Like most other femme entrants of the Indian electronic music scene, Manaal Oomerbhoy frequented and worked at the fringes for quite some time before diving in headfirst. Excuse my clunky metaphor, for her arrival has in fact been less like a dive, but more a gentle tread forward. After writing about music and designing comms for music projects, she is finally testing the waters as a DJ.
In the past year or so as Manaalina, she has supported acts such as Varg2™ and Cashu, and played the 2019 edition of Far Out Left Festival. She continued to write about music, doing features on contemporary icons from the Indian diaspora such as Amotik, Ose, Asha Puthli, and even teaming up with us on our INCA India piece, critiquing their tokenisation of women in order to promote their awards show. Her monthly show for Boxout, Into The Ether has long since hinted at her being a selector's selector.
As she slowly cements her place on the scene, a cursory Google search also uncovered her expert beauty advice, a skill that until now had gone unmentioned by her in all my time with her, and the fleeting mention of which here is sure to make her very, very mad. Sometimes, however, what you love hurts you, and we love Manaal a fair amount. Happy Valentine's, Manaal!
For edition 007 of the monthly FEMWAV make space please mixtape, Manaal offers up the heavy stuff for a power-hour jigsaw of quality electro, breaks, and industrial weaving in and out of psychedelic swirlies. Manaalina's brand is a bit disconnected from the world, suspended like a hologram flickering in and out of existence at will (for the most part), and her mix is an incredible tool for ravers equally untethered.
Here's what she has to say about the mix: "Learning to mix together wide-ranging sounds and genres is a constant journey. This hour of music channels conflict, hyperactivity and cognitive dissonance, resulting in roughly mixed, raw sounds that steadily climb about 35bpm in tempo. It was recorded in a state of dysphoria on my XDJ-RX2 overlooking a crush of humanity in front of a placid Arabian sea."
Manaal plays Room 303's season opening this Saturday, February 15, 2020.
If you are a femme/NB DJ or producer and would like to contribute a make space please mix, write to us femwav@gmail.com. We can't wait to hear from you!
Written by Uvika Wahi
