Maed In India

This week, Mae features an artist who is pretty familiar with the stage, but not as a musician. He's stand-up comedian Aakash Mehta, who recently dropped his debut record 'What a Life’. They chat about his international folk dance performances, how music has always been his first love, his ability to play an array of percussive instruments in high school, and how comedy happened. According to Aakash, this record is the culmination of 5 years of journal entries, and you’ll get to hear 3 songs from it too.    Song List: Over To You (01:03 - 03:34) Sister Superior (14:23 - 17:10) Song with Strings (28:54 - 31:07) Follow Aakash Mehta: Instagram @kuchbhimehta Come be our friend: Facebook @maedinindia Instagram @maedinindia Twitter @maedinindia CREDITS: Host: Mae Twitter: @maebemaebe Instagram: @maemariyam Audio Editor Post: Kartik Kulkarni Producer: Shaun Fanthome and Husein Haveliwala Recorded at Island City Studios

This week, on Maed in India, we’re introducing you to a freshly minted act in the indie music scene. In the studio with Mae are ambient electronic musician Shadaab Kadri aka Riatsu, and multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and educator Nush Lewis, who have joined forces to create the live harp & electronica project Kayoben. They explain how they came together, the meaning behind their band name, how they find the middle ground between both their writing styles, and facing nay-sayers & self doubt as artists. You also get to hear four new songs including an unreleased gem live in the studio, exclusively on Maed in India! Song List: Hold On (01:03 - 08:03) My Mind (16:33 - 24:47) Crashing (36:21 - 43:08) Between Lines (51:05 - 58:50) Kayoben Nush Lewis Shadaab Kadri Follow Kayoben: Instagram @kayobenmusic Come be our friend: Facebook @maedinindia Instagram @maedinindia Twitter @maedinindia CREDITS: Host: Mae Twitter: @maebemaebe Instagram: @maemariyam Audio Editor Post: Kartik Kulkarni Produce

Kicking off our 2022 studio sessions is Bangalore folk rock band Swarathma! They talk to Mae about their time (and money) during the pandemic, they explain their exquisitely worded band member bios, unpack their relationship with social causes, and talk about a musical project that helped tribal musicians from across the country make their own original music. Speaking of original music, get ready for live performances of 4 songs that span the band’s rich discography from the last 20 years.. Song List: Aasman Ki Dukaan (00:59 - 06:57) Mushkil Mein Jeena (14:28 - 20:28) Raah-e-Fakira (30:08 - 35:28) Dus Minute Aur (50:22 - 54:22) Swarathma Vasu Dixit - Vocals & acoustic guitar Jishnu Dasgupta - Bass guitar & backing vocals Sanjeev Nayak - Violin Varun Murali - Lead guitar Vinay Ramakrishnan - Drums   Follow Swarathma: Instagram @swarathma Facebook @swarathma Twitter @swarathma Come be our friend: Facebook @maedinindia Instagram @maedinindia Twitter @maedinindia CREDITS: Host: Mae Twitter: @maebemaeb

Joining us on this episode all the way from sunny Los Angeles, California is R&B, soul, indie, folk singer-songwriter Ramya Pothuri. It's been a while since they hung out, and clearly the only way Mae can catch up with people is by interviewing them. On this episode, she tells us why she’s now an LA girl, why she needs Mae to be her drama interventionalist, her latest single 'Male Attention' about a guy she honestly doesn’t even like that much. --- Follow Ramya Pothuri: Instagram @ramyapothuri Facebook @ramyapothurisinger   Come be our friend: Facebook @maedinindia Instagram @maedinindia Twitter @maedinindia CREDITS: Host: Mae Twitter: @maebemaebe Instagram: @maemariyam Audio Editor Post: Kartik Kulkarni Producer: Shaun Fanthome and Husein Haveliwala

We’ve come to the end of our nostalgia-fueled expedition into Maed in India’s archives, and for a fitting finale we have none other than rapper Taran Kaur Dillon… aka Hard Kaur! A pioneer in the hip hop scene and one of the few women rapping in a male-dominated industry, she featured on Episode 74 in November 2016. She talked to Mae about her difficult childhood, where her love for hip hop began, 200 pairs of shoes and her single ‘Sherni’. You also get to hear her perform one her oldest original songs.   Song List: 1984 Changed My Life (18:39 - 21:35) Missing You (41:40 - 45:19) Sherni (1:09:37 - 1:13:03) Breathe (1:21:00 - 1:24:49)   —   Come be our friend: Facebook @maedinindia Instagram @maedinindia Twitter @maedinindia   CREDITS: Host: Mae Twitter: @maebemaebe Instagram: @maemariyam Audio Editor Post: Kartik Kulkarni Producer: Shaun Fanthome and Husein Haveliwala

