Maalavika Manoj, or Mali, as her stage name goes, is one of the prominent indie musicians in the country. Her new single, Absolute, released this August from her debut album, Caution to the Wind, has crossed 60,000 views on YouTube, and tweeted about by A.R.Rahman. She was one among the three Indian artistes chosen this year by Spotify for their Emerging Artists Program, Radar. Some of her songs often carry pertinent social messages as she likes to use her music as a medium for that. And during this pandemic, people have taken more notice of indie artistes with the slowdown of movie releases. Listen to the podcast as she talks about the tight knit indie community and why she gravitates towards melancholic melodies. You can check out her music under Mali and Mali Manoj Music on Spotify and YouTube respectively. You can check out the Maharani Talks on Instagram at www.instagram.com/maharanitalks MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic Show Notes: • Earliest memory of music [04:16] • Early days with Bass in Bridge [10:42] • Managing early criticism [13:42] . Gravitating towards melancholic approach [15:20] . Using her music as a medium [17:07] . Dealing with self-doubt and comparison [18:46] . Her important milestone [22:56] . Making of her song, Absolute [25:12] . What she struggles most as an indie artiste? [28:12] . Are recording houses more receptive? [31:00] . Future plans [38:36] . Rapid fire [43:03]