The Hindu Business Line : Crooning for a cause

When they are not juggling professional careers, they are playing music for charity. `Step on the Gas' was in Chennai recently to raise funds for tsunami relief.

John Coulcutt, CEO, Watermark — a UK-based aviation support services company, and his team of expert engineers from London were among the first aid workers to rush in with relief supplies in the aftermath of the tsunami that battered several coastal villages of Tamil Nadu on that fateful morning of December 26, 2004. On day six of the disaster, "when everywhere one looked there was death and destruction", his team hauled in 56 tonnes of aid. "It was impossible not to be emotionally involved," recalls Coulcutt.

Hailing from a fishing village himself — the Isle of Wright — Coulcutt instantly empathised with the fisherfolk in the tsunami-struck areas and felt their loss and the horrifying realisation that "the sea that had been their friend had now turned enemy and taken away their livelihood". The objective then was to "give them back their livelihood". Boats were repaired and re-launched; and who can forget those ingenious shelter boxes, donated by Watermark, that provided most of the comfort and safety of home? But for Coulcutt it was far from "mission accomplished".

Three months later, a spur-of-the-moment decision brought him back to the tsunami-affected fishing communities and Chennai, only this time he was going to croon for hard cash, for charity and tsunami relief. After all, this CEO is part of a music band, Step on the Gas that recently performed at Chennai's YMCA Grounds. This gig, which also featured ace performers Gary Brooker and Andy Fairweather-Low, poured its sympathy into a night of high-octane jazz symphony and 1960s' rock. "We are here to be part of the continuing relief work," said Coulcutt.

The band is a household name in the UK, where it plays solely for charity. And in all the 12 years that this motley mix of professionals have been together, they've serenaded wallets into liberally donating a princely £1 million for charity. And when this band of part-time musicians is not drumming up support for a cause, it is "promoting fresh faces and voices" as part of Eagle Rock (Baz Parsons Smith); or playing night store manager or nurturing fresh talent (Simon Bladon); or rendering a healing touch as a family medical practitioner (Tony Howe).

Ironically, it wasn't music that brought them together, but their passion for sailing.

"We were originally into sailing on the South Coast of England and we came together as a band for the first time when we played for a fundraiser event at the West Shingles Yacht Club. That was a huge success. So we thought, `Let's keep going'," says Smith.

With so much on their platter how do they balance their act? Coulcutt says with a grin, "People ask us when we practise, and I say, `Well I've been playing for 30 years.'" Then on a more serious note he adds, "If you want to do something, you've got to make time for it." He, for one, took time off work to help with relief operations during the Iraq War; together with Richard Branson, CEO, Virgin Atlantic Airlines, he funnelled £5-million worth of medicines for children and hospitals in Iraq.

"In terms of balance, I think it's a personal choice when I decide to pursue my interest in music as well as work. And I have to work to keep my interest going, because to make money as a musician is very difficult because of the intense competition and the fact that things are so commercialised," says Giles Latchford, lead guitarist.

Having been in the act for the past 20 years, and currently heading a three-piece band called BOB, Latchford feels that being a semi-professional musician suits him just fine, also because "gigs in the UK or anywhere else are generally as much a function of talent as they are of luck." And so the biggest bonus for the group is the "huge amount of freedom" and the fact that "we play in the manner we like".

Of course, playing live is the ultimate experience for any troupe and, in this respect, the concert in aid of tsunami relief was "their largest concert in a sense."

Adds Smith, rhythm guitarist, "Because we are not in it to make money for ourselves, we are not under so much pressure." Besides, their "forte is generating atmosphere," as Howe, the bass guitarist, puts it. "We are amateurs and, though we rehearse, we cannot be expected to come on par with other popular bands. But our music is for people who come to have a lot of fun," he says.

The band is next getting its act together for a charity concert in New Hampshire.

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