Throwing it back to September 2017, Episode 110 of the show, we bring you indie scene pioneer and frontman of rock outfit Indus Creed, Uday Benegal! He talks about Indus Creed’s OG avatar Rock Machine, moving to New York, jamming with Slash, and being a cynical optimist. And despite recovering from an injury, he plays stripped down versions of his songs in the studio.  Song List: Take it Harder (18:21 - 23:33) Fireflies (37:18 - 41:46) Looking For The Mahatma (1:03:47 - 1:08:38) --- Follow Uday Benegal: Instagram @udaybenegal Facebook @UdayBenegalOfficial Twitter @udaybenegal Come be our friend: Facebook @maedinindia Instagram @maedinindia Twitter @maedinindia CREDITS: Host: Mae Twitter: @maebemaebe Instagram: @maemariyam Audio Editor Post: Kartik Kulkarni Producer: Shaun Fanthome and Husein Haveliwala

Happy New Year to our Maed in India fam! It’s 2022, and for this week’s episode, we’re going waaaaay back into our archives to Episode 20 (you read that right) of Maed in India from October 2015. This was when Mae had India-born California-raised indie-folk singer-songwriter Zoya Mohan on the show! Zoya and her guitarist Anthony joined Mae at the iconic Famous Studios to talk about old albums that will never see the light of day, her first guitar, teaching herself Logic and Pro Tools to create her EP Letters to Toska, and moving back to India.  Song List: ‎Letters to Toska (09:17 - 12:32) What’s Done Is Done (19:37 - 22:01) Swim (34:00 - 37:08) --- Follow Aditi Ramesh: Instagram @iamzoya Facebook @zoyamusicofficial Twitter @iamzoya Come be our friend: Facebook @maedinindia Instagram @maedinindia Twitter @maedinindia CREDITS: Host: Mae Twitter: @maebemaebe Instagram: @maemariyam Audio Editor Post: Kartik Kulkarni Producer: Shaun Fanthome and Husein Haveliwala

This week, on Maed in India, we continue our journey through our archives with a very special episode. It was July 2017 when Episode 104 of Maed in India came out, and it featured none other than the British reggae dancehall legend Apache Indian! Trying (but not always succeeding) to keep her fangirlling under control, Mae chats to him about his Jamaican nanny, his biggest hits like Boom Shak a Lak, Chok There, Arranged Marriage, stopping gang violence in his hometown Birmingham, starting his own academy & youth centre, and his new record ‘In JA’. He also performed one track acapella exclusively for Maed in India, so don’t miss it! Song List: Beautiful Girls (01:41 - 04:49) Save The World (29:40 - 33:32) See You Later (37:10 - 40:34) Hold U down (42:41 - 46:18) Mariana (50:08 - 53:49) I Pray (1:28:39 - 1:29:52) --- Follow Apache Indian: Instagram @apacheindianhq Facebook @officialapacheindian Come be our friend: Facebook @maedinindia Instagram @maedinindia Twitter @maedinindia CREDITS: Host: Mae Twitter: 

On this week’s episode of our Maed in India nostalgia-fest, we’re throwing it back to Episode 119 that came out in November 2017. This was Carnatic jazz singer-songwriter Aditi Ramesh’s first appearance on Maed in India. She talks about how she left corporate law to pursue music, her parents’ disappointment, and of course, curd rice. She also performs three songs from her debut EP Autocorrect! Song List: Stuff On Our Minds (10:31 - 13:18) Small Fish In A Big Pond (24:50 - 27:59) Marriageable Age (38:02 - 42:20) --- Follow Aditi Ramesh: Instagram @aditi_ramesh Facebook @aditirameshmusic Come be our friend: Facebook @maedinindia Instagram @maedinindia Twitter @maedinindia CREDITS: Host: Mae Twitter: @maebemaebe Instagram: @maemariyam Audio Editor Post: Kartik Kulkarni Producer: Shaun Fanthome and Husein Haveliwala

We’re moving fast to the end of this eventful, or relatively uneventful year, and Mae thinks it’s time to slow down and take a look back. We’re talking waaaay back, considering we’re also over 260 episodes old! Yay, Maed in India! So, to begin this trip down memory lane, we’re starting with Episode 67 released in September 2016. At the time “up-and-coming” indie-folk-pop act from Pune, Easy Wanderlings, featured on the show. They talked about being South Indian, their music being best enjoyed over chai, coffee or a glass of wine, how they tried to maintain some amount of anonymity, and jugaad recording techniques. Song List: I for little Things (16:24 - 19:55) Enjoy it while it lasts (29:22 - 32:50) Heroes of the Way (42:31 - 47:20) --- Follow Easy Wanderlings: Instagram @easywanderlings Facebook @easywanderlings Twitter @easywanderlings Come be our friend: Facebook @maedinindia Instagram @maedinindia Twitter @maedinindia CREDITS: Host: Mae Twitter: @maebemaebe Instagram: @maemariyam Audio Editor Post: Kart

