Maed in India

Whether it’s a shoegaze band from Chandigarh, thrash metal act from Visakhapatnam, rapper from Kashmir, vocal folk quartet from Kohima, Tamil indie pop act from Madurai, or a singer-songwriter from Mussoorie, Maed in India is where you’ll discover it. Started in 2015, music nerd and ex-radio presenter Mae Mariyam Thomas showcases the best talent coming out of South Asia and its diaspora.  The show is India’s first indie music podcast and prides itself on being the premier destination for new music, little known stories that give you a peek into the lives of independent musicians, as well as being an ongoing archive of unreleased music never heard before. “Remember that in the darkest days when everything stopped, you turned to artists.” - Jishnu Bandyopadhyay

  1. Best Of Best Of (featuring Mae & Shaun)

    10/09/2025

    Best Of Best Of (featuring Mae & Shaun)

    We’ve hit the big 1-0, baby! And we’ve gone full circle (and slightly off the rails). Over the past few weeks, we’ve been rewinding through the years, bringing you our Best Of specials circa 2015. And now, we’ve gone COMPLETE inception with a ‘Best of Best Of’ special. Yep, you heard that right. Ten years, 300+ episodes, and countless bad jokes, Mae’s back behind the mic, joined by Shaun, her partner, our COO, and head of all things punny. Together, they take turns picking their favourite tracks from across Maed in India history - breaking a few rules, trying (and failing) to be funny, and getting very sentimental along the way. Also known in-house as BOBO (because it’s adorbs). It’s big. It’s loud. It’s emotional. It's our own block party down the road. 10 years on and still going strong. WARNING: Please know the songs picked were very arbitrary and very dependent on our mood, work load, life drama, and bodily functions that day. Any other day and we might have picked a completely different bunch. OKChaloBye.   Song List: The Koniac Net - Crawling (04:55 - 08:07) Jose Neil Gomes - Tree Outside (09:08 - 14:33) Vernon Noronha - Come Back Jack (15:43 - 21:09) Uday Benegal - Looking for the Mahatma (22:42 - 27:28) Chabuk - Pyaar (28:07 - 31:47) Ladies Compartment - Mountain Song (34:45 - 37:40) Shan Vincent De Paul - Die Iconic (40:22 - 42:10) JBABE - Punch Me in My Third Eye (44:49 - 46:27) Sampriti - Xathor (49:36 - 55:31) Blackstratblues - Random Improv At Sunset (57:59 - 01:01:10)   Come be our friend: Instagram @maedinindia Twitter @maedinindia   CREDITS: Host: Mae & Shaun Instagram: @maemariyam Twitter: @maebemaebe Producer: Shaun Fanthome and Meghna Gulati Sound Edited & Mastered by: Kartik Kulkarni Artwork: Alika Gupta

    1h 1m
  2. The Year Everyone Found Their Soundcloud Password

    09/07/2025

    The Year Everyone Found Their Soundcloud Password

    Maed in India is 10 YEARS OLD and this episode we are spinning back to 2019! This year was a medley of emotions: righteous anger, spontaneous joy, extreme chaos, much yearning, an urge to leave parties early to go to sleep – it was also the year before we knew how bad the world could get.   In this episode, we celebrate songs that reminisce about the time (almost) everyone left the band, and spontaneously jammed about a long lost off-white sari with a gold zari border. 2019 was also made extra special by our very first Ladies Special, a now-annual tradition where we spotlight indie women on that oh-so-auspicious occasions of International Women's Day.     The voice you hear at the top of this episode is, our very own Audio Engineer, Nihar Temkar, who goes back to being 10 and when his curious mind was fascinated by his grandfather’s cassette recorder, wondering, “how on earth does this little ribbon of tape hold music?”   Song List: Sid Sriram - 2 am Prayer (04:50 - 09:01) MC Manmeet Kaur - Liberal Slavery (10:14 - 12:57) Aankh Micholi - Sacchai (13:32 - 18:48) The Fanculos - Can I Ask You A Rhetorical Question (19:24 - 24:23) Ladies Compartment & Friends - Conversation (25:24 - 33:19) Swadesi - Akhri Mauka (33:53 -  36:47) Abhilasha Sinha - After Party (38:06 - 42:13) Blackstratblues - [Random Improv At Sunset] (43:16 - 47:11) tig3rbabu - Maria (48:34 - 54:56) Voctronica - [Spontaneous Jam] (55:50 - 58:43) Kamakshi Khanna Collective - Breathe (59:47 - 01:05:31) aswekeepsearching - Rooh (01:08:18 - 01:12:41) Fame The Band - Over And Out (01:13:17 - 01:17:02)   Come be our friend: Instagram @maedinindia Twitter @maedinindia   CREDITS: Host: Mae Instagram: @maemariyam Twitter: @maebemaebe Producer: Shaun Fanthome and Meghna Gulati Sound Edited & Mastered by: Kartik Kulkarni Artwork: Alika Gupta

