Time travelling to '(Simply) The Best' era of female rock stars

CHENNAI: We often break out into a debate with our group of pals as to the best era of English music. Not that the confab will reap a conclusion. But sometimes, it’s just about the nostalgia the conversation brings in, which can also break out into an impromptu hum of your favourite song.

The 70s era gave birth to hip hop, punk, funk and electronic music. By the 1980s and 90s came the emergence of iconic pop stars with Michael Jackson and Madonna crowned the king and queen of pop.

Female singers in specific have rocked the early era, challenging the conventional, and transforming what is meant to be rock-n-roll back in the day. Chennai saw a thrilling musical experience with the performance of a newly-formed band ‘Squirrels in the Attic’ that hit the stage with their debut performance, celebrating the iconic hits of legendary female rock, pop, and punk artistes, through the 70s to the 90s.

“Those were the era that saw raw talent. The voice of Tina Turner, which is ‘simply the best’, and Madonna, who sang in perfect pitch, without the help of technology. Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston sang with just a microphone in hand and never went out of tune, unlike today, when software is used to set the pitch right,” says Bruce Lee, the lead guitarist of Squirrels in the Attic.

The band featured vocalists Mridula Gopalakrishnan and Sindhuja Sankaran, who formulated the band name, with an intent to it being fun and catchy. “Also, because for Sindhuja and I, it does feel like we are coming out of the attic as it’s been a long time since we performed a band gig,” says Mridula.

Squirrels in the Attic, the concert co-curated by Bay146 and House of T, made audiences dance to the beats of the 1998 pop classic, Frozen, by Madonna and Sickick. They played I Love Rock ’n’ Roll by Joan Jett and the Blackheart, which made the crowd fall in love with the rock n roll, taking their time to dance. Dolly Parton’s Jolene, Janis Joplin’s, Bobby McGee and other songs added to the celebration of nostalgic female rock stars of the era gone by.

Music has always been a part of Mridula’s life growing up. She says, “I have been hosting karaoke for 16 long years now. I started performing in 2008 at 10 Downing Street. I currently host karaokes at Watson’s and Hard Rock Cafe, in Chennai.”

But for Bruce, who also calls himself ‘crazy fingers’, the journey into the world of music started off quite different. “I was basically a drummer in school, and the guitarist who was to play at our cultural event had fractured his finger. There I was, practicing the guitar. That’s precisely how it started,” narrates Bruce. He secured a well paying day job growing up, but his passion for the musical instrument saw no future.

“I left my job overnight and started from scratch. Which for me meant going every extra mile, all by myself. I didn’t have a family who supported my decision at first,” he adds.

The lonely nights, sleeping at the station platforms of the Guindy railway station at the age of 23, paid off for Bruce as he now works with the finest of talents from the musical and film industry, across languages. He has worked with music composers Harris Jayaraj and GV Prakash to name a few.

Squirrels in the Attic also had seasoned instrumentalists like Conrad Simmons on the bass and vocals, Vinay Ramakrishnan on drums, and Anthony Karunakaran on the keys.

This motley crew honoured the groundbreaking contributions made by female singers to music and culture, which will remain as the golden era of pop music. “Women in music are often downplayed. This is why we wanted to have a women-fronted showcase of some legendary female artistes of our times. We had a great time performing, and we made sure the audiences sang and danced along,” Mridula said.