Band members of the Madras Rock Collective. From left, Rahul Gopal, Mario Nambiar, Vivin Kuruvilla, Josh Mark Raj and Aakash Jacob.
| Photo Credit: VELANKANNI RAJ B
All is quiet in this tree-lined neighbourhood except for the pounding from a drum kit that seems to come from deep within a studio lodged inside a house. I knock on the door, hoping to be let in. No one answers. The five men inside are busy with The Scorpions.The iconic German band founded 61 years ago still seems to cast a spell — the men in the studio are rehearsing ‘Rock You Like A Hurricane’, a signature song from The Scorpions album Love At First Sting from that great era of rock, the 1980s. A heavy guitar riff from a Yamaha Revstar and an Ibanez Five String anchors the song, there is a soaring sing-along chorus and the lyrics are peppered with deep desire. When the last note bounces off the walls, the men who are part of the Madras Rock Collective (MRC), turn around and shout out their hellos. The MRC, comprising seasoned musicians, is a young band that plays old music. “We had our first gig only in April this year,” says bass guitarist Mario Nambiar. “All of us play with other bands too and we’ve been around for at least two decades. The idea to form this band came up in 2018, when we thought we should form one instead of getting together just to play tribute pieces. But it took its time coming.”Drummer Rahul Gopal, a BITS Pilani graduate who found his calling in rock while hanging out with seniors in college, and has since been part of other well-known bands such as Little Babushkas Grind, says, “We’ve done tribute gigs together and there was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing on WhatsApp but it was only last year that we thought of a name for the band. And ballads and hard rock from the 1980s-2000s is where we are at.”