This episode features some major Mallu bonding between Mae and singer-songwriter, producer & educator Shilpa Ananth, whose music seamlessly melds R&B, soul, jazz with her Carnatic stylings. Shilpa opens up about her journey as an artist, navigating desi parents, complicated work visas, and above all else, fear... which also happens to be the name of her latest single that you’ll hear on this episode of Maed in India! --- Follow Shilpa Ananth: Instagram @shilpaananth Facebook @shilpaananthmusician Twitter @frizzball Come be our friend: Facebook @maedinindia Instagram @maedinindia Twitter @maedinindia CREDITS: Host: Mae Twitter: @maebemaebe Instagram: @maemariyam Audio Editor Post: Kartik Kulkarni Producer: Shaun Fanthome and Husein Haveliwala Recorded at Island City Studios

oaf. (noun) a man who is rough or clumsy and unintelligent. Not to be confused with OAFF aka Kabeer Kathpalia, who catches up with Mae on this episode of Maed in India. The electronica producer and composer talks about the meaning behind his artist name and if he still resonates with it, his experience attending experimental schools, his punk band, how he wanted to become a particle physicist, and the story behind his collaboration with singer-songwriter/producer Sohrab Nicholson aka Landslands for their song ‘Grip’ that we’re featuring on this episode!  --- This episode is brought to you by our partners MUBI, a curated streaming service showing exceptional films from around the globe. And we’ve got you covered! Just head on over to mubi.com/maedinindia to access an exclusive deal for a whole year of great cinema at your fingertips for just ₹1999. --- Follow OAFF: Instagram @oaffmusic Facebook @oaffmusic Come be our friend: Facebook @maedinindia Instagram @maedinindia Twitter @maedinindia CREDITS: Host: Mae T

The name of this week’s act on Maed in India is enough to get us pumped for this episode, but did you know they were not originally called what they are now? We’re talking about alternative/indie pop band The Lightyears Explode, and on today’s episode, Mae gets to know from vocalist/guitarist Saurabh Roy, bassist Shalom Benjamin and guitarist Jishnu Guha, how they called themselves 'The Mighty Scoundrels' at one point, their self-titled debut EP that is can’t be found online, their musical evolution, and they also give us a taste of what their next album is going to sound like with some electric live performances! Song List: Fighting With Your Family (01:20 - 04:52) We Don’t Surrender (16:01 - 19:53) The Pigs Have Eyes (27:53 - 30:33) Nostalgia 99 (41:21 - 44:28) --- This episode is brought to you by our partners MUBI, a curated streaming service showing exceptional films from around the globe. And we’ve got you covered! Just head on over to mubi.com/maedinindia to access an exclusive deal for a whole year of

In the studio with Mae for this episode is singer-songwriter and guitarist Bhrigu Sahni. Between all the banter and hysterical laughing, they talk about Bhrigu’s journey from Khadki Junction Blues to busking on subway platforms in New York, the bitter pill that is testing your music on your parents, singing Marathi powadas with his mother, and Bhrigu demonstrates his nifty automatic guitar tuner which honestly is some sorcery at play. He also showcases his Tibetan singing bowl skills on Believe, one of the four songs he performs live in this episode. Song List: Higher (00:49 - 04:13) Theme No. 1 (13:38 - 17:15) Believe (29:38 - 34:53) Time To Fall (44:20 - 48:50) --- This episode is brought to you by our partners MUBI, a curated streaming service showing exceptional films from around the globe. And we’ve got you covered! Just head on over to mubi.com/maedinindia to access an exclusive deal for a whole year of great cinema at your fingertips for just ₹1999. --- Follow Bhrigu: Instagram @bhrigu.sahni Facebook @

