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[nahia]

The days when both men and women got giddy listening to Actor might be over, but MLTR believes that their music has the ability to bring back its old fan-base. As Jascha Richter and Mikkel Lentz get ready for a barrage of interviews before their gig in the city, their body language is telling.

The calm and composed Mikkel is a typical lead guitarist, sporting shades and talkative. Jascha on the other hand is nervous (hands trembling, stammering), a poet (though a lot has been said about his bad songwriting skills) who is an introvert and speaks only when prodded to talk.

And Jascha's nervousness is not unjustified. MLTR has released three albums since their multi-platinum selling Paint My Love, but hardly anyone in the country have heard from them since. Fortunately, they recognize the disconnect and are hoping that their latest album, Eternity will change that.

But what happened, we ask? "All artistes have a golden age. Those times are magical, but after that it is a struggle to make art of the same quality. When you are young you are brash — its music or your life," says Mikkel. Jascha adds, "I've tried a number of times to make an ‘Actor Part II’. It's not easy. In fact, I have gotten frustrated over it. But in time you realize that you can't replicate tracks. Mikkel has produced Eternity and this why the album is more us that ever before. Maybe things will change now."

But what if they don't? It's certain that people at the gig today will identify the band with the MLTR of yore. In fact, the gig in Mumbai is already sold-out, and speaks volumes for how much people love the band. They have a certain magic with Asia. The West rejected their music (other than Scandinavian countries), but the East has loved them, sometimes a little too much. The riot police had to summoned in Vietnam because people climed the roofs and broke windows to get in the concert. This fervor may not exist anymore, but you aren't declared a loser till you stop trying.