Mikey McCleary is the music producer you probably haven't heard of, but whose work you probably have. The man, who introduced Indie artistes Monica Dogra and Suman Shridhar to the B-Town music scene, and is brother-in-law to musician Lucky Ali, talks about his love for 'old' Hindi film songs, which finds form in his debut album scheduled for release next month
Mikey McCleary is the music producer you probably haven't heard of, but whose work you probably have. The man, who introduced Indie artistes Monica Dogra and Suman Shridhar to the B-Town music scene, and is brother-in-law to musician Lucky Ali, talks about his love for 'old' Hindi film songs, which finds form in his debut album scheduled for release next month
The Bartender has been secretly surfacing on the credits of Hindi film soundtracks and several TV commercials over the past three years, right from the famous Vodafone caller tune, The Little Things You Do, to Dooriyan from Aao Wish Karein and the recent grunge remix of Khoya Khoya Chaand featured in Shaitan. The Bartender is Mikey McCleary: Kiwi by nationality, Indian by birth and lover of old Hindi film songs by choice.
Mikey's upcoming album is titled Classic Bollywood, Shaken Not Stirred,
and will feature a remix of Khoya Khoya Chaand
Mikey helps film composers by adding that little 'extra' to their sound. "My first exposure to Hindi film music was while working on a jingle for Coke with Dibakar Banerjee, a few years ago. It was for Tum Jo Mil Gaye Ho, which I got artiste Suman Shridhar to sing for. It blew me away," recalls the forty-one-year-old, whose first brush with fame in India came when he produced brother-in-law Lucky Ali's first album Sunoh in 1996.
"I was in London at the time. He knocked on my studio door, while I was experimenting with new music and introduced himself as the new member to my family," says Mikey, who has since fine-tuned all of Lucky's eight albums, including the recent Raasta-Man.
Off the beaten track
Mikey was born in Chennai and moved to New Zealand when he was six years old. He went on to study western classical music at the Wellington Conservatorium of Music and Victoria University. Having grown up on a staple diet of Bob Dylan, Beatles and The Doors, he pledged his allegiance to songwriting and melody. Which is also why, when he discovered old Hindi film music, Mikey felt he had come home.
On one of his earliest projects, Mikey worked with stalwart AR Rahman on Rahman's album, Pray For Me Brother, for which he added his sonic expertise to the song Alive. The song would eventually make its way to the soundtrack of the Aishwarya Rai Bachchan-starrer Provoked.
"India has some really talented singers. I love the old-school, deep, sensual feel, which adds soul to the movies," says Mikey, which is also why his album, Classic Bollywood, Shaken Not Stirred, is his tribute to music from a bygone era.
The bartender is here
"The oldest track -- Yeh Chandni Phir Kahan -- is from 1952, and the youngest is an extended version of Tum Jo Mil Gaye Ho (from the 1973 film Hanste Zakhm)," he says, adding, "They don't sound old, but fresh. They are not your traditional remixes or dance numbers. They are jazzy, sexy, raspy, and seductive; something that you will hear when you are at a cocktail lounge, while lazily sipping on a drink. I am the bartender."
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Mikey's album, which has Latin-Caribbean influences, is slated for an August release via Sony Music. In the meantime, he is busy shooting short films for the music videos for the album. "Since it is film music, there will be short films," he explains.
Bollywood calling
Like every music producer, Mikey's next stop is at the YRF (Yash Raj Films) factory, where he hopes to someday compose for a film. "Composing and song-writing is my first love. I don't know if I will be able to write a Hindi song, but I have been taking diction lessons twice a week. I hope to speak Hindi fluently soon," he signs off.
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To listen to Mikey's music, log on to: https://mikeymccleary.com/
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