Alisa Xayalith is a kiwi-born Laotian living in LA; an award-winning artist, singer & songwriter, most notably as the frontwoman, lead vocalist, guitarist & keyboardist for The Naked & Famous, one of Aotearoa's biggest bands of the 2010s. Alisa is now releasing incredible works as a solo artist, Namnita was lucky enough to chat all about her new single "I'll Be There" as well as lockdown loneliness, racist white-dude bands and loyalty as a friend.

Podcast produced by Eastern Sound Collective in conjunction with Radio Active.FM

Executive Producer: Nadia Freeman

Technical Production by: Karnan Saba

Presenter and Artist Liasion: Namnita Kumar

Made with Support from NZ On Air Music

Tracks used without:

Alisa Xayalith - I'll be there

Alisa Xayalith - High Fidelity

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sujai is an independent ambient producer, born in India and raised in Aotearoa, having started his musical journey as a freestyle rapper. Namnita chats to him about translating pain through music, finding the Eastern Sound Collective and creating his track "Turn Up On You" featuring Briony Drysdale

Podcast produced by Eastern Sound Collective in conjunction with Radio Active.FM

Executive Producer: Nadia Freeman

Technical Producer by: Karnan Saba

Presenter and Artist Liaison: Namnita Kumar

Made with support from NZ On Air Music

Tracks used throughout:

Sujai - Turn up on you

Sujai - Turn up on you (instrumental)

Sujai - Hope

Sujai - To The Beat

Sujai - Off Time

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Carawei is a Kiwi-born Chinese multi-instrumentalist and music producer, best known for her solo work & as guitarist of The Venom Dolls. She is also the founder of Milky Avenue Studios, a LGBTQ+-focused music studio based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Namnita chats with her about her upcoming song "Retrograde", as well as training in music from a young age, how her family approaches her career, signing an album to Big Pop & running your own studio.

Tracks used throughout:

Carawei - Retrograde

Carawei - Retrograde (Instrumental)

Carawei - Blue

Carawei - Sidechain

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scalper AKA Nadeem Shafi has been a stalwart of the international trip hop & breakbeat scenes for over 2 decades, starting as MC Nad in the UK hip hop group Made In Britain (M.I.B.). Namnita chats with him about living in Aotearoa, how to grieve healthily, growing up with racism & his song "Dust".

Podcast produced by Eastern Sound Collective in conjunction with Radio Active.FM

Executive Producer: Nadia Freeman

Technical Producer: Karnan Saba

Presenter and Artist Liaison: Namnita Kumar

Made with support from NZ On Air Music

Tracks used throughout:

Scalper - Dust

Scalper - Emptiness (Instrumental)

Scalper - Three Cups (Instrumental)

Scalper - Within These Walls (Instrumental)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Namnita chats with Nikita 雅涵 Tu-Bryant this week, a multi-hypenate of epic proportions and one third of KITA.

Te Whanganui-a-Tara based KITA bonds the folk, soul, storytelling and guitar of Nikita with thick lush sounds from Ed Zuccollo (Zuke) and the filthy drive and barking psychedelic drums of Rick Cranson. Namnita talks with Nikita about making and their song "Dig Deep" from their debut album KITA.

Podcast produced by Eastern Sound Collective in conjunction with Radio Active.FM

Executive Producer: Nadia Freeman

Technical Producer: Karnan Saba

Presenter and Artist Liaison: Namnita Kumar

Made with support from NZ On Air Music

Photo Credit: Alex Wong @alex.te.tamaiti

Tracks used throughout:

KITA - Dig Deep

KITA - Open eyes

KITA - Envy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Namnita chats with Umar Zakaria, Jazz composer, double bassist-extraordinaire and Recorded Music NZ’s 2018 Jazz Artist Of The Year. They chat traditional Malay music, what it means to be a New Zealand-Malay person & his song "Asli".

Podcast produced by Eastern Sound Collective in conjunction with Radio Active.FM

Executive Producer: Nadia Freeman

Technical Producer: Karnan Saba

Presenter and Artist Liaison: Namnita Kumar

Made with support from NZ On Air Music

Tracks used throughout:

Umar Zakaria - Asli

Umar Zakaria - Landing

Saloma - Selamat Hari Raya

Umar Zakaria & Radio Active.FM - Active Live LTA recording

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Namnita chats to ASHY, self-managed popstar on the rise and one of Going Global’s featured artists of 2022. They chat the creation of "Mirror" feat. Vallé, growing up in Christchurch, the inspirational words of Tami Neilson and having a great support system. Even Padma Lakshmi gets a wee mention!

Podcast produced by Eastern Sound Collective in conjunction with Radio Active.FM

Executive Producer: Nadia Freeman

Technical Producer: Karnan Saba

Presenter and Artist Liaison: Namnita Kumar

Made with support from NZ On Air Music

Tracks used throughout:

ASHY - Mirror

ASHY - Mirror (Instrumental)

ASHY - Temporary Crush

ASHY - EGO

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.