    1h 18m
  3. Quarantine? More Like Quarantunes

    08/24/2025

    Quarantine? More Like Quarantunes

    This week we’re rewinding to 2020: a year that needs no introduction. Grief, loss, anxiety, chaos – it was heavy. And somehow, the music we featured that year mirrored all those messy, chaotic emotions of helplessness, of isolation, and loneliness - all of which came spilling out uncontrollably. This episode is about taking a pause and taking stock of the tiniest things. The good, the bad, the ugly. Basically, it's a much needed therapy session.    Yet, even though the world shut down, we got to record some true gems including our #RunTheWorld Ladies Special and our 200th episode!!! – with our very own “Reserve Bank of Indie” 200-rupee note in circulation (if only it were legal tender…)   This is a snapshot of a year we’d rather forget, told through music we can't help but love. PS: This episode features an Intro VO by Head of HR & Admin, and Mother Hen to all at Maed in India, Natasha, who managed to sneak in 10 horse puns in honour of our 10th birthday. Brownie points if you can spot them all!   Song List: Parvaaz - Mastaan (03:23 - 08:53) Taba Chake - Hugalo (09:38 - 12:28) Nikhil D'Souza - (Love is a Liar 13:38 - 18:42) Karshni - Fader (20:40 - 23:12)  Bawari Basanti - Kya Bolein (25:02 - 29:00) Saltwater - Sheets (29:29 - 32:47 ) Kanchan Daniel - Jackie (33:33 - 40:09) Sarathy Korwar - Mawra (41:00 - 47:52) Seedhe Maut - Dehshat (48:59 - 51:51) Across Seconds - Four Light Years From Home (52:23 - 57:16) Shan Vincent De Paul - Die Iconic (58:29 - 01:00:17) Azaman Hoyvoy - ELFL (Everybody Looking For Love) (01:01:24 - 01:09:00)   Come be our friend: Instagram @maedinindia Twitter @maedinindia   CREDITS: Host: Mae Instagram: @maemariyam Twitter: @maebemaebe Producer: Shaun Fanthome and Meghna Gulati Sound Edited & Mastered by: Kartik Kulkarni Artwork: Alika Gupta

    1h 10m
  4. 0% Auto-Tune, 100% Auto-Feel

    08/18/2025

    0% Auto-Tune, 100% Auto-Feel

    10 years of Maed in India and this week we’re rewinding to 2017: a year of big firsts, bittersweet moments, and a whole lot of goosebumps. It was the year Maed in India went LIVE (!!) with Blackstratblues, celebrated our 100th episode with legends Indian Ocean in their Delhi studio, and even had Apache Indian drop by to sing acapella while on tour in India. We had tracks that gave us Goa vibes, deep dives, bandmates roasting each other, stripped down punk rock, and a whole lot of unreleased gems.  But the year wasn’t all highs. We tragically lost the profoundly talented keys player Karan Joseph aka Madfingers, who had featured on an episode with drummer Lindsay D’Mello aka DCF. His loss was felt deeply in the indie scene. This Best Of is a time capsule of where indie music was at in 2017: raw, experimental, emotional, and unforgettable.  PS: You absolutely can NOT miss the intro by Lakshman, our sound engineer, who talks about a hilarious case of Chinese whispers that made him board the wrong bus after school way back when he was 10. Press play, reminisce, and relive with us.   Song List: Apache Indian - I Pray (05:27 - 06:41) Ranjit Arapurakal - Nothing is Real (08:24 - 11:22) Bone Broke - You Run (13:06 - 16:51) Aditi Ramesh - Small Fish In a Big Pond (17:45 - 20:54) Indian Ocean - Maa Rewa (22:19 - 24:40) Chayan & Smiti - Mindfire (26:29 - 31:03) The Yellow Diary - Marz (32:09 - 35:49) Uday Benegal - Fireflies (36:51 - 41:17) Dossers Urge - Erase (44:18 - 48:31) Blackstratblues - Renaissance Mission (Live) (49:31 - 54:39) Tejas - Falling Out (57:01 - 01:02:45) DCF vs Madfingers - Untitled Jam (01:04:01 - 01:13:37)   Come be our friend: Instagram @maedinindia Twitter @maedinindia   CREDITS: Host: Mae Instagram: @maemariyam Twitter: @maebemaebe Producer: Shaun Fanthome and Meghna Gulati Sound Edited & Mastered by: Kartik Kulkarni Artwork: Alika Gupta

