The New Music Business with Ari Herstand Oprah's Drummer Madame Gandhi on Feminism, Activism, Music Video Budgets as an Indie Artist
Today's guest is with Madame Gandhi (birth name Kiran Gandhi). She's an incredibly inspiring person, an activist, and feminist. She started her career drumming for M.I.A., Thievery Corporation, and embarked on Oprah Winfrey's Vision 2020 tour before the COVID-19 pandemic. Gandhi is also a recording artist and speaker. She also holds an MBA from Harvard University.
We talk about release strategy, how she creates her music and high production value music videos as an independent artist.
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2:25 - Madame Gandhi's tour with Oprah Winfrey
7:00 - Kiran getting her MBA and how she did it with her touring schedule
8:50 - Kiran's Indian heritage and culture
15:12 - When Kiran Gandhi came up with the name and project Madame Gandhi
18:04 - What Madame Gandhi thinks an activist is
19:30 - How Kiran chooses which companies/brands to work with
27:15 - Switching sides: Going from employee to employer and what the responsibilities are like
31:10 - How often Madame Gandhi does high production music videos
31:46 - Staying healthy on the road and when you're away from home
33:28 - Madame Gandhi's viral moment running the London Marathon
36:27 - The 'Visions' EP's story
38:04 - Madame Gandhi's creation process - is there a lot of collaboration? What DAW Madame Gandhi uses
41:50 - Maintaining Gandhi's sound and why her drumming skills are vital when writing music
43:33 - Gandhi's independent career and why she hasn't signed to a major label
47:20 - How many shows Gandhi has performed as Madame Gandhi
48:20 - The independent musician hustle - Gandhi's Instagram strategy and understanding your brand
56:40 - The release strategy for Madame Gandhi and the thought process behind her methods
59:30 - Remaining close to the original message of the song when creating music videos and visuals
1:01:38 - What it means to Madame Gandhi to make it in the new music business
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Connect with Madame Gandhi:
Website: https://www.madamegandhi.com/
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