JENIFER FERNANDES
joseph@herald-goa.com
ALDONA: Cosme Fernandes, fondly known as Cozy, lives in the village of Moira in Goa. Born in Mumbai in 1959, he was brought to Goa in 1962 at the age of three by his father, Joaquim Fernandes—affectionately known as “Joklu.” Joaquim was a gifted trumpet player who performed with renowned musicians like Chris Perry and Emiliano da Cruz, and played in several bands in Mumbai.
Cozy’s relationship with music, particularly drums, spans more than five decades. Now 66, he says, “Music still lives in me.” His fascination with drums began when he was just four. At a neighbour’s wedding where his father had arranged for a band, Cozy saw a live drummer perform with his father’s group for the first time. That experience left a deep impression. “I was mesmerised,” he recalls. “That moment planted the dream of becoming a drummer in my heart.”
His father initially tried to guide him toward the trumpet. “Around the age of 5 or 6, my father began teaching me the trumpet. But while he was an excellent trumpeter, and widely respected, I never felt a connection with the instrument.” Cozy’s heart, he insists, belonged to the drums. Since his father was reluctant to buy him a drum set, the young Cozy improvised—using tree branches and homemade pads to mimic a drum kit. Eventually, at the age of eight, he persuaded his father to let him give up the trumpet and focus solely on drums.
At 11, he played drums for the first time at another neighbour’s wedding. Around that time, he also started writing songs and acting in village dramas. Hungry to learn more, he convinced his father to send him to St. Anthony’s Music School in Duler, where he stayed for two years. Even there, he didn’t have a drum kit, but his passion kept him going. At 13, he left school and returned to Mumbai.
There, he stumbled upon an unusual opportunity. A German circus was looking for a drummer. Cozy took the job, earning Rs 500 a month and playing three shows a day. “It wasn’t glamorous,” he admits, “but it gave me a lot of practical experience.” He even slept at the club where he performed. After a year, he returned to Goa and joined a band called ‘The Daybreakers’, where he learned to read music. He began giving drum lessons and continued performing with various bands, gradually earning a reputation in the local music scene.
During band breaks at weddings, Cozy would play solo, keeping the audience entertained. He credits his father for teaching him most of the drumming techniques he uses to this day. “Back then, we had no FM or internet,” he explains. “I used to go to my neighbour’s house at 2:15 pm just to listen to Konkani songs on the radio, memorise the beats, and practice them at home.” Still without a drum kit, he created a makeshift practice pad using a chapati-making board.
Eventually, his father recognised his determination and gifted him a drum set worth Rs 800. “That was a turning point,” he says. He practiced intensively for three months before returning to Mumbai, where his musical career began to flourish. A neighbour introduced him to rock music, and the first cassette that captivated him was by Santana.
Cozy’s first earning came from playing at a neighbour’s wedding—just Rs 2, gifted by his father, who played for free. He also played the snare drum at funerals, earning Rs 2 or Rs 3 per service. For Goan weddings, he would get Rs 60; for Parsi weddings, Rs 45—“even though we had to carry the drum set in a taxi and pay for transport ourselves.”
In 1981, Cozy returned to Goa and joined a band that paid him Rs 1,000 per month. He recalls many nights when he would crash in a friend’s laundry room after a performance, only to head home the next morning. He vividly remembers one particular day when he was on his way to Dona Paula for a show. Just after crossing the Mandovi bridge, news came in that it had collapsed. “I had narrowly escaped a tragedy,” he says.
Over time, Cozy began creating his own beats rather than copying from tapes. He found drum notation to be relatively simple and approached learning creatively. “We didn’t have music books, so we used drawing books to draw lines and write music notes,” he says. As his reputation grew, he became a familiar face in Mapusa market—people would even stop to take photos or ask for autographs. “I had long hair and felt proud to be known for my music.”
While music didn’t bring him great financial wealth, Cozy says it has enriched his life in other ways. “Music has given me a lot—not in money, but in fame, love, and passion.” He notes how the times have changed. “Today, transporting equipment alone can cost me Rs 2000. Back then, after four shows in one night, I’d earn Rs 350–370, which was a decent sum. But it wasn’t about the money—it was passion that kept us going.”
Cozy strongly believes that a drummer plays a crucial role in any live performance. “A good drummer can lift the entire band, while a bad one can ruin the experience.” He observes that while musicians today may earn over Rs 10,000 per show, in his time they “performed with Rs 100 in our pockets and gave it our all—no sequencing, just pure live music.”
As a teacher, Cozy has seen many students arrive without practising, expecting quick results. “There’s no shortcut to success,” he warns. “Now with YouTube, anyone can learn, but dedication is still key.” He remembers spending a whole week trying to learn a Santana track by rewinding cassettes repeatedly. “Today, you can learn a song in an hour.”
Despite the changes in the music landscape, he continues to practice regularly and is proud of the fact that he has performed with both Indian and international musicians. “Many traditional musicians are forgotten,” he says, “and young musicians are now the stars. But I’m proud to say I’ve played with the best, and I still teach students. It’s the only way to stay sharp and pull the crowd.”