“I distinctly remember it was the September of 1987. I went to Konarak’s place with a friend to record some jingles. A few days later, I was at the Koshy’s Department Store. The singer from Konarak’s band came to me. He told me that Konarak would like for me to join their band. And I joined their band. That’s how we met.”

Bangalore and its love for music

Konarak: “When I was composing music, people were aware of other bands that copied old songs. There was a beautiful community in Bangalore that came together in the evenings. When we played to them in the park, we told them that they were composed by someone else. Majorly due to the lack of confidence. But people automatically loved those songs and supported us when we told them so.”

Music vs. Money?

“Back then music wasn’t commercial in nature. People weren’t money minded. Artistes like Bismillah Khan and Bhimsen Joshi sang with a different consideration. They sang for a spiritual pursuit. But lately, people have noticed that there’s money in music. Also, it’s comparatively easier to achieve fame through social media. It makes it hard to tell whether an individual is practising music because of their love for it or simply because they see a future in it.”

“Creating magic in what we do makes living worthwhile. Magic to us is synonymous with a creative change. And what happened between us was also Magic. We have been sharing a creative journey since we met. Even today we ideate together for all our productions. We enjoy driving off to forests and beaches. We take great pleasure in cooking, eating, reading and life in general. We are Kirtana Kumar and Konarak Reddy”.