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‘More musicians, more music and more options’

In bollywood obsessed India, it is very tough for independent artists or bands to carve their niche. But Agnee managed not only to break through the norm, but also establish themselves in the mainstream. Millennium Post caught up with the band ahead of their performance today. Here are excerpts:


What kind of music do you like to explore and create?


We don’t really have any specific ideas when we create music, we find it better to go with the flow. We do believe that the song is king, so whatever melody comes to us at that point, we try and just make it the best sounding that we can. In case we’re composing for films, of course, we compose to a brief. We’re inspired by a lot of great musicians like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Saa’b, Sting, David Gilmour, and so many classical musicians, but we try our best to not get influenced in our creation by what we’ve heard.


How do you go about ideating a new song? Enlighten us.


We try to keep it honest and go with the flow. We’re always going to try and achieve the sublime and always not really get there, so the journey’s the most rewarding when you think you’ve gotten close. Song creation for us usually happens together, both Koco and I don’t like to see a song to the end individually. If I get a song idea, I wait for Koco to sit with me so we can take it forward, and he does the same when an idea comes to him. We’ve realised that the song typically becomes better when Koco and I sit together to compose. The composition is typically reactionary, where we just react to the other’s idea and take it forward in a natural way, and if that doesn’t work well, we try again till we think we’ve gotten the song to sound the way we want it to.


Live performance versus album recording?

Live performance, any day. The feeling you get when thousands of people are singing your songs back to you and giving you their energy is without parallel.


How have reality shows and the internet changed the industry?


More musicians, more music, more choices. That’s what the internet and Youtube and Facebook have given the listener. The musician now has more options on how to release music. However, it is more difficult now to be able to leverage these channels as there are so many musicians out there. Now, more than ever before, a musician needs to be very good and have very good songs to be able to create an impact. It’s a double edged sword, really. We’ve had a good run thanks to reality TV. We hope there will be other artists who will use these platforms wisely.


What was your best tour?


This one’s very difficult to answer. Baroda, MSU in 2009 was fabulous, as this was the first place we saw 8,000 people listening to us at our show and we spent three hours in a conference room after the show just giving out autographs and posing for pictures. This was the first time we really thought we might have reached people with our music.


Tips for youngsters?


Always be to remain honest in what you do. Believe in your music, be honest again and again (specially when you feel you don’t know where your music is going) and do not give up halfway. And do not ever be ashamed of promoting your own music.


What is in stock for Delhi?

This is our first time at Gurgaon. We’ll be playing some of our popular favourites and some stuff from our upcoming Punjabi film, Sarsa.


DETAIL


At: Lemp Brewpub and Kitchen, DLF Star Mall, 2nd floor, NH-8, Exit 8, Sector 30, Opp. 32nd Milestone, Gurgaon 
When: 2 February
Timings: 9 pm onwards 
Entry: Rs 1,000 per person
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