When Mikey McCleary was born in the city of Chennai in 1969,
little did anyone imagine that the fair haired child would one day rise to be
an impacting force in the Bollywood and commercial music industry in India.
An industry which is notoriously difficult to break into, Mikey
found his feet in the country when asked to collaborate with Lucky Ali. His
vision has a clear influence in the shaping of the music that acts as the spine
of the album ‘Sunoh’. Since then, he has had a major role to play in
Lucky Ali albums that have followed. He has also worked with Grammy Award
winning artist A R Rahman. “I was fortunate enough to have Lucky Ali knock at
my door and ask me to work with him on his project. It was a great foot in the
door that has led to such great things,” he says.
Over time, Mikey has focused, to a large extent, on
producing jingles for some of India’s biggest advertising campaigns. However,
apart from advertising, Mikey has focused on making his mark in Bollywood,
a musical area that has always held a special place in his heart. One of his
projects was the critically acclaimed score for Dibakar Banerjee’s 2012
political thriller, ‘Shanghai’. He has also contributed to the music
production for other films such as ‘Shaitan’, ‘Kahaani’, ‘Love
Sex aur Dhokha’ and ‘Chennai Express’. He has also been the driving
force behind the score and a single for the 2014 film, ‘Shaadi Ke Side
Effects’.
Using the stage name ‘The Bartender’, Mikey has produced a
total of three albums, ‘Classic Bollywood: Shaken not Stirred’, ‘B Seventy’ and
‘Classic Bollywood with a Twist’. Explaining the etymology behind his baptism
of choice, he says, “I have always been greatly inspired by Geeta Dutt, who has
historically been known to have a tumultuous relationship with alcohol.
Furthermore, bartenders are always associated with smoky old lounge bars, which
encapsulate the vibe that I aim for with my music.”
Mikey’s debut album in English is titled ‘TV Dinners’. Consisting
of songs that Mikey has in the past composed for major TV advertising brands,
these 45-second long jingles have been tweaked and extended into full
songs with the addition of additional matter to represent themselves as songs
in their own right. Yet, he adds that the two don’t overlap. “I find that as a
composer there is a need to reinvent oneself and one’s work. While a lot of the
songs are inspired by the work I have undertaken for certain campaigns, they take
on a whole new avatar in this album.”
Taking the stage at Cohiba in Sinquerim last night, Mikey
went on to entertain crowds from across the state with music from both the
Bartender series as well as ‘TV Dinners’, making it a ‘sound’ experience for
all.
