Well, for one, TAAQ's been around longer. Two, we have three released albums, two more in the pipeline. Bands have to get their music out - in whatever way, with/without industry help. It takes considerable effort to go the independent route. Any competent band stands a chance in the national scene, but if the band wants to make it on the strength of their own music, they've got to do a lot more with their material. We recorded for the first time back in 1996, with the prize money from a competition: 1K! Thanks to our benevolent engineer, Augustine, who looked at our shining eager faces and agreed to do it for that paltry sum. And since then, we've made it a point to keep writing songs, and do whatever it takes to let people hear them. That's all it's about, eventually.
Prashant: Hi Bruce, I saw your opening act for Jethro Tull, you guys were brilliant... My best wishes and luck for your future... BTW are you out with any albums... Would love to buy one.
Bruce Lee Mani: Thank yee! Our fourth album is due out this year - keep clicking on www.thermalandaquarter.com over the next month. There'll be a whole lot of stuff going on - including a full site revamp and so on. Lots of music coming your way.
And it looks like my time is up! Last couple of questions...
Saiklops: Hey Bruce, do you think the media industry and music in particular has come off age enough to led musicians to live a happy, monetarily satisfying life?
Bruce Lee Mani: Lets face it, given the sheer number of us musicians out there, not all of us is going to make it. Be prepared to redefine success for yourself.
as: Hi, wanted to know where are you going to perform next?
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Bruce Lee Mani: Looks like our next gigs are going to be in Dilli again.
B Sides: Comments about yesterday's concert in Bangalore - Ghulam Ali and Jagjit Singh shuttin down Freedom Jam and about 40 bands!!?
Bruce Lee Mani: Well, what can I say. Sh** happens.
B Sides: Truthfully has any Indian band till date survived by only playing music and releasing music? Guess all either have day jobs or pop's money!
Bruce Lee Mani: If they have their day jobs (or daddy money), and they're STILL out there playing and promoting THEIR music, I would say they're rocking! Success has many definitions.
the_devil_slider: Hello Bruce, fan of Taaq here. Do you ever plan to put out a live album? I have your CDs and would really like the energy of your live shows on CD. I know that sound and production values etc are not what you might call CD quality, but would still be fun...
Bruce Lee Mani: The live album thing is something we've always wanted - we have some stuff that we've done recently that may actually qualify as being good enough quality, recording-wise, to warrant release. Maybe soon!
billu: Kya dilli dilwalon ki hai?
Bruce Lee Mani:Me Hindi maalum mmm mmm.
kurt: Does it really take that long for a question to be queued for moderation?
Bruce Lee Mani:Apparently it does! Well that's about it, I'm outta here! I was told to say that, BTW.
Well, that's all we have time for this week, but before we go, there is JUST time to tell you that according to the Guinness Book... whoops, wrong show!!
Bye Ciao Later Woof Weidersehen and all.
B Sides: Please sing lead vocals on TAAQ. You are like a 100 times better than the new vocalist.
Bruce Lee Mani:Er... I AM the lead vocalist again.
Moderator IBNlive: And with that ladies and gentlemen, Bruce Lee Mani has left the house, or well, our chat window. Many questions un-answered; we hope to catch him again... soon. Thank-you again for being here and keeping this going.
Log on tomorrow to hear the other side of the story and chat LIVE with music writer and novelist, INDRAJIT HAZRA on 'Indian rock scene: Making it and faking it'.
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