Neel Adhikari
Neel is a singer songwriter and a music director. His songs speak of little things, the struggles of life and making it work. Sometimes sarcastic, sometimes earnest, and often just funny, he’s a storyteller in song. His sound is electro acoustic.
Aisha Ashok
Aisha is a Singer who indulges in songwriting every now and then. She also enjoys doing Ukulele renditions of songs that strike a chord with her heart. With her love for a vast genre of Music, she enjoyes exploring and performing Indie as well as Western Pop Music. She has been part of Pune Local Music Scene from 2015.
Akshay Chowdry
Akshay is a composer, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Goa, India and is the great-grandson of renowned Indian classical Thumri artist Naina Devi. Upon graduating from the University of Southern California (USC) in 2007, he was involved in the independent music scene as part of the band ‘Barefaced Liar’. Particularly fond of Rock/Blues and both Western and Indian Classical music; he is the founder of 'Three Kings Recording Studio' and is also actively involved in the creation of music for Advertising agencies/TV, Film,etc.
Here's a little bit more about Akshay:
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Recipient of national airplay on 94.3 Radio One & Hit 95 FM
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Currently endorsed by Orange Amplification and Rotosound Strings (UK)
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Music videos have been featured on Vh1, MTV Indies, etc.
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Featured Artist by Talenthouse USA
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Winner of OMEC Digital's contest, #TeleportYourTone 2020
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Finalist in the Rock and Singer/Songwriter categories in the UK songwriters contest 2016
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Previous performances include Kalaa Utsavam 2015 (Singapore) by Teamwork Arts, Harley Davidson Rock Riders, Blue Frog, Album launches at Hard Rock Cafe, Mumbai/Delhi/Bengaluru, etc
Anirban Halder
Anirban is a self taught musician from the City of Calcutta. He moved to Goa in 2010 and formed his band Electric Pulse which is now one of the prominent Classic Rock Acts in Goa. He is very prominent in the Goa music circuit and is always collaborating with different artists for shows in Goa and around the country. Anirban has a passion for all kinds of music and art. He loves to teach kids and has encouraged many young minds on the musical path. Anirban is one of the founders of the Mahalo Goa Ukulele Festival.
Christina Fernandes
Christina is one of the founders of the Mahalo Goa Ukulele Festival. She is a photojournalist by background but now works as Permaculture and Green Educator as well as Sustainability Trainer. She uses the ukulele in her nature education sessions, yoga classes and to support kids in a healing programme run by the Bring Hope Foundation in the refugee camps of northern Iraq.
Luv Mahtani
Luv needs no introduction for our following; he has been a supporter of our festival from day one and we are so happy to have him back again. He is a musician, ukulele teacher and event organizer based in Pune, India. He has been teaching the ukulele since 2018 and has completed his teacher certification program at the James Hill Ukulele Initiative, Canada. Luv is also an Artist Ambassador for Flight Ukulele, an international ukulele brand. He conducts regular online and in-person classes for students across the world. He aims to continue contributing to the larger ukulele community worldwide through unique learning experiences, events and online content. You can find more about his work on his Instagram page @ukulelewithluv.
Luv’s Intro to Ukulele workshop is open to beginners.
Rayna
Rayna is a guitar and ukulele player, instructor, and performer, boasting 2-3 years of comprehensive experience in both school and private teaching. Her expertise lies in cultivating the musical interests of children across various age groups, specializing in pre-primary to primary music education and immersing them in the captivating universe of jingles and rhymes. A member of the Strum Away Collective, Rayna has showcased her musical talents through performances across Pune and Mumbai. She has also played festivals such as NH7 Weekender showcasing her skill and passion for the ukulele.
Rayna’s kids ukulele workshop “Rhymes with Uke” is open to kids aged 4-10.
Pallavi Shrivastava
Pallavi began her journey into yoga 15 years ago for her own health and healing. It opened up various realms for her as she experienced immense benefits in her personal and professional life and she decided to share this knowledge with her friends and family and the broader community. This inspired her to take up the teacher’s training course. She is a Yoga alliance RYS 200 certified yoga (YTT) and meditation (MTT) trainer from The Yoga Institute and Ananda Yoga, where she is currently associated with and regularly conducts classes and workshops. An MBA, a fintech entrepreneur, a mother, she loves the energy and power of new ideas and technology to transform lives and world around us. Yoga has been an integral part of her journey and the single biggest source of strength and balance in her life. She attributes all that she is able to do to her practices, both on and off the mat. She often combines her Yoga classes with music and Ukulele, a soulful instrument that she picked up during lockdown and is currently curating “Yogalele” sessions for kids and adults alike.
Pallavi’s Yogalele workshop is open to all.
Strum Away Collective
Strum Away Collective is an ensemble of ukulele players based in India. The Collective performs popular covers on their ukuleles with support from fellow musicians like vocalists, percussionists, and flautists. They offer solo, duo, group performances and jam circles at venues across the country. They have gotten audiences to sing along to their tunes at various festivals including NH7 Weekender Pune, Spoken Fest Mumbai and they return for the third time at the Mahalo Ukulele Festival. Led by musician and ukulele teacher Luv Mahtani, the Collective believes in spreading the joy of music, each time they perform!
