Roshne Balasubramanian By Express News Service CHENNAI: Three years ago, when musicians Aditya Veera, Bharadwaj Krishnan, and Sundar Subramanian (former member) met at an open mic in Pune and jammed, little did they know they would form a band — now, they have a Pune and Bengaluru chapter. “After our jamming session, the emcee asked us if our ‘group’ had a name. We huddled and decided on a name that meant something to all of us — the simple thayirsadham. We wanted a musical element too and since Bharadwaj is a saxophone player, we added ‘Blues’,” recalls vocalist and guitarist Aditya who currently heads the band’s Bengaluru chapter. The group has so far performed about 200 shows across cities including Pune, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. CE caught up with Aditya, who is in the city with his Bengaluru-ensemble for a gig part of September Fest 2019 — Shopathon week at Phoenix MarketCity. Excerpts follow. How has Thayirsadham Blues’ creative process evolved? It was serendipity and talent that brought us together. We started with playing soulful and chilled out music, weaving different genres, languages and elements into our unique styles. We have evolved very much on the same lines and become a friendly neighbourhood band for people. It has been a great journey. From Pune, we have expanded down south in Bengaluru and have a bunch of people with the same mindset and likes of Thayirsadham on board. Any fond memories from your first official gig? The open mic was, in fact, our ticket to our first show. We were approached to play at a Gujarati wedding and we were pretty stoked. We decided to try a concept that is popular in Europe — to be singing waiters. The members of the band are versatile in a way that all of us can sing and play certain instruments. So, Bharadwaj Krishnan (saxophone/vocals), Arihant Mehta (bass guitar), Sundar, Suhas Renati (guitar) and I decided to split our set list that varied from RD Burman, Salman Khan to Shahrukh Khan hits, among ourselves. We were in our tuxedos and thought it would be a formal event, but it turned out to be fun. I vividly remember a Nepali family dancing on a table to our music. Has being a fan of AR Rahman influenced the way the band experiments with its music? Yes. Thayirdsadham Blues isn’t just a cover band, there is a lot of original music that’s being created too. When we experiment, we cover a gamut of genres — from metal, blues, jazz, neo-soul to R&B. There are a lot of influences as time passes. That’s how we call ourselves experimental. Any genre that brings the band together? We love the 80s and 90s Pop-rock. It’s our go-to genre. But we don’t do it plain...we add a bit of blues and jazz to it. A band with similar music sensibilities that you want to collaborate with. I have always wanted to collaborate with Benny Dayal’s band, Punctuation. Their music is very similar — a blend of English and Tamil music — and we look up to them. We would love to work on a project with them. Can you give us a peek into what’s in store for the Chennai audience? For Chennai, we have a fun-filled set of diverse music — a couple of Benny Dayal hits, AR Rahman raps, Beatles and a lot of Reggae music. Do you have plans of releasing an EP? Yes, we want to release an EP soon. The plan is to blend genres and create a six-song multi-lingual album. The ultimate dream is to become a Platinum record and be recognised by AR Rahman. Thayirsadham Blues will perform on September 22, 6.30 pm onwards at Phoenix MarketCity Musical style The style of music is an amalgamation of blues, pop-rock and R&B. They have five members — Aditya on vocals, Chlipher on guitar, Shawn on bass guitar, Ranjani on saxophone, Baheej on drums and Kenneth on keyboard.

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