Mumbai’s Frequency: The Music Makers Rewriting The Rules  

Long before independent music became a recognised cultural force in India, Mae Thomas was paying attention. The Kerala-born, Mumbai-based journalist and podcaster launched Maed in India in 2010 — now widely recognised as India’s first indie music podcast — at a time when there were almost no dedicated platforms for artists working outside the mainstream.

More than a decade and 350-plus episodes later, the show has become an unofficial archive of Indian independent music, with artists from Indian Ocean to Nikhil D’Souza to Naezy having passed through its sessions. Thomas is known to spend half a day researching a guest before recording — a depth of care that built real trust with a generation of musicians who otherwise had no platform in their corner. “I still struggle with the fact that the ‘indie scene’ is literally just that — a scene rather than a growing industry,” she has said. The honesty of that observation is precisely why her work has lasted. 

Her Instagram bio reads “Bombay: Fluffy with an Edge” — a self-description that captures everything about OG SHEZ’s approach to music and identity. The Mumbai-based DJ grew up in Dubai absorbing everything from seventies slow rock and disco to nineties pop, but hip-hop became her obsession; at a young age she was already controlling the music at house parties. In 2015 she made it her work, building a self-taught education in hip-hop, Afro House, Jersey Club, Baile Funk, UKG, Desi Rap, and experimental bass. 

Her Boiler Room Mumbai set in 2023 introduced her to an international audience. She has supported acts including 50 Cent, DIVINE, Nucleya, and Flowdan, and performed across India, Nepal, Dubai, and the UK. OG SHEZ is also building Culture Club Bombay — her own platform and community project rooted in the city, finding the connection between hip-hop’s origins and Mumbai’s streets. 

Shrikesh Choksi has always lived at the intersection of music and making. A DJ since his days in Mumbai’s club circuit, he is also the founder of Frostbite Lab — India’s first luxury grillz label — and the creative force behind Bombay Shuffle, a concept IP that brings together artists from across the city with Choksi himself behind the decks. The jewellery he makes is worn by the musicians he plays alongside — hip-hop culture, worn and performed at once. 

Frostbite Lab, launched in 2022, channels the same energy that runs through the music. It’s bold, rooted, uncompromising. Clients have included musicians AP Dhillon, Kr$na, Raftaar, and Shah Rule. The breakthrough came when Choksi shared a family portrait on Juhu Beach, his parents wearing grillz — an image that crystallised what his work really means. “India is about family. So is hip-hop,” he has said. “That’s exactly where the connection lies.” 

Ishan Benegal is making space for music to exist. As Artistic Director at the G5A Foundation for Contemporary Culture — housed in a repurposed warehouse in Mumbai’s Shakti Mills district — Benegal has turned the venue into one of the city’s most significant stages for independent and experimental sound. G5A platforms emerging artists, hosts live performances in its Black Box theatre, and weaves music through its residency programme. His work asks a simple question: what does this city need to hear? Then he builds the room to hear it in.