There is music and magic in the air. As the rhythm builds up and the notes reach a crescendo, guitarist Peter Nolasco does a little shoulder-shake, his eyebrows dancing, as he lustily strums on. His partner, Jayen Varma taps with his feet, while the other musicians on the drum and keyboard go about their music with practiced ease and skill, as only they can.In their hey days, these six men rocked Kochi’s vibrant music band scene. This was 70s and 80s, and many music aficionados recollect the embarrassment of riches before them, being unable to decide which music concert to attend on any particular weekend.These six musicians of course kept to their passion and went on to have careers centered around music. A few of them became an integral part of several illustrious music troupes, helmed by the likes of celebrities like Usha Uthup, Yesudas and Vani Jayaram. Others taught music, some composed radio jingles.Decades later now, all of them between 45-60, find themselves back in the same city where their music was first born and celebrated. Most of them have settled into a more calm, semi-retired life, their glory days far behind them. Or so they thought, till a few months ago.A common friend, Dr Ajit Babu, a physician by profession but an ardent music lover and a proficient singer in his own right, was keen that they should come together as a group. Something like Farhan Akthar’s film, Rock On!?, we ask. Ajit smiles, “Yes, you could say that.” “I was part of music bands here, and always had great passion for music. When I went to US, I couldn’t do much with it. I practically stopped going for music concerts because they depressed me. It made me miss my music more and the fact that I couldn’t be a part of it. So when I returned to India with my family, there was also the desire to do something with music. That’s how I contacted a few of these friends here, and many seemed okay with the idea,” says the doctor, who also runs a unique training institute called Wisdomania in the city. “The idea to start a band came from the thought that we had the talent here. Yes, most of the musicians are semi-retired, but they have tremendous music in them. Also, since we love our music so much, we felt there would be many others out there who might love it too.” he says.He admits the music scene has changed with youngsters being more into DJ ing and electronics. But he believes there was more magic in the older songs, and they were difficult to pull off. “We’ll be playing Classic Rock, Pop, Blues, Country and a whole lot of other classic stuff, which by virtue of structure, require greater skill. Many of the old songs succeed by sheer dint of their melody and this cannot work unless the musicians can get the notes right.” Ajit also composes music and is looking forward to presenting a lot of original stuff.When the idea was first floated, however, it was met by the musicians with a fair amount of skepticism and cynicism, which comes with having seen too much of life. And yet, the prospect of coming together for music was too close to their hearts to dismiss it. The practice sessions have been on, and the group even performed at the ninetieth birthday of a certain ‘Uncle Vinny’ at Fort Kochi recently, and enjoyed the experience. “There was a good deal of Anglo-Indian crowds and they wanted to dance. So we belted out a few numbers and everyone enjoyed. Now that the wedding season is coming up in December, we hope to get a few contracts. These days most have just two-piece bands at weddings, ours will be a different experience,” says Eugene Isaacs, the lead guitarist of the band. Also Eugene is someone who worked with Usha Uthup for years. Yet, when the idea of a band of seniors was peddled, the guitarist wasn’t exactly gung-ho. “I wasn’t keeping that well, and then age also counts. For a while I was performing with a few youngsters at Fort Kochi. When this idea came up, I was not interested. But I went along with it. All are good here, they are old-timers. Let’s see how it goes,” is all he will say.Pinson Correia, the oldest rock drummer in India and probably the world, at 62, too has come out of his retired life to be part of the band. He’s seen too much of the limelight to talk about himself again. “I have a site. Everything is there, why don’t you check it?,” he says with a merry smile on his face.Obviously, these are veterans, and the man at the centre who came to witness the practice session was the legendary Emil Issacs. A year back, he came down with a stroke that paralyzed a part of his body. The same hands that wielded magic and gave joy to thousands of music lovers went immobile. “He’s very sad about it,” say the others.Emil listens to the music for a while, weakly smiling. Then requests to be taken in, the exhaustion getting to him. The man funding the team is Shajin Mohammed, who says he’s doing it for the love of music. “I do believe this can work. We’ve got some generous help from the Valluvassery Sound guys,” he says.He also wishes to give college music bands a platform at events where the senior members will perform.Dr Ajit Babu says ideally the members want to perform on the live stage. “That is where the action is and that is what musicians crave for. Beyond all the challenges, when we play the old music, and all are in synch and hit the right notes, it’s like time and space have come to a stop,” he says.The music band can be contacted at [email protected]
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