MUMBAI: Maed in India, India's first indie music podcast, had it's second live edition at #AntiSocial, Khar hosted by Mae Thomas. It featured singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sidd Coutto. Joining him on stage were Johan Pais on bass, Aditya Ashok on drums, Nathan Thomas on guitar who made up the Sidd Coutto Experience appear like a party.
The event also turned out to be an epic performance after the first edition in July which featured the incredible guitarist Warren Mendosa who played alongside Jai Row Kavi on drums, Adi Mistry on bass and Beven Fonseca on keys as Blackstratblues. Speaking about how it felt, Mae said, “It is exciting to know that I am the first indie music podcast. I have worked in the radio industry for quite some time. Also, I worked for one of the only radio station that was providing a platform for independent artists on Thursday nights between 10pm–1am. It was a show where we played only indie music. It was broadcast in seven cities and it was really exciting for me. But one of the things that was really restrictive about radio was that I couldn’t do long form interviews. I couldn’t chat for 10 to 15 minutes about the songs. I had two minutes to get as much as information about the artists and their music.”
She added, “Thankfully, podcasting as a platform gives me the ability to have long conversations with artists and they can take their time to go anywhere they want to go with their set”
Maed in India is hosted by Mae herself and produced by Indus Vox Media (IVM Podcasts). Mae revealed, “They produce the show, which means, it is recorded in their studio in Khar and they edit, package it and distribute the podcast.”
Currently, Maed in India is also available on Saavn - a platform which is very supportive of independent music in India. On being asked about how she collaborated with the two companies, Mae replied, “I started recording with IVM two years ago. They approached me because I had recently quit radio, and I came back to them and pitched an indie music show. They really liked the idea and that’s how we started working together. Last year, Saavn ventured into long form talk content. They were really interested in Maed in India and that’s how we are now distributed on Saavn.”
Mae’s start in the independent music space began when she worked for NH7 in where she used to write about musicians.
Talking about the interviews she has done so far she said, “When I started Maed in India, most of the interviews would happen because I would approach artists after listening to their music. But then things changed when people started finding out about Maed in India. I started getting approached by the artists who wanted to be featured on the show."
Mae, who gets sent a considerable amount of new music from artists, is currently in the process of listening to three new albums - alt blue rock album from a band called NOKNOK from Delhi, Akash Vincent's EP, and new songs by OSVY from Mumbai, who recently left for Berkeley to pursue music. She said, “People send me stuff all the time. At least twice or thrice a week I get artists telling me that they are putting out something new.”
Mae, who recently ventured into events, had never done her own events before. Maed in India is something that she really wanted to take live and wanted to give back to the artists. She added, “For me, it was a big venture doing gigs. I had Blackstratblues perform in July and Sidd Coutto happened in September. I am currently trying to do this once a month with IVM and Saavn. Social have also been very supportive of these events. Currently, I have two more gigs coming soon.”
Understanding the format for Mae’s show, she said, “The podcast format is very different from the event because the event is basically about the band and the gig. But I want a small aspect of my podcast at the event too. Hence why the event always kicks off with a 15-20 minutes conversation with the artists who will be performing. And then the band takes over and performs.”
The idea behind this podcast is that she wants people to get a chance to get to know the artists besides just listening to their music. She revealed, “I meticulously research each artist I have on my show. For example, about Aditya Ashok aka OX7GEN, I found out that the first band he formed in college was called Social Suicide. Nowhere on the internet will you find this detail about him. I pride myself on getting to know as much about the people I am interviewing as possible and I try not to ask generic questions artists usually get asked all the time. When artists realise how much effort I have taken to know and understand them, they become more open to telling me more about them. You always see a musician behind a mic or their instrument, but on Maed in India, you get to know the people they are too.”