Loy Mendonsa is in his element. And, why not? As part of the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy trio, he’s just hit the high notes with the Farhan Akhtar-starrer Rock On!! Tracks like Rock on, Socha hai and Pichle saat dinon mein are still burning up the charts even as the film made rock aficionados sit up and take note.

“Rock On!! was right up my alley. True blue rockers that we are, it was like a homecoming for Ehsaan and me,” says Loy.

The trio had a blast composing for the film (remember their first major hit was with Akhtar’s debut, Dil Chahta Hai). With Rock On!!, then, they gave it their all, jamming together to write the music — and penning dummy lyrics in English.

Not surprising then that they even recorded the soundtrack like a band, “with very little overdub”, says Loy. That means the musicians and singers mostly ‘performed’ together in the studio, with Loy playing the keyboards for all the tracks.

And as always, they brought their varied talents to the table. Ehsaan, a whiz with the guitar, swears by blues and rock. Loy also boasts of a strong Western music background while Shankar is trained in Indian classical music. Says Ehsaan: “Loy’s a multi-talented musician.” He plays the keyboards and the piano and is equally at ease with the guitar and the blues harmonica. “And he brings an eclectic mix of musical influences with him,” he adds.

Post Rock On!!, the trio’s on a roll and Loy’s loving every moment of it. On the film front, there are projects like Dostana, Chandni Chowk to China, Anil Kapoor’s Shortcut and Zoya Akhtar’s Luck by Chance coming up. If that’s not enough, they also have the ad world dancing to their jingles for brands like Reliance and Fair & Lovely. Their Cadbury’s Perk and Visa (Mind and body...) tunes had viewers humming along word for word.

Their popularity in films has given them a boost in the advertising world as well. At the same time, it’s raised expectations, says Loy. He also admits that his advertising background stood him in good stead. “Ads are tougher than films. You’ve got to whisk the viewer away from his home to Kathmandu, and then Paris and back home — all in 30 seconds,” he says.

And with film music, the threesome has been whisking away the awards since Dil Chahta Hai, the music for which was scored in a Lonavala farmhouse. “We nailed it in five days flat,” he says. “And the famous ‘dil-chahta-hai’ baseline came to Shankar in the bath,” smiles Loy.

According to him, composing music for a film is like acting in it. “You have to be in the movie to understand it better,” he says. And a composition can take him anything from 10 minutes on a good day to three days “or never”. The musician follows a pretty much regular work routine, from 11 am to 8 pm. His day begins at 6 am with at least an hour of exercising. “This is ‘my’ time when I introspect and thank the Creator for all I have.”

(From above) Loy with Shankar and Ehsaan at a Rock On!! promotion; Dil Chahta Hai was the trio’s first major hit; Kal Ho Naa Ho won them a National Award

And what are the dynamics at work when Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy get down to business? “When we take up a project, we sound design the entire film — working on everything from the tracks to the background score. So we ensure that each film has a distinctive sound,” says Loy.

“Having three heads is an advantage — more ideas, less repeats,” he asserts. And there’re no ego issues. “We just step back and look at what’s best for the track,” says Loy. Being part of a trio doesn’t mean they live in each other’s pockets though. Sure, they team up for shows when they aren’t composing. But, says Ehsaan: “We rarely hang out together.”

As a musician, Loy is an accomplished pianist but it’s the roll of the tabla that announced his talent early on. Remember that familiar score of Prannoy Roy’s The World This Week on telly way back in the 1980s? Well, few people know this, but it was Loy who composed it.

“Few also know that I had a healthy mop of hair back then,” says the 52-year-old composer with a poker face, one hand on his shining head. Calm and collected, Loy’s funny side peeks through just when you decide he’s so quiet.

Loy was “discovered” by Siddhartha Basu, who, after hearing him play with a band at St Stephen’s College in 1982, asked him to compose the Quiz Time theme music. “That marked my foray into television,” reminisces the musician.

Yet, Loy never trained in music. He didn’t have to. Almost every member of his family played an instrument. Both his parents played the harmonica and his mother also played the mandolin. “I had 17 cousins — they all sang. Every birthday party was a veritable musical,” he laughs.

When he was in his 20s, Loy moved from Mumbai to Delhi. He played with various bands and also began composing for theatre, working with names like Barry John and a young Shah Rukh Khan. Then came TV, and advertising followed. By the late 1980s, though, the lack of competition prompted him to move back to Mumbai. In 1989, he met Ehsaan Noorani and Ranjit Barot, who were making their own music and also doing commercials.

Soon, Ehsaan and Loy started doing jingles together. They met Shankar Mahadevan during the making of the Yehi Hain Right Choice Baby Pepsi jingle, which was composed by Barot and Mukul Anand.

By 1991, Loy, Ehsaan and Shankar were working in different combinations on various advertising projects. But Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy happened when Mukul asked them to compose for his film, Dus.

“We were sceptical about doing film music initially. But eventually we agreed to give it a shot,” recalls Loy. The first track was Hindustani. “Mukul wanted it to be the new youth anthem,” says Loy. The film was never completed because of Anand’s untimely death, but the track was released. “It was a huge hit — our tribute to Mukul,” says Loy.

Soon, the trio was ushering a fresh sound wave in Bollywood with films like Dil Chahta Hai and the National Award-winning Kal Ho Naa Ho. “That took time to sink in. Once it did, I felt elated and proud,” says Loy. There were other musical successes like Lakshya, Bunty Aur Babli and Don and more recently, Taare Zameen Par.

Outside the studio, the mild- mannered composer grooves to blues, jazz and world music. “My best teachers were my parents (for world music), All India Radio (for classical music) and borrowed-and-never-returned jazz records from friends,” he says.

And when he’s at home, Loy loves to chill out with his pet dog and cat. Playing the piano also helps him to unwind. “Though I wish I had more time with it,” he rues. “Music heals me,” he says.

“I also love watching ice-skating for the sheer grace and beauty,” he adds serenely, only to startle you the next moment with: “I love boxing too. I used to box when I was younger.” His face doesn’t give it away but you get the feeling that Loy Mendonsa loves to surprise. Like his music.