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Two on a musical trip
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With their laptop wired to speakers, the After5ive duo keep clubbers at the Taj Coromandel entertained
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MUSIC AFTER5IVE Peta and Michael PHOTO: R. Ragu
Latest cocktail at Fort St. George (Taj Coromandel): Live music and wine. The first of the two comes from another combination - Michael Thompson and Peta Evans-Taylor. Together they are After5ive, a band that has been serenading clubbers around Australia.
In a laptop that's wired to speakers, lies the After5ive music. For 5,000 songs. "Take your pick," says Michael, and lists artistes spanning the last 50 years or so.
Peta and Michael invite requests. If they cannot find a song immediately, they play it the next day - that is, if the requester comes back for a drink. The music-laden laptop is accompanied by special drums. These apart, After5ive is all about Peta's and Michael's voices, which have been seasoned by years of practice. At 39, Michael has a longer training and career in music. But Peta is not far behind. She's just 21 ("I am still a baby," she croons), but her singing career is already 10 years old. "I've been singing since age 11." She is qualified in Contemporary Music Performance and Music Business and Law. Like Michael, she writes songs, a couple of which have won the Tamworth Songwriters Association awards. In October, 2003, she released an Extended Play album "Open Your Eyes" which has five of her originals. On her voice, she says: "Alice Cooper. Dolly Parton. Celine Dion. If you hear anything in the middle, that's me!"
Although thrilled by the Indian tour, the couple say their ultimate ambition is to perform at clubs in the United States. So consumed are they by it that they have even postponed their marriage. About India? "India is a girl's heaven. What varieties of jewellery, flowers and leather handbags!" says Peta. "But Indian sweets beat them all." But everything is not so sweet; they've had to adjust themselves to certain facts. Such as - bumpy rides, people assuming all westerners are wealthy ("We tell them we too work hard to earn our money"), amused stares that Peta's blonde hair invites, and people avoiding Peta's eyes ("They talk to Michael, but ignore me. On such occasions, I am tempted to say, `Hello, I am also here'.").
As they are spending the next six months in Chennai, Peta has begun to learn Tamil. Now, she has a three-word vocabulary - Vanakkam (I salute). Nandri (Thanks). Illai (I don't have). It's easy to guess in what context she must be using the last word. But Peta and Michael are touched by the poverty they see around them and want to touch the lives of those affected by it. Especially, the tsunami-affected.
"We will help them when we've made enough money," says Peta.
Michael has already marked out the beneficiary. "There is an orphanage we would like to visit."
PRINCE FREDERICK
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