{"id":20622,"date":"2016-07-21T17:55:36","date_gmt":"2016-07-21T12:25:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.desihiphop.com\/?p=19799"},"modified":"2016-08-13T15:54:15","modified_gmt":"2016-08-13T10:24:15","slug":"i-felt-the-importance-of-being-more-visible-as-a-queer-artist-maieli","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jcsoftwaresolution.com\/desihiphop\/i-felt-the-importance-of-being-more-visible-as-a-queer-artist-maieli\/361755","title":{"rendered":"I felt the importance of being more visible as a queer artist – Maieli"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"maieli
Maieli<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt was definitely a turning point for me in my life where I felt the importance of being more visible as a queer artist<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

She is an LA based DJ\/producer who makes music under the name of Maieli<\/strong>. Bianca Maieli Kurian<\/em> who has both Indian and Latin roots is a well known artist in the LA music scene. She has opened for the likes of Ras G<\/strong>, Free the Robots<\/strong>, DJ Shiva<\/strong> and Massacooramaan<\/strong> to name a few. Maieli<\/strong>\u2019s collaborations with her contemporaries, including the dhol player MTooray<\/strong><\/a> and rapper Horsepowar<\/strong><\/a> to create a more conscious environment for women, especially queer women and South Asian artists in the music industry is significant. Her cutting edge production sizzles with a generous touch of melody.<\/p>\n

Desi Hip Hop caught up with this beat maker to chat more<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q1. How and when did you start developing a musical inclination ?<\/h3>\n

A1. I started music at a young age. At 3, I was playing piano. My grandfather played the piano and my cousins and I, all had to take piano classes growing up. From there, I played trumpet briefly in my Jr. High school band and around that time is where my love for Hip Hop and House started. I play a bit of guitar and bass and a few years back is when I started producing beats and Dj’ing.<\/p>\n

Q2. Was your thesis on South Asian Women and their challenges accepting and embracing their sexual choices a turning point in your life- sort of when your music and your personal choices merged ?<\/h3>\n

A2. It was definitely a turning point for me in my life where I felt the importance of being more visible as a queer artist. Before, I felt like I wanted to hide that part of me, and even though I’m still a very private person, I wanted to step outside my own comfort zone and be honest about who I was and maybe give hope to others who are struggling to be themselves.<\/p>\n

\"maieli<\/p>\n

Q3. Do you visit India often? What are the challenges as woman producer in LA viz-a-viz in India ?<\/h3>\n

A3. I’ve only been to India a few times; I was there last in 2014. I would imagine that some of the challenges being a woman producer in India would be similar as here in LA although I definitely think being a female producer in India would come with its own unique set of challenges. I can’t really speak on that experience since I am not based there, but I would love to play there in the near future.<\/p>\n

Q4. What are you working on at the moment ?<\/h3>\n

A4. Currently I am working on a mix for H-Y-F-N, a really dope site highlighting South Asian artists. I’m also finishing up a remix for Fania Records and working on a few different original tracks which will hopefully be out soon!<\/p>\n

Q5. What influences your music the most ?<\/h3>\n

A5. Everything! Seriously, my inspiration comes from everywhere and everything I experience and am surrounded by.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt was definitely a turning point for me in my life where I felt the importance of being more visible as a queer artist\u201d She is an LA based DJ\/producer who makes music under the name of Maieli. Bianca Maieli…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":20767,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8433,12],"tags":[11322,11321,8408,9237,10987,10692,11320],"class_list":["post-20622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","category-news","tag-dj-shiva","tag-free-the-robots","tag-interview","tag-los-angeles","tag-maieli","tag-malinder-tooray","tag-ras-g"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jcsoftwaresolution.com\/desihiphop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jcsoftwaresolution.com\/desihiphop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jcsoftwaresolution.com\/desihiphop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jcsoftwaresolution.com\/desihiphop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/141"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jcsoftwaresolution.com\/desihiphop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jcsoftwaresolution.com\/desihiphop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jcsoftwaresolution.com\/desihiphop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jcsoftwaresolution.com\/desihiphop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jcsoftwaresolution.com\/desihiphop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jcsoftwaresolution.com\/desihiphop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}