Dave Britto is a song-writer and prolific music journalist based in Mumbai. A staff writer at Rolling Stone India, he has also written for GQ India and The Humming Heart among other publications. Dave tells me about Arrows, his innovative and collaborative music project. He also explains his personal philosophy for music journalism, while giving a history lesson on the Indian music scene from his vantage point as a fan journalist, and contributor,
Was a pleasure to chat with Relic the Oddity back in December 2021. Rel takes me through his journey in hip-hop, his recent move to Spain during the pandemic, the conundrum of “growing as an artist”, and his Christian faith. We talk about the creative process (beat making vs lyric writing), the demands on an artist in an age of streaming, and why he’s got “one foot in and one foot out” of the gospel rap game. It took me way to long to get this episode up after a long hiatus (8 months!), but it’s a great conversation with lots of insight from Rel, and a lot of rambling from me (a huge chunk of which I had to edit out). Enjoy my conversation with Rel McCoy aka Relic the Oddity.
Brad Kilpatrick is a drummer, percussionist, producer, engineer, and generally outstanding musician based in Toronto. We cover a lot of topics in this expansive conversation. Brad gives some insight into the difference between the world of classical music and the rock/pop scene. He speaks extensively about his process when composing and recording drum parts for his clients. I also get to hear a variety of stories and insights from his journey from studying classical music, to gigging and recording with one of his favourite acts. http://www.bradkilpatrick.com
https://www.instagram.com/freshkils/
freshkils.com/music-licensing
Kathleen Williamson is an Attorney Emeritus, Doctor of Philosophy in anthropology, and singer/songwriter based in Tucson, Arizona. Kathleen shares some gems from her vast archive of lived experiences and accumulated insight. Born in the 1950’s, Kathleen has a unique perspective on the many paradigm shifts that have occurred over her lifetime. She gives us a few clues to her expansive work in anthropology and law. We also chat about her experience with Vispassana meditation ad how it’s impacted her spiritual journey. Finally, she gives us a run down of the songs from her two studio albums. https://kathleenwilliamson.com/
Amita is the owner of Surya Health and Wellness, where she practices Ayurvedic medicine and nutrition consulting. She is the author of two books, Peaks and Valleys; and My Mother’s Ayurvedic Kitchen, and teaches at the faculty of integrated medicine at the University Of Arizona. I bombard her with all my questions related to health and wellness. She handles it like a pro. Because she is. She breaks down the basics of Doshas. We chat about oil pulling, bowl movements, diets, and more!
Alan Rego is a bass music lover, media connoisseur, and applied creativity specialist based in Mumbai. Alan and I sit and chat at his most chill and epic window, overlooking the ebbs and flows of daily life in Andheri West. We cover a variety of topics in this free flowing conversation. In particular, we deconstruct some of the assumptions at the heart of freelance culture, identity, and the “self as brand”.
Sriram T. T. is a guitar player and condom magnate based in Chennai. He is a founding member of the most excellent rock band Skrat. This is the first in-person episode of Mispronunciation Nation and we chat about all kinds of stuff in this expansive and often silly three hour conversation (the unedited was much longer). Sriram tells me about the story and lore behind Skrat. He illuminates some of the cultural differences between South Indians and North Indians. I get some info on cars and motor sports. And we generally talk all kinds of shit…
Ben Wallick is a musician, producer, composer, and podcaster based in Jerusalam. He is the host of the Secret Sonics podcast. Ben shares his journey from Brooklyn, NY to Israel and the serendipitous events that lead to his focus in audio. He illuminates me on some aspects of Judaic practice and culture. We also chat about our experiences in the podcasting medium.
Jamar Nolan (aka J Nolan) is an artist, songwriter, and author based in Atlanta. He works as an emcee within a variety of domains. We chat about what it’s like to write in different settings from the personal to the corporate. He fills me in on what it’s like to exist as an emcee in a city with such an illustrious hip-hop history. Jamar also tells me about his new ebook titled ‘The Pen Game Portfolio’, where he instructs artists on how to use their writing skills to acquire income streams outside of their own solo work.
Kristian Montano is a singer/songwriter, composer, outstanding father, and best mastering engineer on planet earth.
Kristian talks about his shifting perspective with regards to his band and his music. We discuss new ways of conceptualizing what it means to be an artist during these times of flux. I bombard him with all kinds of dumb mastering questions from the point of view of a clueless mix engineer.
