The fire within

I would watch my cousin play his guitar. He would warn me not to touch it,but I was so fascinated that I played on it on a single string Koco

Kannan Mohan,to give Mohan his full name,and Kaustubh Dhavale aka Koco,met by chance at a commons friends wedding followed by a telephone call. A jamming session followed right after. Koco had been part of a hard rock band named Agni,formed in 1989 but later disbanded. With due consent from the former members,the two formed Agnee in 2006,a new band that created a sensation in their very first self-titled album Agnee in 2007. Followed the Prakash Jha film Dil Dosti Etc.as co-composers,from which their songs Sadho re and Lamha yeh jaayega kahaan were appreciated. Agnee spread its wings by composing their most popular song to date,the theme song Aahatein of the reality show Splitsvilla,for which they won the GIMA award,and also composed the theme song of Roadies,for whose new season they are also scoring.

Who else works in the band? We are the two core members. On stage,we have Michael on keyboards,Among on bass and Hrishikesh on drums, says Mohan,a Tamilian born to a family of Carnatic classical players. Koco,a Maharashtrian born and brought up in Pune,admits that he was always influenced by Western musicians. Koco made me realise that I could compose songs too,though the mridangam was my basic instrument, says Mohan. Today,he does most of the production part.

Koco,however,dismisses the statement as Mohans over-generosity. Our golden rule is that we never compose alone. Each of us has inputs into each others melody or basic idea. The same holds true for the production. Mohans production chops are very goodits only that I sit in front of the computer more than him,thats all.

He goes on,Our joint work is so intergrated that we often find it difficult to even remember who composed which line! We are doing this Marathi film Shala that oddly enough has just one song in Hindi,and its Mohans sister Vidya who has sung and his mother who has played the violin on it.

After the two songs in Dil Dosti Etc.,Mohan and Koco are doing their first solo film in Aalaap,which has six songs written by Panchhi Jalonvi,Mohan and Shellee. Aalaap was a working title that we continued with,but the film is not about classical music. Its about a band of three decent musician kids from Bhilai who want to form a band. But just after they succeed in their goal,they get caught in Naxalism.

The duo stress that there is not too much of rock in the score. We have a song on the motherland,a situational item number and three band-oriented tracks. In one song,we make an appearance performing as ourselves in a competition sequence, says Mohan. He admits that composing for films is difficult,though Dil Dosti Etc. as somewhat easy.

The duo were the first band to go online,way back in 2008,putting up their songs as free singles,a trend later followed by many other popular bands. This initiative,along with the unique Create With Agnee,a concept that allows fans to actually collaborate with the band on a regular basis,helped them shoot up in popularity. But what about the revenue model? Says Mohan,We earn mostly from shows. When the songs become popular,the CRBT (Caller Back Ring-Tones) avenue also opened up.

But their standout pioneering initiative is Dharavi Rocks. What started as a concert for charity is now going a regular weekly activity by Agnee and a few friends from the Acorn Foundation to teach music to the rag-pickers of Mumbais slum Dharavi,giving them a vocation and an opportunity to be self-sufficient. The Foundation pays them the daily allowance of Rs 200 that they get for the day when they miss their work to learn music, reveals Mohan. We do not charge to groom them. We have done some concerts as fundraisers for them where these artistes were present in venues like Hard Rock Cafe in Mumbai. Three months down,we plan to have these people actually perform at Hard Rock,while we join them to perform at Dharavi. And hopefully,at least a couple of them will soon be part of bands in some capacity.

Finally,what is the curious story of Kocos forbidden guitar? Laughs Koco,I would watch my cousin play his guitar. He would warn me not to touch it when he was not there,but I was so fascinated that I would play on it. The first song I learnt to play on it on a single stringwas Deep Purples Smoke on the water. My journey in music began from there!

And whats with the word Agnee? Says Koco,Agnee is the fire within us to bring out the good in society,not just through our songs but with our deeds as well.