Revealed: The story behind Mae Mariyam Thomas' music podcast

Mae Mariyam Thomas with Warrenâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088Mendonsa at a podcast session

The Internet revolution has brought a radical change in the viewing and listening culture among audiences in India. Streaming sites have replaced TVs and podcasts - a series of digital audio files in the form of episodes - have taken over from radio. City-girl Mae Mariyam Thomas, who cut her teeth in radio production and journalism, reaped the benefits of this trend and started a podcast on music, titled Maed in India, in June 2015. After finishing over 100 episodes, she is set to take the series live on stage with Blackstratblues.

Hard Kaur and Indian Ocean

Thomas discovered podcasts while studying in the UK from 2004 to 2010. "I did my BA in Advertising from the University of Gloucestershire and MA in journalism from Cardiff University. Those days, I would listen to a lot of BBC podcasts. One of my favourites, till date, is The Infinite Monkey Cage [a blend of science and comedy]. After I quit my radio job in Mumbai, I had an offer from Indus Vox Media [IVM]. They asked if I wanted to do a podcast with them. I wanted independent artistes to come into the studio and do acoustic sessions, while I interviewed them about their life and music. So, I pitched a show on indie music," reveals the 31-year-old, who later caught the attention of the biggies like Indian Ocean and Euphoria. "My biggest inspiration is John Peel. He was someone who broke new music to the British people, and I wanted to do the same."

Thomas does extensive research before interviewing artistes, which leads to memorable anecdotes. "You get the best stories out of artistes when you know everything about them. Apache Indian was shocked when I started talking about his Jamaican babysitter. During the session with Euphoria, I brought up an instance when two band members had a fight at an airport. They had no idea I would know this," shares Thomas, who got in touch with artistes through mutual friends and connections from her radio days. "The manager of Indian Ocean knew me and put me in touch with them. I sourced Gino Banks' number from another drummer called Lindsay D'Mello."

Following episodes with local artistes like Aarifah Rebello, Rajesh Ravi, The Yellow Diary, Zoya Mohan and others, she turned to old friend, Warren Mendonsa (Blackstratblues), to discuss the idea of going live. "He understood my vision for the series and agreed to roll with it. I am going to be on stage with the band. The show starts with a 20-minute conversation with Warren and Jai Row Kavi [drummer] before they introduce the new tunes from their upcoming album," reveals Thomas, who has been a fan of Mendonsa for years. "He is also someone who doesn't talk much. It is a great opportunity to have him sit and chat with me. People will get to know the man behind the music," she reasons. IVM is also known for podcasts like Cricketwallah Chronicles with cricket expert Ayaz Memon and Cyrus Says, which is hosted by popular television anchor and comedian Cyrus Broacha.