Back to ground Zero

The band last played in the city in December 2009. And their social network accounts are poof that they were sorely missed. “Zero never split — we jam when we are all together,” says Coutto. But to be together has been tough for them since Rajeev and Mendonsa now live in UK and New Zealand respectively. “We have stopped planning the future. We don’t know if we will be playing all round the year or once a year,” adds Mendonsa.

With memorable songs like Not my kind of girl,PSP 12,Lucy and Christmas in July to their credit,Zero’s music has crossed genres. “We can’t classify our music. We are not exactly a rock band — we are a mixture of many different musical styles. And we have never cared about what people think; if we had,we would have been a cover band,” guffaws Coutto. Zero — known for experimenting with multiple genres such as rock,pop and even Bollywood music — will be playing their old numbers along with a few covers of The Doors and Led Zeppelin during their upcoming tour.

Despite living in different cities,what glues them together is their love for music. “We have written three new songs today and will perform them on stage soon,” says Coutto,who had also written Not My Kind of Girl. “One guy actually came up to me and said that he played that song in front of his ex-girlfriend and that it felt awesome. It’s when we hear things like this that we realise that people actually like us,” he adds. Zero,formed in the late ’90s,made it big much before music-based reality shows like Channel V Launchpad and MTV Desi Beat Rock On went on air. “When we started off,independent music wasn’t as popular as Bollywood music. Now,everybody wants to be part of a band and this is when television shows come in. It’s a good change. These shows help the community of independent musicians grow,” says Bobby. Coutto,however,isn’t too sure whether such shows would have helped Zero. “We won’t have made mark—we are not that good-looking,you see,” jokes Coutto,who is also a part of another band,Tough on Tobacco.

Zero has three albums to their credit — Albummed,Hook and Procrastination. Their next,however,may take some time. “We enjoy playing a lot so we don’t have the time to record an album as of now. We may just record a live album while playing at a gig. But nothing more than that,” says Bobby.