Mad over Madras

One lazy Sunday evening, in a balmy corner of Madras, we met a group of quirky musicians — Amrit Rao & The Madrascals. Having named the band after their mutual love for namma Chennai, frontman Rao says, “I love Madras. Although I lived in Bangalore for 13 years, I grew up in Coimbatore with a deep connection toTamil culture. I was always facsinated by all things Madras and that kind of stuck.” Rao’s crazy stage persona belies his otherwise calm demeanour. One wonders whether the madness ever spills over to the rest of the band. Bharath Sankar, the pianist quips, “As a band, it does. But individually, we’re not as crazy as this guy. And still he, of all people, calls us Madrascals.”

You’d be subject to more laughter than anything else during their rehearsals. Lead guitarist Karun Ramani says, “It was quite hard to get everyone together in one room at the same time. And when we finally got together, we wouldn’t know which direction the songs would go. The essence of the band is indescribable. It’s just wack.”

“These days, language isn’t a barrier; it’s more about the stage act. If you’re able to convey what the song talks about, not just through words but through the music, that’s impactful in itself,” says Rao. The lyrics of all the songs talk about social issues. “The songs are about the city, its people, what’s happening around us; it’s a social commentary.” One of the topics he speaks about in his songs is the abundance of water during the Chennai floods and the lack of it in a month’s time.

Their music can be described as Madras Rock, a culmination of each musician’s preferred genre. “I come from a rock and country influenced background. Kanaxx (aka Ramkumar Kanakarajan) has got his metal influences. Karun’s also into metal. And Bharath’s got all these crazy ideas. It’s all our influences put together to make this sound,” says Conrad Simmons, the bassist.

Despite different styles, Simmons and drummer Kanakarajan both fanboy over Rao. “I’ve always been a fan of Amrit’s work with Live Band. That was the first time I got to see him perform live. He had these cool glasses on with spiral lines on it, a burgundy wig and flippers on. I was just blown away looking at him. His song writing was really interesting. After that, I just couldn’t say no to him when he asked me to join this band,” gushes Kanakarajan.

They end their rehearsal with one of their newer songs, ‘Paamaran’ which is a part of their yet-to-be released album Baemaani. The song is about freedom of expression and how it is being curbed. Rao says, “Paamaran means ‘common man’. It was inspired by the arrest of the then pregnant Sheetal Sathe of the Kabir Kala Manch for having spoken against the Government.”

Catch the madness live at Bay 146 on May 18 at 9 pm.