The Strum Away Collective's workshop "Rhythm 101: Strumming and Fingerpicking" is open to confident beginners and novices.
Rum n Colas
Rum n Colas have captured the hearts of Goans and tourists alike, with their unique blend of jazz, calypso and swing, and humorous stage performances. Formed in 2018, Rum n Colas have had many guest artists throughout the years and have played at IFFI, Serendipity and Lalaland. The main performers are; Sef Riley, ukulele/kazoo/vocals, Amanda Vaz, vocals/percussion/kazoo, and Jobin George, cajon/percussion. Genre: Vintage Jazz, Swing and Calypso from the 1920s-90s covering the likes of Frank Sinatra, Harry Belafonte, Cab Calloway, Simon and Garfunkel, the Specials, Nat King Cole and the like.
Natasha Carroll
Natasha, fondly known as "Natauku" is an indie musician from Bangalore. On her 19th birthday, she received a ukulele as a gift and ever since then couldn't stop strumming. She was studying to become a professional social worker and would carry her instrument to college every day, seizing any opportunity to perform at events. She soon discovered that music was a brilliant way to connect with the children. This, she felt, was her soul instrument.
Over the years she established herself as a prominent ukulele player and teacher in Bangalore and across the country. She is one of the three official Flight Ukulele Artists in India. A completely self taught artist, she believes in healing powers of music and wishes to spread with joy with everyone. She is also part of a five-piece band called "Sweet Tambourine," which plays classic rock and jazz music.
She is now working on several singles and an EP with her band.
Shamik Ghoshal
Shamik is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist whose passion since 2014 has been the ukulele. Having explored various indigenous folk styles on the instrument, he has spent a good part of the last decade adapting the ukulele to the genre of Gypsy Jazz, in which the instrument is hardly ever heard of. Heavily influenced by jazz and swing of the 1920s-1950s in Europe and America his band, The Big Other plays in and around the city of Kolkata in esteemed spaces and prestigious events. He has also composed tracks for commercial and feature films, including Chippa now streaming on Netflix. His recent obsession, however, has been spreading the good word on the ukulele and teaching the instrument to people across different age groups.
Shamik’s Intro to Gypsy Ukulele workshop is open for beginners to advanced levels.
Manuka
Manuka is an independent artist from the UK and settled in Goa. Her songwriting has taken her deep into beautiful spots in the UK and India performing in remote intimate settings. Her passion is to share her voice, lyrics and learning with her community of musical lovers. Her music has brought opportunities to reach Naughty Boy music, for Dementia Awareness Week, plus collaborating with many different organisations around the world to deliver songwriting and music sessions as a part of self expression, mindfulness and stress relief. She not only gigs but also works in learning with a focus on social and emotional awareness. With her most recent release Shh…Be Quiet and previous favourites Tribal Man and Cherry Blossom, she was taken up to sing for a web series, interviewed, and featured in many mainstream publications in India and the UK including BBC Asian Network and Rolling Stone India.
Manuka's songwriting workshop is open to all.
Vaisakh Somanath
Vaisakh is a singer/songwriter from Kerala whose songs largely revolve around social and ecological justice. He writes simple and thoughtful lyrics in Tamil and Malayalam with a soul/jazz/r&b approach in his melodies. His debut EP titled Thevai was about alternative lifestyle and was listed as one of the 10 Best Indian EPs of 2019 by Rolling Stone India.
Tumken
Hailing from Arunachal Pradesh, Tumken Siram is a Bangalore-based singer-songwriter/producer who puts out music in the most independent way; from his bedroom studio, all on his own. Over the last three years, he has dedicated himself to hone his craft as a singer-songwriter, producer and sound engineer and has released numerous singles under the banner “Overture Records”(the name of his independent label, which currently is a bedroom set-up) His lyrics and compositions are mostly inspired by his personal experiences he had with emotional subjects like loss, love, joy and grief. He says “Emotions are universal and so is his music” and he firmly believes that, with time, his music will find its audience. He writes both in Hindi and English and currently has under him a long list of originals being produced, queued to be released every month.
Nikhil B.
Nikhil is a versatile multi-instrumentalist and a music journey facilitator. Over the past decade, he has crafted live improvised, invigorating music, guiding fellow participants on captivating musical journeys. He leads participants through circles around rhythm, singing, music baths and also supports other modalities with his live music. You can discover more about him by visiting @nikhilbmusic on Instagram.
Nikhil's Music Medicine with Ukulele workshop is open to all.
Mrtn the Mrtn
Mrtn the Mrtn is the new sub-moniker of Artist aficionado Martin J. Haokip (also the Frontman of indie band “The Lojal Experience” aka Lojal). He encapsulates his producer, experimental and singer-songwriter sides more through Mrtn The Mrtn. A playground of mistakes and growth. Genre fluid, no borders.