How a chef built Goa’s biggest cover band!

Lester Rodrigues is a man many couples in Goa would happily change their wedding date for. The frontman of two of the state's biggest bands over the last two decades, Forefront and now A26, has redefined the role of a band at a wedding from mere music-providers to the life and soul of the party.
The founder and manager of one of the most recognised and sought after bands, A26 is not known just in Goa but globally as well, having played in front of thousands for various corporate, cultural and private functions across the country and abroad.
Lester chooses to play down the accolades of being one of the best as he feels there is always room for improvement. That hunger to try and get better has been the cornerstone of his long music career. "It's always good to keep our egos grounded and one way of doing that is by finding glitches in the way we play or do things," says Lester.
Watching him on stage, screaming his lungs out and shredding his guitar, it would be normal to assume that this was something he's been doing all his life. But it wasn't always like this.
While his career began at 21, Lester spent his youth training to become a chef.
Born and brought up in Juhu, Bombay, this hotel management graduate grew up in a strict family and the idea of joining a band was met with a condition that he first find a secure job.
However, music was always part and parcel of his life and home. His father was the conductor of the main parish choir, his mom used to conduct the children's choir and Lester's brother and him were in charge of the youth choir. His parents made sure that their three children learnt the guitar and piano and encouraged them to take part in various singing competitions. What his parents didn't know, was that their son freelanced with college bands whenever he could.
Moving to Goa as a hotel operations management trainee at the Taj Fort Aguada, Lester spent his time watching bands play after work, a reminder of his ambition. To his good fortune a jam session with a band named Artwork for a private party at Haystack in Arpora (now the venue for Saturday Night Market) gave him the opportunity to replace their lead singer who was heading to the Gulf.
"I said yes without thinking twice about how I was going to handle the long hours of work in the kitchen. I guess when you're passionate about something you'll find a way, no matter what," Lester recalled.
They say when one door closes another one opens and that is exactly what happened a year later, when Artwork broke up and Forefront was born in 1991.
However, with two jobs, Lester had little time to spare and even lesser time to sleep.
"So I used to find nooks and corners and sometimes even a comfortable place under the drum riser for 15 minutes to an hour to catch up on sleep whenever possible," quipped Lester.
After a 17 year stint with Forefront, he quit the band to take a small break.
With a fresh outlook, he pursued the idea of creating something new, a bigger platform and the hunt for a new band began.
Recruiting was not easy and his criteria was to find a team that could relate to his ideas. He managed to convince his sister Abigail who had sung for Forefront and Lynx as well as her husband Jude, who had played with Big City Band to join him. Alfin Fernandes, their keyboard and trumpet player was recommended to them and their drummer Joe Pereira had just quit the ship and decided to set anchor with this band, thus forming the original core group. He converted his bedroom into the practice room and in search of a non cliche name for the group, they chose Lester's house number in Baga - A26.
Just as the group started gaining momentum, they received a major setback as Jude suffered a stroke and had to quit. This was hard for the group and the family to take in.
As they continued with their gigs, they still needed a new bass player. That's when they stumbled upon the talent of Curtorim-based Marwino D'Costa, who jammed with them at a wedding, leaving Lester impressed. Alfin and Joe urged Lester to take the bass and flute player on board.
As the band found a new shape, Lester who played lead and sang at that time, needed a lead guitarist so he could concentrate on singing tougher songs. Lester liked the work of Orlim-based Grayston Vaz, who had already made a mark in the industry and accepted the invitation to join the group. A26 now had four dedicated musicians traveling all the way from the South to North Goa to practice.
The musician in Lester felt the need for fine tuning and wanted the band to be able to handle any genre and style of music. That's how their 2nd keyboardist Agnelo Mascarenhas joined the band and this motley group began touring the world and the rest of India.
The regular tours, however, made it difficult for Abigail to juggle her work in the day as a HR manager at the Marriott, home and music. While the group came to terms with her exit, they recruited Zoe Soans who sang with them for a few months. They then recruited Gretchen Barretto, a talented singer who was studying in university.
" Our trips outside the state kept increasing and this became an issue with Gretchen's desire to finish her studies at the university. So she announced her departure in May. Our hunt for a new girl singer began all over again," added Lester.
One day at a show, Lester saw the well-known singer Chrystal Farrell performing and while they were catching up during the break, he casually mentioned that they were looking for a singer. "To which she just asked why I didn't ask her to join? I thought I heard wrong, so I asked her again. Two days later, Chrystal joined the band," added Lester.
Full of praise for ‘the star performer' in his own words, Lester pointed out that Chrystal's experience and charisma made it a perfect fit. " Her style has added a whole new dimension to A26 and a spirit that feels like the excitement of starting a new band all over again," added Lester.
Speaking about their performances, he explained how they don't like being rigid or sticking to any particular genre.
"We play stuff that we love and that's what keeps us going. It doesn't matter what genre the song belongs to. That's where the versatility of the band comes to the fore. If we like a song and we know it grooves a crowd then we practice and play it. Our job is to make people happy and in return we capture the attention of the crowd and fill up the dance floor, " Lester emphasises.
Looking into the future, Lester mulls cutting an album but a closer target is making a music video and also adding a few more instruments into their performances.
When asked if he had any words of advice for the younger generation, given his struggles and success, Lester felt there was an abundance of talent in Goa and that the youngsters can consider making entertainment and music a full-time career.