There are no rules to forming a band. A group of musicians get together and just do it. But it's almost unheard of for a venue to take the onus upon itself to crystallise a musical outfit. Yet, that's what suburban bar Door No 1 has done with Pratham, a band they now "own". What this means is that Vishesh Khanna and Mihir Bijur — the partners of the retro bar — have recruited Kushagra Mathur, Anurag Prasad and Ameya Naik to join forces and create original music that will be played at the venue on the first Tuesday of every month, for a fee. What is crucial, however, is that the rights to the tracks remain with the musicians. They are free to make money off their songs elsewhere, such as with iTunes, without giving a pound of flesh back to the establishment.

Mihir Bijur