Madras Medai Podcast Madras Medai

The core team behind Madras Medai, reflects on the key points discussed by guests through the first 5 episodes of the series.
Supported by The British Council, this series aims to act as a gateway to empower emerging artists within the music ecosystem and to explore new opportunities.


Independent collectives & Record labels
The artists-fan relationship
Monetizing beyond the music
Technology-driven experiences
The ease of making music, boon or curse?


Tenma : linktr.ee/tenmamakesmusic
Tenma is a world music artist, producer, and entrepreneur. He is the leader and musical director for the band, the Casteless Collective whose first album Magizhchi was released on 31st December 2018. Before that he was co-founder of Tamil rock band, Kurangan. He started the Madras Indie Collective, a platform for local artists, and is co-founder of Madras Records, an indie music label. He was the festival director of Madras Medai 2018, a festival that combined folk, rock and world music on one stage. He is currently composing music for his debut feature film, Irandam Ulaga Porin Kadaisi Gundu (The Last Atomic Bomb from World War II).

OfRo : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OfRo
Rohith Abraham, known professionally as ofRo, is an Indian record producer and songwriter. He is most notably recognised for this work with independent artists like ADK, Arivu, Tenma, Asal Kolaar, Roshan Jamrock, Psychomantra, Ben Human, and many more.

Tejas Nair : https://www.linkedin.com/in/tejas-nair-9ab86864/
Tejas Nair is a new media practitioner, curator & culture entrepreneur building successful media brands as well as community-led projects & festivals within the world of immersive technology & music. He’s been instrumental in shedding light on many of the lesser-known movements of the burgeoning & independent new media, arts & music subcultures of India. Tejas takes on his stage name Spryk while building larger-than-life installations, audiovisual performances, and digital experiences. Puts on the hat of an award-winning Music Director, Audio Engineer & Sound Designer with his studio practice (Press Play Studio) & also takes on the role of a curator with an independent radio show & record label, ‘Skip-A-Beat’ that has been tirelessly showcasing the true underground sounds of India and the subcontinent. Tejas has quickly become influential in shaping the trajectory of independent music, electronic arts & digital creator culture in the country with his work.

Imagining and creating spaces that present a future that is inclusive and diverse. A major challenge we face in the spaces that currently host artists is the lack of diversity in their programming. We must build future spaces for the arts, designed with the community in mind and help navigate the challenges of discrimination and address the lack of opportunities for marginalized communities.

Supported by The British Council, this series aims to act as a gateway to empower emerging artists within the music ecosystem and to explore new opportunities.


Fostering Community Engagement
Supporting Learning
Showcasing Culture
Dialogue and Discourse


Ratheesh Krishnan: https://www.spicinemas.in/
Ratheesh Krishnan believes in "Making a difference to make a living!"

Fondly known as Rats, today he is the Chef du Adventures of SPI Edge, a for-profit entity that nurtures a new breed of disruptive businesses built to benefit from the emerging technologies.

Charlotte Dryden www.ohyeahbelfast.com

Charlotte Dryden is the Chief Executive of the Oh Yeah Music Centre in Belfast, a dedicated music hub for the city. Charlotte has been involved in the Northern Irish music community for nearly 20 years. She has a background in leadership, talent development, music and festival programming, venue and event management, and music media.

Tenma : linktr.ee/tenmamakesmusic
Tenma is a world music artist, producer, and entrepreneur. He is the leader and musical director for the band, the Casteless Collective whose first album Magizhchi was released on 31st December 2018. Before that, he was co-founder of Tamil rock band, Kurangan. He started the Madras Indie Collective, a platform for local artists, and is co-founder of Madras Records, an indie music label. He was the festival director of Madras Medai 2018, a festival that combined folk, rock, and world music on one stage. He is currently composing music for his debut feature film, Irandam Ulaga Porin Kadaisi Gundu (The Last Atomic Bomb from World War II).

People have worked over long distances for several decades, but the logistics have always been challenging. With the advent of Internet and Cloud solutions, the modern artists are breaking down these logistical challenges and creating together across borders.

Supported by The British Council, this series aims to act as a gateway to empower emerging artists within the music ecosystem and to explore new opportunities.


Creating through Collaborations
Technology that bridges the distance
Broader Talent Pool vs Tech limitations


Santhosh Narayanan: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5365739/
Santhosh Narayanan is an Indian film composer and musician in the Tamil film industry. He made his debut as a film composer in the 2012 Tamil film Attakathi.

Nainita Desai: https://nainitadesai.com/

Nainita Desai, is an Ivor Novello Awards nominee and BAFTA Breakthrough Brit. Her recent projects include Oscar-nominated and BAFTA and Cannes-winning feature documentary ‘For Sama’, and ‘The Reason I Jump’, the Sundance winning feature. Other recent credits include Netflix’s most-watched doc of 2020 ‘American Murder: The Family Next Door’ and the hit Netflix India series ‘Bad Boy Billionaires’.

OfRo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OfRo
Rohith Abraham, known professionally as ofRo, is an Indian record producer and songwriter. He is most notably recognised for this work with independent artists like ADK, Arivu, Tenma, Asal Kolaar, Roshan Jamrock, Psychomantra, Ben Human, and many more.

