“Through my songs and music I want to by spread awareness and positive messages” - Alobo Naga

Awards, citations and accolades are not new to independent artiste Alobo Naga. At the recent 6th edition of the Artist Aloud Music Awards, Alobo Naga walked away with three awards - Best Song for Chasing Ghosts, Best English Song for Wolo and Best Artiste from North East India.

“I couldn’t find a book on Classical music, so I decided to pen one myself” - Ranjani Gehani

Alankars - The Riyaz Manual, compiled by singer Ranjani Gehani, is a book filled with musical knowledge. It is a compilation of 2541 alankar/paltas/ swar patterns. A reference book, the ultimate handbook for riyaz/practice for singers and instrumentalists. All possible combinations of 1 to 5 swaras have been compiled into Paltas and presented in this book.

“Other rappers collect sneakers, I collect pens and books.” Rapper Naezy

One of India’s most popular rappers Naved Shaikh, better known as Naezy, who hails from Mumbai, first broke into mainstream rap with the song Mere Gully Mein with fellow rapper Divine.

“It’s important to have some degree of musical education” - Nucleya

Produced by Red Bull Media House, the Mind Behind is a cross-discipline series about the lives and careers of professionals across multiple streams. Started as a three-part video series on Red Bull India’s Instagram page, episode four featured Udyan Sagar, better known as Nucleya, who is arguably amongst India’s most popular electronic musicians. He talks to Mae Mariyam Thomas.

Family Band that Plays together - Quiet Storm

Quiet Storm is the latest to joion the list of winners of the Mahindra Blues Hunt. 3 bands were shortlisted for the finale that took place a week before the Mahindra Blues Festival at Mehboob Studios, Bandra. The event was held at the True School of Music in Lower Parel. The band hunt was judged by Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendosa and got the winners a chance to perform at the Garden Stage of Mahindra Blues Festival 2020, which took take place at Mehboob Studios on 8th & 9th of February. This is the 10th anniversary edition of the festival.

There will never be another Lorna

Konkani music lovers in Goa and worldwide feel proud every time she picks up the mike and with her golden voice fills the air with music. Lorna is perhaps the oldest singer in Goa today, having been a very dominant force in the Goan music industry since the early 70s, someone who began her singing career in her early teens. Lorna performed as a Jazz singer in some of the top hotels and nightclubs in Mumbai and other parts of the country, and was discovered by the legendary musician Chris Perry who loved her voice the first time he heard her.

The sound of F16s

The F16s are an outfit from Chennai, India, carving a niche for themselves in the Alternative Pop genre. In their time spent as a band, they have traversed the length and breadth of the Indian indie music landscape, releasing 2 EPs and a full-length debut album, and performing at prime festivals and venues across the country. The band has recently ventured into Southeast Asia, with a 6 city tour through Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand. Two EPs and one wonderful full-length album, the band has garnered a devoted and loving fanbase and has got great reviews for their extensive work.

There’s a beauty about the unknown: Shantanu Moitra

An Indian music director, Shantanu Moitra has predominantly worked in Hindi and Bengali film industry since a long time. He is best-known for Bollywood films like Parineeta (2005), Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), Laaga Chunari (2007), Khoya Khoya Chand (2007), 3 Idiots (2009), Raajneeti (2010), Madras Cafe (2013) and Mardani and PK (2014) among many others his most recent being October (2018).

Koffee with Kabir

Kabir Cafe has been winning hearts with their soulful performances all over the country. Their songs Sunta Nahi Dhun Ki Khabar, Tu Ka Tu and Mat Kar Maaya ko Ahankar are favorites. The five piece band comprises of Neeraj Arya (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Mukund Ramaswamy (violin), Raman Iyer (mandolin), Viren Solanki (percussion) and Poubuanpou Britto KC (bass guitar). The band devotes their music to the 15th century Indian mystic poet and saint Kabir. Their album ‘Panchrang’ (2016) went on to win the Radio City Freedom Awards - Critics' Choice.

Rock N Roll Train – The Local Train

This band has known to have extensively toured the country and create some memorable gigs, be it at college festivals or at major music festivals. From being ranked as India’s #1 band in 2015 by Sennheiser to getting their song Aaoge Tum Kabhi featured in the Bollywood movie ‘The Angry Indian Goddesses’, The Local Train are touted as the new face of Hindi Rock music in India. The band who were the support acts for Katy Perry, consists of Raman Negi on vocals, Sahil Sarin on drums, Paras Thakur on guitars and Ramit Mehra on bass.