Meet Mikey McCleary – a Kiwi music composer who is busy creating all sorts of musical waves from Mumbai, the headquarters for Bollywood film industry. If you ever watch Indian TV shows then you have heard his music for sure. He is the guy behind all those advert jingles for Vodafone, Levis, Titan, Coke and many, many more. He has also created soundtracks and composed music for Bollywood films like “Nautanki Sala,” “Shanghai” and many more. He recently composed music for Shonali Bose’s film “Margarita With A Straw.”

McCleary is prolific and has released a couple of albums, including a new one called TV Dinners, where he has turned those advert jingles into full-fledged songs. He clearly knows where he is going in this musical journey of his in India. And he is partial to jazz, specifically the ones that have swing and big band influence as he shared in a recent conversation I had with McCleary.

Here are two different tracks from McCleary’s repertoire. The first is an original composition of McCleary  “I Don’t Know Where I Am Going,” while the second is a remix of “Titli” from the film “Chennai Express,” with Shahrukh Khan and Deepika Padukone.

 

From “Chennai Express.”

 

Photo Credit: Sony Music India