Musicians of Thermal and a Quarter urge youngsters to vote

The three musicians have been singing everything from Carnatic to jazz and funk since they formed Thermal and a Quarter in 1996. But now, with the addition of Grammy-winning producer-engineer Jeff Peters, who has mixed their latest release This Is It, the Bangalore-based ensemble sounds more mature, with the minimal amount of Indian influences in the album.

“It’s a departure from what we have been doing so far and that is because of the production of the album,” says the band’s guitarist and vocalist Bruce Lee Mani.

The album, which was released in early March at Jakarta’s Java Jazz festival, is a 10-track compilation recorded at AR Rahman’s AM Studio in Chennai and mixed by Peters in the US. “Jeff has worked with big names like The Beach Boys and Charles Lloyd. So he has a great set of ears and has certainly brought his experience to this album,” says Mani, who, along with his bandmates, drummer Rajeev Rajagopal and bassist Rzhude David, is touring the country promoting the album, their fourth.

The band will be performing at the Shut Up and Vote concert, a joint initiative of Janaagraha and Tata Tea, in the Capital today. “Shut up and vote is a song we composed for the Jaago Re! One Billion Vote campaign to tell the youth that every single vote counts. The show is about entertainment and awareness,” says Mani, who wrote the lyrics with Rajagopal.

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