Artists are struggling to make sense of this mess that is digital monetization. With new revenue streams emerging every other day, the artist of today must be ready to explore new paradigms to rake in the internet dollar.

Supported by The British Council, this series aims to act as a gateway to empower emerging artists within the music ecosystem and to explore new opportunities.


Digital monetization
A guide to growing your Digital presence
Algorithms are the new gatekeepers
Partnerships and Brand Building
Are labels still relevant?


Madan Gowri: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6KjrDBN_tIRFT_QNqQbRQ
Madan Gowri is an Indian YouTuber who creates videos in the Tamil language. He is among the prominent social media influencers in the Tamil YouTube forum. He makes informative videos on various topics in his channel.

OfRo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OfRo
Rohith Abraham, known professionally as ofRo, is an Indian record producer and songwriter. He is most notably recognised for this work with independent artists like ADK, Arivu, Tenma, Asal Kolaar, Roshan Jamrock, Psychomantra, Ben Human, and many more.

Chris Cooke: https://30.ilmc.com/humans/361-chris-cooke

Chris Cooke is an editor, journalist, and media entrepreneur. He is co-Founder, MD, and Business Editor of CMU, a service provider to the music industry. Best known for its media – the CMU Daily, CMU Digest, CMU Trends, and Setlist podcast – the CMU business also provides training and consultancy to music companies and runs the CMU:DIY education programme for new talent. It also presents insight sessions at music conferences around the world and its own conference as part of The Great Escape showcase festival in Brighton each May.

A discussion about the evolving trends in the Music and Arts sector, looking at how the industry is coping with change, business models of the future, and moving towards a culture of sustainability.

Supported by The British Council, this series aims to act as a gateway to empower emerging artists within the music ecosystem and to explore new opportunities.


Formalizing appropriate standards of engagement in a predominantly informal Music Industry
Changing the norm
Building and sustaining more than just an audience
Wrexham & Chennai - A tale of two cities – tell the stories and share links



Tejas Nair: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tejas-nair-9ab86864/
Spryk a.k.a Tejas Nair is a new media practitioner, curator & culture entrepreneur building successful media brands as well as community-led projects & festivals within the world of immersive technology & music. He’s been instrumental in shedding light on many of the lesser-known movements of the burgeoning & independent new media, arts & music subcultures of India. Tejas takes on his stage name Spryk while building larger-than-life installations, audiovisual performances, and digital experiences. Puts on the hat of an award-winning Music Director, Audio Engineer & Sound Designer with his studio practice (Press Play Studio) & also takes on the role of a curator with an independent radio show & record label, ‘Skip-A-Beat’ that has been tirelessly showcasing the true underground sounds of India and the subcontinent. Tejas has quickly become influential in shaping the trajectory of independent music, electronic arts & digital creator culture in the country with his work.

Sarah Jones: https://www.focuswales.com/

Sarah Jones is the Programme Manager of the FOCUS Wales international showcase festival. 2020 will be Sarah's 7th year working on FOCUS Wales, having started as a festival assistant ahead of the 2014 event. FOCUS Wales is an annual international showcase festival for the Welsh music industry and takes place in Wrexham each May, placing the industry spotlight firmly on the talent that Wales has to offer the world. 2019 marks the festival’s 9th edition and will welcome over 11,000 festival-goers, with over 200+ bands from around the world performing across 20 stages. Alongside the annual festival, FOCUS Wales are now developing an international branch to their work, supporting artists from Wales to export across the globe, with FOCUS Wales showcases to date at SXSW, M pour Montreal, BreakOut West, Zandari Festa Korea plus more projects to be announced. Sarah also assists with booking and marketing for Llangollen Fringe Festival.

Navin Dorai. Director and Founder at Original Dog : https://www.originaldog.in/

Now more than ever, independent artists are transitioning to re-create an environment that doesn't just deliver content but also finds innovative methods to collaborate and co-exist. It is important for any artist (especially those creating in isolation) to maintain a state of equilibrium and to become resilient to whatever new challenges may arise.

Supported by The British Council, this series aims to act as a gateway to empower emerging artists within the music ecosystem and to explore new opportunities.

Tenma : linktr.ee/tenmamakesmusic
Tenma is a world music artist, producer, and entrepreneur. He is the leader and musical director for the band, the Casteless Collective whose first album Magizhchi was released on 31st December 2018. Before that, he was co-founder of Tamil rock band, Kurangan. He started the Madras Indie Collective, a platform for local artists, and is co-founder of Madras Records, an indie music label. He was the festival director of Madras Medai 2018, a festival that combined folk, rock, and world music on one stage. He is currently composing music for his debut feature film, Irandam Ulaga Porin Kadaisi Gundu (The Last Atomic Bomb from World War II).

Gareth Bonello: https://thegentlegood.com/

Gareth Bonello is an award-winning songwriter and musician that performs under the stage name ‘The Gentle Good’. He creates timeless music inspired by the language and culture of his native Wales and has collaborated extensively with musicians from Sichuan, China, and the Khasi Hills in North East India.