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 Indian classical space. Also, check out her performances from her album, Home, and a new track...

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 to Afrobeat and jazz-pop! Song List: Xathor (01:32 - 07:29) Endhaar (27:16 - 32:29)Kenigol...

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-songwriter and music educator, Banat. She talks about growing up in a traditional Punjabi household...

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! And she’s even brought an old friend along with her too - Music Journalist, Co-founder of...

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 this can of music open, and take a listen! Song List: Alan Ebe - So Late So Soon (02:23 -...

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 List: Desire (00:50 - 03:06) Be Easy (13:48 - 16:30) Choices (31:04 - 33:39) Follow...

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 - 05:29) Vahaka - Anhad (with The Sound Guy Sam) (07:02 - 10:57) Param - Moonrain (11:54 -...

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 finding abhangas and reimaging them, and their experience of performing on the Pandharpur Wari...

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 too. Song List: Komorebi x Curtain Blue - Birds And Bees (02:30 - 05:47) Punch.M - Back to You...

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 down version of a song from his 2020 debut solo-album Aamad, and two unreleased songs! Song...

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, Borkung Hrangkhawl, Young Dirrt & Stunnah Beatz - All Stars (09:07 - 15:02) Kamakshi...

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 favourites. Take it away, Mae! Song List: RANJ & Clifr - Attached (02:28 - 04:49) Swarathma -...

The next guest host of our series of Maed in India team-curated Maed Mixtapes is none other than our Head of Audio Production and resident audio wizard, Kartik Kulkarni! Well, technically Mae requested our team mascot, Kartik’s pet cat Timon, to put this mixtape together. Kartik is only here as translat-purrrrr! Let’s all experience what a catnip-induced mixtape sounds like! Song List: Blu Attic - Mandrem (02:25 - 06:55) Aaditya Rakheja - Mehfooz (07:40 - 11:50) Aira - Hurricane (12:53 -...

This week’s Maed Mixtape is brought to you by Maed in India’s very own producer, Husein! As the producer of the show, he listens to a whole bunch of music that indie artists from all across the country submit to Maed in India every day. So, choosing his favourites for this playlist was really difficult, but also really simple at the same time! What did come super easy to him, however, was the name of his Maed Mixtape. Hit play and he’ll tell you why! Song List: Tejas - As I'm Getting Older...

We’re back with another Maed Mixtape maed by one of our very own! This time on curating and hosting duty is Lakshman Parsuram, an audio engineer at Maed in India. He’s put together a diverse bunch of talented artists and their songs on his mixtape ‘Popcorn’, an ode to something he can never get enough of. So throw your own bag of kernels in the microwave and get set for this mixtape! Song List: gini X Tansen. - Jugnoo (01:39 - 04:36) The Earflower Experiment - They Can Never See (06:09 -...

Joining Mae in the studio this week on Maed in India is alternative hip-hop artist BC Azad aka Arijit Sett. They speak about his early days in Kolkata’s indie music scene, what drew him to hip-hop, and what being a multilingual rapper means to him. He also performs 3 songs from his debut album ‘Naya Hindustan’! Song List: Naya Hindustan (00:10 - 03:20) Aayega Kal (14:41 - 18:09) Boomnation (25:50 - 29:08) Follow BC Azad: Instagram @bc.azad Facebook @lyricalchameleon Come be our...

This is not a drill – Maed Mixtapes are back! Well, er… this isn’t a Maed mixtape, technically. After months of resistance towards mixtapes from Maed in India’s very own Partner/Legal Council/Financial Advisor/Administrator/ Head of Production and everything in between, Shaun Fanthome (who wanted to focus on our studio sessions), he has finally relented. Not just that, he was like, “You know what, I’m going to put together a mixtape of my own!” (with Mae’s blessing, of course). Well, this is...

On this episode of Maed in India, Mae features Mumbai based singer-songwriter and music journalist David Britto aka Arrows. He talks to Mae about how his parents enrolled him for guitar classes (which he hated), what his moniker ‘Arrows’ could have been, why he doesn’t sing on Arrows songs, and more about his multiple upcoming projects, including one with singer-songwriter Vernon Noronha, who is also on vocals for this session! Song List: To Your World (00:59 - 04:37) Buried To Dust...

On Maed in India this week, we have Baroda-based singer-songwriter, producer and visual artist Shashwat Bulusu. Mae chats to him about how his relationship with music went from a tabla, to a guitar, to a punk metal band, to eventually becoming a producer. He tells us more about how his Shashwat and Bullu sides come together on his debut album Pinocchio, his brief foray into comedy, how Aakash Mehta pushed him to focus on his music, and why he avoids existentialism in his songs. He also...

On the show this week are the Easy Wanderlings. They’re a soul, pop, indie-folk band whose 3 founding members featured on Ep. 67 of the show in 2016, albeit anonymously. They are joined by the rest of the current line-up, who tell Mae how each of them joined the band, the challenges of making music in an 8-member band, and what their upcoming EP 'Caught in a Parade' means to them as a group. We even get to listen to them perform songs from this new EP!  Song List: Enemy (00:50 -...

This week, on Maed in India, Mae chats with New Delhi-based bassist and music producer, Harshit Misra aka Hashbass. He performs 3 unreleased tracks exclusively for all you Maed in India listeners. And he features his friend Punjabi singer-rapper Jasdeep Singh aka Burrah. Mae and Harshit talk about taking up music tuitions at a young age, what he loves about the bass, the life of a session musician, writing a song as tribute to his mother that features Shubha Mudgal singing, and his Fruits...

On this episode of Maed in India, we’re back in the studio with singer-songwriter and producer Ankit Dayal, who released his debut album Tropical Snowglobe (Side A) earlier this year. He performs three songs from the album, and chats to Mae about why he likes his album names on the long side. They also reminisce about his days in pop rock band, Spud In The Box, how he got into music production, and he invites Mae to his oasis in Pimplas. Song List: Frowning Sky (00:49 - 05:01) What You...

As we wrap up our series ‘Where Did They Go?’ we head back to episode 136 of the show from September 2018. Mae was joined by R&B neo-soul act Smalltalk, and she asked them about the story behind their band name, and how the songs came together for their debut EP ‘Tacit’. They also thoroughly enjoyed guitarist Siddharth’s school teacher voice, vocalist Samarth and bass player Yohan’s food blog, and other shenanigans. For their performance, they brought in a special guest - rapper and hip...

This week on Maed in India’s rebroadcast series ‘Where Did They Go?’, Mae jumps back to October 2016, to episode 68, when 4 members of alt rock act, Spud in the Box were on the show. They performed stripped down versions of 3 songs from their then sophomore release, Lead Feet Paper Shoes, and chatted about alternative band names, working with KJ Singh, and their long and intricate songwriting process. Take a look at our episode artwork! You’ll see that we’ve created a word search where you...

The next episode that Mae’s picked from our glorious archives – on our “Where Did They Go?” rebroadcast series – is episode 36 of Maed in India from February 2016. This was when she had Bombay blues-rock band The Tripp in the studio, and...