Maed in India

Kasto cha?! This week on Maed in India, we have an indie dream pop act band all the way from Kathmandu on show… Phosphenes! Mae chats with band members Abhishekh, Aman, and Prajwal about the indie music scene in Nepal, producing music in their bedrooms, visa woes and why Nepali momos are the best momos. And, of course, they perform four songs from their discography - harmonies and all.    Song Lis...

This week we have another new Maed in India producer, Meghna Gulati, with her first ever #MaedMixtape, 'Raahat - it translates to the cosiest kind of comfort. You know, that warm hug from a dear old friend or floating around lazily in a pool - it’s a gentle pause amidst the chaos. The songs on her mixtape are a whispered peace to her busy brain. And she hopes to bring that calm to you too.   Song...

This week we have Maed in India’s newbie producer Ruchi Sawardekar with her first ever #MaedMixtape - Platypus. As an animal enthusiast, no creature has piqued her curiosity more than the odd looking, platypus. Ruchi brings you some of the most fascinating and bizarre facts about this Australian-native amphibian that’s got a paddle-shaped tail like a beaver; a sleek, furry body like an otter; and...

Maed in India’s sound wizard and Head of Audio Production, Kartik Kulkarni is back with his second mixtape. After the success of his previous mixtape ' Catnip ,' Kartik found himself in a creative drought, experiencing a 'Nakabandi' of ideas in his head. And guess what? That's exactly the title of his new mixtape! Grab your headphones and get ready to have your ears arrested to the beats of 'Nakab...

Maed in India’s illustrator and graphic designer Alika is back with another Maed Mixtape. As with her last mixtape ‘ Hippocampus ’, she chose the name because she really wanted to draw an islet, but came to realise that the songs she chose on this mixtape were also like islets – standout pieces of music amongst the waves. So put those headphones on, and head out to Alika’s islet! — Song List: Aans...

Back with another mixtape after ‘ Mirinda ’ is Nikkethana aka Nikki, our producer at Maed in India. This time, she’s drawn an analogy between the changing seasons of nature and the changing circumstances of our lives. Let the songs on this mixtape make you experience a year full of Seasons!  Song List: Utsavi Jha - Chanchal Mann (01:46 - 04:46) Nikhita Gandhi - Maharani (05:36 - 08:05) Sanskar Vai...

This Maed Mixtape was brought to you by Sakshi, who works as an HR, Admin, and Production Assistant here at Maed in India. We’re not sure if she missed the memo and thought she was making a food video to teach us how to prepare her favourite dum biryani recipe, but she managed to bring it back to regular programming. So you get to enjoy a mixtape of great music while also getting to figure out how...

Put your backpack on and your school name tag because Mae’s back on mixtape duty and this time she’s brought her water bottle in tow. Those Milton water bottles were not just containers that stored water but the ultimate school accessory in the 90s. So grab your water bottle, take a refreshing sip and get ready to go dive into a pool of musical adventure with Mae.  Song List:  Till Apes - Whoa The...

Next up in this Maed Mixtape takeover by the Maed in India team is our audio engineer Lakshman. As a follow up to his previous mixtape ‘ Popcorn ’, something he can’t get enough of, he’s named this one after something even more dear to him – his beloved cup of joe. His methodical (read: obsessive) preparation process is the best part of his day, and the songs on this mixtape give him a similar kin...

We’re back with our second round of Maed Mixtapes made by yours truly, the Maed in India team! This week, Maed in India producer Husein returns with an aptly named mixtape with a playlist of songs that will transport you to a dreamy place far, far away. So fasten your seatbelts, sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. Thank you for choosing Maed in India Airways! Song List: Gooth - Her Song (02:27 -...

It’s time for yet another mixtape in this round of Team Maed mixtapes, as our very own graphic designer and illustrating wizard Alika Gupta puts together her own playlist of Indian indie music she enjoys. As a visual person, she named her Maed Mixtape after a mythological creature she wanted to draw for the mixtape cover. Nothing wrong with playing to your strengths! Nonetheless, it gave us a mixt...

We may have left the Ladies Special behind us in March, but the conversation around woman in music must not end. So, on this episode of Maed in India, we’re featuring the prolific percussionist and producer, Swarupa Ananth. She tells us what it was like growing up around her first musical inspirations – her mother and grandmother, picking up the tabla at the age of 7, and how Zakir Hussain’s fathe...