Kristian is a great friend and we just generally shoot the shit. Check out his two releases with his band Sun K. He also plays guitar for Jeremie Albino and keys for Andee.
Saurabh Roy is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer, and pop culture connoisseur based in Mumbai. He is the front-person for the most outstanding band, The Lightyears Explode.
Saurabh and I chat about the process behind his band’s latest release, his time studying music production at Point Blank Academy, how he incorporates pop culture into his work, and much much more.
Super interesting convo with the man behind one of my favourite bands.
Instagram: @thelightyearsexplode & @roysaurabh153
Rohan Rajadhyaksha is a keyboardist, vocalist, composer, and producer based in Mumbai. He works on productions for films and musicians with his colleagues at Salvage Audio Collective. He has also toured with some of the most acclaimed acts in the Indian music scene.
This was a great chat. Rohan offers tremendous depth and insight on everything from creative process, compensation/crediting of producers, to the challenges/sacrifices of the creative lifestyle, and the very nature of creativity itself.
Maalavika Manoj (aka Mali) is a songer/singwriter from Chennai. Mali and I reflect on our time working together on her upcoming LP Caution To The Wind. Mali fills us in on how she put together her last two music videos. She recounts her musical journey and we clear up how to pronounce both her first name and also “Chennai”.
Mali is a great friend and it’s always fun to catch up with her. Check out her latest two singles (produced by yours truly) “Age Of Limbo” and “Absolute”, along with all the rest of her music on all major platforms.
Follow her on instagram at @maalavikamanoj.
Sahir is a singer, songwriter, emcee, producer, and a founding member of Mumbai’s finest. We chat about music journalism, ancient history, and the creative process. Towards the end of our chat, we talk about Sahir’s musical journey.
Taarika John is an artist, illustrator, and writer based in Brooklyn, New York. Before moving to New York to pursue her masters, Taarika cut her teeth as a freelance illustrator in Mumbai. Taarika is a close friend and I have always looked to her as a freelancing sensei of sorts. Follow her work on instagram at @taarikajohnart.
Karun Kannampilly is a drummer and music educator based in Mumbai.
Aside from being a formidable session player in the Mumbai scene, Karun handles drumming duties for acts like The Koniac Net and Raghav Meattle. He has a knack for music education and founder of Drum House; an organization that facilitates workshops and camps for aspiring drummers all over India.
We chat about his approach to tuning and treating the snare drum, Indian Matchmaker, and how the absence venues like Blue Frog and I Bar have affected the music scene here in Mumbai.
Instagram: @karunk
The Koniac Net
Instagram: @thekoniacnet
Twitter: @thekoniacnet
SoundCloud: thekoniacnet
Laurie Dempster is a long-time friend of mine.
This is a 2 hours + conversation of him and I complaining about finance and economics. We share some our personal experiences and half-baked theories.
Enjoy!
James Robinson is a keyboardist based in Toronto. He is a founding member of the 9 piece soul/funk power house, The Soul Motivators.
James gives us a crash course history of the Soul Motivators and explains the ethos behind the bands aesthetic. We reminisce about the many shows that James and I have experienced together and tie it into a few of my live performance pet peeves.
James and I have been friends for over ten years, so many tangents are entertained.
The Soul Motivators
https://www.facebook.com/soulmotivators/
https://soulmotivators.bandcamp.com/
Jason D’Souza is a producer, composer, and mix-engineer based in Mumbai. He’s also one of my best buds and collaborators. This conversation is two hours of us just shooting the shit… mostly talking about music and music production. We talk about the low end struggle, producing music remotely, the end of the loudness wars, and I try to get Jason to make the best case in favour of Nu-Metal.
Shailpik Biswas is a multi-mode artist. We talk about living through the recent hurricane Amphaan, his art, and his journey on a more mindful and embodied path.
A Comprehensive List Of Organizations To Donate To For Super-cyclone Amphan Relief. https://docs.google.com/document/d/14…https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=https%3A%2F%2Fdocs.google.com%2Fdocument%2Fd%2F14lAGoYGToveHeEEIjGdQzmmfDiSUMHtXyQwbynD2U9s%2Fedit%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR13WgpkgjB7-ALTi_abqA073PvQ5A_vgPI3-DF1nQwkeotDiaNQaut4re8&v=v98Wz0QR0wo&redir_token=LSrk1_ECmEDE29AT47j5cAPKirx8MTU5MDg2MjgzMEAxNTkwNzc2NDMw&event=video_description
Suyasha Sengupta (aka Plastic Parvati) is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer, and headstand enthusiast based in Kolkata. I first saw Suyasha perform as the front-woman for The Ganesh Talkies in 2015. I was blown away by the sheer energy of the band and I’ve been a fan of her music ever since. Suyasha takes us through her early influences, the formation of The Ganesh Talkies, and her solo work as Plastic Parvati. We jam about music production, synthesis, yoga, and mental health (among other topics).