IT’S HAPPENING! Maed in India is back in the studio with some incredible artists, their most entertaining stories, and their latest music. So, of course, we had to turn up the heat for our first one back. And to do that, we have none other than rapper Chaitanya Sharma aka SlowCheeta chatting to Mae about the origins of his rap name, having to rip into Ranveer Singh’s character while filming Gully Boy, and giving his wife private concerts of unreleased songs. He also performs four of his favourite tracks, including his latest single Tu Theek Hai Na Bhai?. Song List: Bada Ghar Chhota Ladka (01:09 - 04:46) Aankhon Ka Tara (feat. Namit Das) (16:32 - 20:10) Shwapon (feat. Dipannita Acharya) (32:56 - 35:22) Tu Theek Hai Na Bhai? (feat. Saba Azad) (43:06 - 46:19) --- This episode is brought to you by our partners MUBI, a curated streaming service showing exceptional films from around the globe. And we’ve got you covered! Just head on over to mubi.com/maedinindia to access a whole year of great cinema for Rs. 1,999 o

The world of the interwebs is a wondrous place (most of the time). For Maed in India, it allows us an incredible opportunity to connect with indie artists from across the country. And that’s exactly what we did on this episode! Here to chat about her journey as an artist, winning a Most Promising Artist award (yes, we do find out what she's promising), and the story behind her single Dumplings for the Sad, is Dimapur singer-songwriter Temsu Clover.  --- Come be our friend: Facebook @maedinindia Instagram @maedinindia Twitter @maedinindia CREDITS: Host: Mae Twitter: @maebemaebe Instagram: @maemariyam Audio Editor Post: Kartik Kulkarni Producer: Shaun Fanthome and Husein Haveliwala

We’re at the last stop of Maed in India’s Our Neighbours 2021, and it’s a bittersweet moment after a journey filled with music, banter and new friendships from across the Subcontinent. Our grand finale takes us to Karachi, Pakistan, as we present A For Aleph, a record label, artist collective & music residency, with their collaborative project ‘Qurb’, by Anas Alam Khan, Waqas Hussain, Aziz Kazi and Louis J. Pinto. Mae talks to Anas and Waqas about the music scene in Pakistan post 2008, Waqas’ musical lineage as a 7th generation sitarist, the meaning of ‘Qurb’, and how the song came together. --- Come be our friend: Facebook @maedinindia Instagram @maedinindia Twitter @maedinindia CREDITS: Host: Mae Twitter: @maebemaebe Instagram: @maemariyam Audio Editor Post: Kartik Kulkarni Producer: Shaun Fanthome and Husein Haveliwala

On this episode of Maed in India’s Our Neighbours 2021 series, we’re heading east, with a hop, skip and a jump over the border to Bangladesh. Here, we meet rock duo from Dhaka, Dads In The Park, made up of Ishmam Salim and Tajwar ul Islam. In their chat with Mae, they reveal the backstory behind the band’s name (if there were dads or parks involved), how the two of them joined forces, being engineers and the meaning of their tune ‘Afeenolove’ (ft. Maheyan Hasan). --- Come be our friend: Facebook @maedinindia Instagram @maedinindia Twitter @maedinindia CREDITS: Host: Mae Twitter: @maebemaebe Instagram: @maemariyam Audio Editor Post: Kartik Kulkarni Producer: Shaun Fanthome and Husein Haveliwala

We’re more than halfway through Maed in India’s Our Neighbours 2021, but the longest trip of the journey has just begun, because for this episode of the interview series, we’re flying over a couple continents to meet Tamil-Canadian mridangam player, singer & producer Yanchan! He takes Mae through forcing his parents to let him learn the mridangam as a kid, the beauty of beat tapes, and shows her around his hometown – musically, of course – through his latest release, The Scarborough Beat Tape, from which you’ll get to listen to ‘Bluffs’ and ‘Kennedy Station’ at the end of this episode! --- Come be our friend: Facebook @maedinindia Instagram @maedinindia Twitter @maedinindia CREDITS: Host: Mae Twitter: @maebemaebe Instagram: @maemariyam Audio Editor Post: Kartik Kulkarni Producer: Shaun Fanthome and Husein Haveliwala

The journey continues on Maed in India’s Our Neighbours 2021, as we head to our island neighbours down south! Say hello to R&B/funk/soul/jazz band from Colombo, Unscripted, made up of brothers Shamika and Saveen Makalanda, along with Steven Shera, Charith Fernando, Malitha Dee and Prashan Bastianz. On this episode, Mae chats to Saveen and Charith about their origins in the Sri Lanka metal scene, how the band got together, mosh pits at jazz gigs, and, of course, the burning question of our time - "Is it safe outside?" - which is the name of their latest single featuring rapper 1RSH4D, which you’ll hear at the end of this episode! --- Come be our friend: Facebook @maedinindia Instagram @maedinindia Twitter @maedinindia CREDITS: Host: Mae Twitter: @maebemaebe Instagram: @maemariyam Audio Editor Post: Kartik Kulkarni Producer: Shaun Fanthome and Husein Haveliwala