It’s the final chapter of our 2023 Ladies Special, and we’re featuring Bhojpuri folk artist Nimisha Shankar. She chats to Mae about how learning classical music as a child wasn’t something that interested her as much as singing folk music, interacting with Bhojpuri-speaking people from over 16 countries, and setting up Recalling Roots, a project that brings together musical & cultural identiti...

This week, on our Ladies Special, Mae is joined by Carnatic musician and vocalist Sushma Soma, based in Singapore and Chennai. Sushma opens up about quitting her Big Four accounting job to pursue music full time, her passion for sustainability and the environment, as well as preserving traditional artforms. She even opens up about the often problematic power dynamic between guru and shishya in the...

Our Ladies Special is chugging along very nicely, and this episode is no different! We feature Assamese Soul-pop folk singer-songwriter Sampriti, who talks about instances of colourism she’s had to face in her life, landing a job as a performer on a cruise ship, and writing in Assamese coming to her naturally. Of course, she performs three songs in her signature style that marries Assamese lyrics...

We declare the 2023 edition of Maed in India’s Ladies Special open for your listening pleasure! It’s our annual celebration of women in independent music in India, and our theme this year goes back to our country’s musical roots. We’re featuring artists who showcase India’s rich heritage through their identity, regional language or music style. To get this show on the road we have singer-songwrite...

It’s happening.  No, this isn’t a dream.  We can’t contain our excitement any longer.  We have two HUGE reasons to celebrate.  It’s Maed in India’s 300th episode!!!  We’re celebrating this milestone with a band that’s been the soundtrack of the lives of college students through the late 90s and early 2000s.  Mae has the iconic alt rock band Zero in the studio to celebrate 300 episodes of the show!...

Our series of team-made Maed Mixtapes returns this week with ‘Mirinda’. Yes, the bright orange soda. It also happens to be a word in Esperanto, which is the world's most widely spoken constructed language. The person who curated this effervescent mixtape is Nikkethana aka Nikki, a producer at Maed in India! She’ll tell you why she chose ‘Mirinda’, and more about the songs on her mixtape. So pop th...

This week, on Maed in India, we’re featuring songwriter, composer and guitarist from Ahmedabad – Chirag Todi! Mae chats to him about building up the confidence to sing again after a 10 year hiatus, overcoming stage fright, approaching collaborators for his EP Panodrama, and milestones, past and future! He also performs 3 of his songs solo on vocals and guitar, specially for Maed in India! WSong Li...

We’re back with another Maed Mixtape this week! This time, Sakshi, our HR, Admin and Production Assistant, has put together an eclectic mix of indie artists and songs with one thing in common – you’ll hear distinct touches of Indian classical or folk music in all of them. Presenting Raga, an ode to Sakshi’s love for classical fusions! Song List: Rakuuth - Rasam N Rhymes ft. Rap Kid India (02:18 -...

We’re a full house in the studio on this episode of Maed in India, with the 6 members of contemporary folk fusion band Abhanga Repost joining Mae this week! The group revives traditional Marathi abhangas or devotional poems of saints from Maharashtra, into contemporary renditions . Along with performing three special abhangas, they also tell Mae about how they came together, their process of findi...

We’re back with another Maed Mixtape, and keeping our series of Team Maed mixtapes going with the first one of the year by Sonali Gupta, an Assistant Producer here at Maed in India. From our vast selection of music submissions, she’s picked the songs that made her bounce the most! And she hopes these tracks make you bounce too. Swaying or rocking from side to side are also appropriate responses to...

Back in the studio, Mae is joined by Urdu-Blues music composer, performer, and writer Sameer Rahat! He talks about his relationship with poetry and music, coming from a family of poets, how classical ghazals and traditional blues came together in his music, how Urdu as a language is dying a gradual death, and on his experience being a music composer for film and TV. He also performs a stripped dow...

In January 2021, we released a special Maed Mixtape called FOMO, in the belief that, on Maed in India, we “leave no song behind” (at least not the good stuff). Now we’re back with another edition of FOMO to feature the tunes that are giving Mae some major FOMO. Well, in that she thinks she missed featuring them in 2022! Song List: Daira - Mazaar (01:30 - 07:17) Meba Ofilia, Khasi Bloodz, G'nie, Bo...

HOW IS IT THE END OF 2022 ALREADY?!?! Okay, everyone calm down. CALM DOWN. There’s only one thing we can do to come to terms with this, and that is –  take a listen to some of the most incredible performances from our Maed in India studio sessions this year. Please know that if Mae could, she would feature all performances from Maed in India 2022 in her Best of, but alas, she picked 10 of her favo...