You can find Plastic Parvati here:
Soundcloud: Suyasha
Instagram: plasticparvati
Facebook: plasticparvatimusic
You can find The Ganesh Talkies here:
Soundcloud: ganeshtalkies
Instagram: theganeshtalkies
Facebook: GaneshTalkies
Jehangir Jehangir (aka JJ) is a musician, composer, engineer, and the proprietor of Island City Studios in Mumbai. JJ’s journey is inextricably linked with that of ICS and its predecessor, Cotton Press Studio. JJ tells us about his beginnings – learning the ropes as an engineer and business owner, along with the crew of talented folks that would eventually come to form the acclaimed Salvage Audio Collective. You’ll hear me repeatedly mention how great Island City Studios is – for good reason: It’s more than just a high end recording facility. It’s the hub, the home, for the thriving indie-music scene in Mumbai and beyond.
You can find Island City Studios on instagram via @studioislandcity
Jishnu ‘Short Round’ Guha is a film maker, singer, songwriter, guitarist, podcaster, and colourful-sock aficionado. Jishnu manages to get me to divulge my daknam and schools me on the Marvel cinematic universe. We discuss various accents, pronunciations, dialects, and colloquialisms in English and Indian English. And Jishnu’s got a helluva story about filming Buddy Guy at the Mahindra Blues Festival.
You can hear Short Round’s latest album ‘Favourite Strangers’ (produced by yours truly) along with his other releases on all major streaming platforms.
Instagram: @short__round
Geek Fruit: http://www.geekfruit.in Instagram: @geekfruithq
Mosambi Juice Productions: http://www.mosambijuiceproductions.com/ Instagram: @mojuproductions Vimeo: mosambijuiceproductions
Zain Calcuttawala is a musician, producer, engineer, educator, and all-round audio professional based in Mumbai. He also advocates for greater awareness and understanding around mental health and related issues. This is a great conversation with a pretty straight-forward description. We spend the first hour talking about esoteric music production techniques. We spend the remaining time speaking about mental health from a few different angles.
If you’re not into super technical music production jargon but want to get to the mental health stuff, you can skip ahead past the 60 minute mark.
This was a very illuminating conversation for me.
Zain has worked with artists like Short Round, Raghav Meattle, and Flying Shoe, among others. You can find Zain on instagram via @bullibainbridge and bullibainbridge on SoundCloud.
David Abraham is a singer, songwriter, composer, and frontman of the Mumbai based indie-rock outfit, The Koniac Net. We start off a little slow, but then the conversation gets pretty lively. David and I rally back and forth regarding various bands and artists – how, when, and where we got into them. We discuss the perils of when genre-labels like “indie-rock” and “alternative” become mere verbalisms and what it all even means. Finally, Dave gives us a run down of The Koniac Net releases thus far, what’s next for the band, his burgeoning solo identity, and the bands exciting but scary (maybe) trip to play a rock festival in Finland.
You can find David Abraham on instagram via @diggidydamndave
You can check out The Koniac Net’s latest album called ‘They Finally Herd Us’ (produced by yours truly) on all major streaming platforms along with the rest of their releases.
Here are some of their social media links:
Instagram: @thekoniacnet
Twitter: @thekoniacnet
SoundCloud: thekoniacnet
Tejas Menon is a singer/songwriter, podcaster, guitarist, founding member of GeekFruit, and all around superstar. Tejas schools me on the impact of Star Wars on our modern reality. We compare/contrast our experiences growing up in Indian diaspora communities abroad, weigh the merits of the “follow your dreams” narrative, and share our perspectives on being freelance creatives in a time where the means of productions are more accessible than ever while the world around us appears more volatile. Tejas is a great friend and conversationalist. His latest full length album ‘Make It Happen’ is available on all major streaming platforms along with his other releases.
Here are Tejas’ socials:
Instagram: @tejasmenon1989
Twitter: @tejasmenon
SoundCloud: musicbytejas
Floss Daily Productions 