James Thackeray’s performance Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
James Thakara, founder and lead singer of Kochi-based band, Thakara, describes his band’s music as “the history of the common man”. Released at the Indiegaga Thiruvananthapuram 2024 concert on Wednesday, his latest song ‘Loop’ lives up to this description, exploring the duality of good and evil within people and how they perceive things. Since his first song ‘Podi Penne’ released in 2012, Thakra’s songs are known for their themes that relate to middle-class youth, ranging from heartbreak to lack of work-life balance.
“We are trying to convey through songs what we see in our circle,” says James over the phone from his home in Kochi. “This is what I saw while talking to people.”
Thakara is currently a six-member band with James as lead vocalist. Sarath PS aka Cisco Disco on synthesizer, Bevan Correia on guitar, John Shibin handles the bass and Ritwik Wilfi Bavaria is on drums. Abru Manoj completes the group as lyricist and creative manager. The band has made 16 songs so far.
(From left) Drummer Ritwik Wilfi Bavaria, guitarists Bevan Correia, James Thackeray, bassist John Shibin and synth player Sarath PS. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
“The idea is that there is both good and evil within us,” James says of ‘Loop.’ After death there is neither heaven nor underground hell, everything is here.”
The song emerged from a jamming session between James and Sarath. “Last September, there was a change in our line-up and we were not in a good place mentally. I had gone to Bengaluru to meet Sarath, with whom I had earlier worked on a song called ‘Pavanai Pattu’. Even he was in a difficult situation as he was fired from his job. We started jamming and one of the songs we made was ‘Loop,'” he says.
Earlier this month, the band released the track ‘Rain Song’, which came from the same jamming session between the two. James describes the song as “a tribute to the rain”.
The band’s creative process varies from song to song. While some numbers were composed with a tune first and lyrics added later, others began with lyrics that were later set to music. The band has also created tracks in which the melody and lyrics were composed simultaneously.
One of his most popular songs, ‘Puttu Pattu’ (2012) was born when its lyricist Joseph Vijesh was asked to leave a composer’s studio to come up with the opening lyrics of the song, ‘Panavum Prathipavaum Namukkenthina Puttundalo Puttinu Podi Andalo’. Was asked for. “When we heard the song, there was an instant connection,” says James. Each of my eight roommates at the time contributed at least one word or line to that song. This was a ‘democratic’ song. It took us four to five months to execute it.”
Throughout his 12-year long journey, Thackeray has not shied away from using his music to make a statement. ‘Quran Anthem’, his third original song, was released before the 2014 general elections, appealing to listeners to choose their leaders wisely. In 2019, he released ‘Padilla’ ahead of the general elections demanding the same.
“We don’t know how well we’ve lived up to people’s expectations,” says James. They listen more to the songs we made 12 years ago. We are happy that those songs are still relevant today. We’re trying to match or surpass those songs.
The band has also scored for films such as Saturday night (2024), Oruthi (2022) and hut (2014).
Thakra will be releasing four songs in the coming months. It includes an English song ‘Sun Dried Humans’ which will be released on March 24, the fifth anniversary of the first COVID-19 lockdown. James says the song deals with the plight of migrant workers during the pandemic and how they travel on foot to their home states.
The singer has expressed his desire to tour different parts of the country in 2025. Since 2016, the band has performed over 70 live shows. James says that his shows have mostly been limited to a few cities in Kerala, Chennai and Bengaluru and he would like to branch out to cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Pune as well.
Thakara is set to perform at Lulu Mall, Kochi on December 29. They will also perform at the Grand New Year Bash at Hotel Tiara by MPS, Kozhikode on 31st December.
published – December 26, 2024 11:29 am IST
