MLTR: ‘India is the only place where people stand and listen to our songs’

Michael Learns To Rock performed some of their biggest hits in Mumbai recently. Photo Courtesy: Phoenix Marketcity Kurla

Remember listening to Michael Learns To Rock's many songs including ‘Take Me To Your Heart' through your cassettes or CDs that friends and relatives would ‘burn' and we cherish till today? Most of us have grown up listening to the Danish pop rock band, better known as MLTR, and life would be incomplete without spending hours glued to their songs. Most of their songs like ‘That's Why You Go Away' and ‘Sleeping Child' have existed on our playlists long before we were plugged in and listening to them through our mobile phones as they were on cassettes or CDs. It was because of the hypnotic vocals of pianist Jascha Richter along with lead guitarist Mikkel Lentz and drummer and percussionist Kåre Wanscher, that made us all want to sing along.

More than five years after they performed in the city, Mumbaikars were finally able to watch the band in the city when they recently performed at Dublin Square in Phoenix Marketcity Kurla. It was an experience like no other because fans were able to sing along the same way. In the past, the venue has seen the likes of international acts like UB40 and Eric Clapton as well as Indian favourites such as KK, Mika Singh and Amit Trivedi and this was no different. Organised by KCT Entertainment, the performance was a part of their ‘Back On the Road' seven-city tour, which saw them start it with Aizawl and Guwahati, followed by Mumbai, and just concluded their performance in Bengaluru this weekend.

So, what is it that makes their music relevant till today and keeps them coming back to India? "We don't have an answer as to why this is possible and what we do to make music that lasts such a long time. It is still a mystery to us," KÃ¥re Wanscher shares. The fact that the band has clicked and managed to stay together for so long deserves more credit than we give them.

Having come to India not more than three times in the last two decades and still managing to have such die-hard fans is also something they admit to still having not fully understood. "We don't know why we keep coming back to India. We don't know the recipe of why it works," adds Lentz, still amazed. Perhaps, it is because of the emotion of love associated with their songs, that most people have felt while growing up that resonates with each person. It was visible when people sang along to ‘There is No Excuse My Friend', ‘25 Minutes' and ‘Paint My Love' to name a few, that gave many goosebumps as it hit them that they were actually witnessing the band live. In fact, this time their fans were spread across three generations, a fact that was revealed when it was the first question Richter asked on stage.

"When we go to Asia for example, Indonesia and Singapore, southeast Asia and China, they have a tradition of singing karaoke but here in India it's different, '' says Wanscher, adding, "India is the only place where people stand and listen to our songs. Everywhere else in the world, the audience is sitting down. Our songs are a lot of love songs, slow songs and ballets and it is only in India that this happens."

So, it is no surprise when they give credit to the fans, not only around India but also Mumbai, where they also make sure to have a concert. "Our favourite part of the city is definitely the fans here in Mumbai. We haven't played here too many times. I think it's only twice. We don't know the city so well because we haven't got time to explore the city, says Wanscher, while revealing how much he loves samosa pav. On the other hand, Lentz is amazed by the culture the city portrays every single time he comes. "Mumbai feels like the whole world is in one place," he shares.

The name of the tour is fitting clearly because the Danish band hasn't been able to play around the world for almost three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a period that is difficult to forget. But having spent it separately, they would rather choose to forget it now that they are touring. However, Richter reveals he tried something new during that time. "As a songwriter, I wrote some songs in Danish and released them. It was something I wanted to try and that's what I did." Maybe the next time they come to the city, we will witness some of these new songs, because when they played ‘Children of Tomorrow' their 2021 song it certainly left the audience wanting for more, as the concert ended with ‘Once More, Once More'.

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