Taking Chennai By Storm: IndiEarth At The Park
The stage was set for an all-nighter – with two acts that stirring up a storm within the storm that had hit Chennai this past Saturday. Legendary Bangalore rockers Thermal And A Quarter put up a solid show for their audience, with a much softer jazzier set list that premiered a collection of songs from their upcoming studio album, while Bay Beat Collective rocked the dance floor into the early hours the next day.
“We play in Chennai quite often, this is our sixth time this year,” begins Bruce Lee Mani, front man and guitarist for Thermal And A Quarter. “It’s always a great audience here, and the great thing about this night is a lot of musicians came out to see us! There were a lot of bands there that night, and you know they’re really listening with interest, not just eating, drinking, yakking and having the band play in the background – they’re probably noticing the minor errors too [laughs] – but they’re really listening.”
With their sixth studio album currently gearing up for release, Bruce Lee also spoke to IndiEarth about what fans can expect from it. “It’s a concept album again, which we haven’t done since our second album,” he elaborates. “We’ve been in the Indian indie scene for years now, and this album talks about the various characters that populate this scene – some cool characters, some rather unsavoury – it’s a deep dive into what this scene is made of. You know, in the past few years suddenly there’s an interest in the “scene” – newspapers, TV stations, hundreds of websites are all covering it – and the way it’s developing is uniquely Indian! Chaotic, diverse, but wonderful at the same time – that’s how India is, and anything that develops here will reflect these qualities”.
TAAQ’s Chennai fans were all out in full form on Saturday, and their performance left the audience wanting more. “It’s very nice to work with organisations like IndiEarth who understand how artists like to work,” said Bruce Lee about the night. “It’s simple – you need good sound, to get there properly, and to get paid on time – so many people get it wrong, but here it was just a great vibe with all the people there. They know where musicians come from.” 
Bay Beat Collective set the stage on fire next at the Leather Bar, with a set that lasted much longer than anyone could have anticipated. “BBC plays electronic dance music with emphasis on bass covering genres like Drum & Bass, Dub & Dubstep,” said Sohail Arora, one-half of BBC, alongside DJ/Producer Kris Correya. “We have been pushing Bass heavy music in India for five years now.” The Mumbai based collective has toured extensively around the country and around the international festival circuit, sharing their signature stamp of bassline heavy funk infused sounds.
The next edition of IndiEarth At The Park promises an equally exciting line up – watch this space for details.
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