    1h 14m
  5. Vocals Were Served, Warmed, and Toasted

    08/03/2025

    Vocals Were Served, Warmed, and Toasted

    It's our 10th birthday and this week we’re flashing back to 2022 – a year full of musical catharsis, pandemic hangovers, and.... Ummm, well, mostly, pandemic hangovers yeah.   We talked about how rainy day funds helped a band like Swarathma, others inspired #MaedMixtapes (looking at you, pop rock band from Nagaland, Trance Effect), and even music videos that were only made possible with samosa bribes by JBabe. We also had songs that made us cry, filled us with rage, FOMO and hit us right in the chest.    This re-release comes with a brand new intro by our Head of Design, Alika Gupta, who also created the cover art that looks like it belongs in a trippy retro video game, almost like the end of a fever dream – and I guess that's what were still feeling at the end of 2022. This is a time capsule of all that was raw, ridiculous, and real that made that year unforgettable.   So press play and feel the feels.   RANJ & Clifr - Attached (04:22 - 06:43) Swarathma - Raah-e-Fakira (09:43 - 15:01) Alvin Presley - I'll Miss This Day (17:29 - 22:35) JBABE - Punch Me in My Third Eye (24:38 - 26:17) Trance Effect - Took Me A While (28:25 - 32:00) Tribemama Marykali - Serpent on Dance Floor (33:07 - 36:53) Ankit Dayal - What You Need To Hear/Suffer (39:01 - 41:53) Aakash Mehta - Sister Superior (43:45 - 46:32) Easy Wanderlings - Mayflower (49:48 - 53:58) Hashbass ft. Burrah - Someone to Believe in Me (54:51 - 57:59)   Come be our friend: Instagram @maedinindia Twitter @maedinindia   CREDITS: Host: Mae Instagram: @maemariyam Twitter: @maebemaebe Producer: Shaun Fanthome and Meghna Gulati Sound Edited & Mastered by: Kartik Kulkarni Artwork: Alika Gupta

    59 min
  6. Part Music, Part Existential Crisis

    07/27/2025

    Part Music, Part Existential Crisis

    It’s our birthday week, month, YEAAAR. Maed in India turns 10 and we’re still feeling emo, nostalgic, and very, very proud. As we blow out the candles on a decade of discovering awesome Indian independent music, we’re throwing it back to one of our most jam-packed years yet: 2016. We dropped a wild 45 episodes that year - a fever dream of folk, punk, blues, alt-rock and more. While most bands are still kicking and many others have bloomed onto the scene, some vanished into the great indie abyss, and others live on only in our headphones and hearts.  Tune into this Best Of special to hear everything from the then up-and-coming The F16s, "suburban" punk band Punk on Toast, Gowri Jayakumar in her many avatars, and much much more. We also feature the heart-on-his-sleeve Vernon Noronha, virtuoso guitarist Aditya Balani singing long songs, and a musical breakdown by guitar nerd Warren Mendonsa. This re-release is introduced by our Head of Video, Jishnu Guha, who once sang on our mic and now spends most of his time making sure our videos come to life. He’s here to remind you (and himself) why we’re still doing this 10 years later. So hit play and celebrate the year 2016 that was part music, part existential crisis.   Song List: Gowri - WaterLilly (03:29 - 06:06) The F16s - Blackboard (07:13 - 10:33) The Tripp - Minor Blues (11:21 - 14:21) Vernon Noronha - Come Back Jack (15:09 - 20:34) Warren Mendonsa - Folkish Three (21:30 - 23:04) Punk On Toast - For Hire (23:44 - 26:33) Barefaced Liar - Chocolate (27:17 - 30:01) Aditya Balani - 1979 (30:41 - 34:03)   Come be our friend: Instagram @maedinindia Twitter @maedinindia   CREDITS: Host: Mae Instagram: @maemariyam Twitter: @maebemaebe Producer: Shaun Fanthome and Meghna Gulati Sound Edited & Mastered by: Kartik Kulkarni Artwork: Alika Gupta

    35 min

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4.7
out of 5
15 Ratings

About

Whether it’s a shoegaze band from Chandigarh, thrash metal act from Visakhapatnam, rapper from Kashmir, vocal folk quartet from Kohima, Tamil indie pop act from Madurai, or a singer-songwriter from Mussoorie, Maed in India is where you’ll discover it. Started in 2015, music nerd and ex-radio presenter Mae Mariyam Thomas showcases the best talent coming out of South Asia and its diaspora.  The show is India’s first indie music podcast and prides itself on being the premier destination for new music, little known stories that give you a peek into the lives of independent musicians, as well as being an ongoing archive of unreleased music never heard before. “Remember that in the darkest days when everything stopped, you turned to artists.” - Jishnu Bandyopadhyay

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