"Spotify: Mic Check" Spotlights Canadian-Indian Playback Cover Artist Jonita Gandhi

 A survey about streaming music two years ago found that most users listened to their playlists or the most popular songs in a genre.

That's the beauty of “Spotify: Mic Check,” because the podcast curates music for listeners from around the world and in a multitude of genres.

 This week, Spotify released the newest episode of its original podcast series, “Spotify: Mic Check,” - a series aimed at connecting fans with the world’s biggest creators from around the globe through exclusively intimate conversations. 

This week’s episode features Canadian-Indian playback cover artist Jonita Gandhi, whose classic Bollywood cover songs blew up on YouTube and led to her relocating back to her motherland of India. 

You can listen to the full episode here.

Fresh off of her feature in Spotify’s EQUAL program, Jonita Gandhi joins Mic Check to discuss her Canadian roots, decision to relocate to pursue a playback career in India, her breakout moment in Bollywood and the musical influences that inspired her career.

according to Spotify, its EQUAL program is committed to fostering equity for women in music globally by amplifying their voices, extending resources and generating more opportunities for female artists.

Please see below for interview highlights in the episode: 

Jonita on her decision to pursue music full-time after university.
“Realizing that I could do music full time was actually a shocker for me, I always thought it was going to be part of my life, but not necessarily the main focal point of my life, like the thing that kind of drives my finances and stuff. So I think that happened to me after graduated from university. I definitely did not study music that way I studied business I studied health science, thought I was going to go, maybe be a doctor or go into corporate banking or something. But then I took a year off after I got my degrees and I decided I'm going to just kind of take the plunge. And that was the year that I discovered that this could be more than a hobby. Because I always thought that it was just going to be like my side thing. The weekend thing that I do, I do gigs. And but yeah, and then from there it kind of just took off and I never looked back.

Jonita explaining the genre of playback singing.
“So playback singing is recording for films in Bollywood and other film industries within India. So you're not the face of your voice, but you're lending your voice to an actor on screen. It's really big in India, but not so big everywhere else. We just grow attached to their voice. And that's what becomes iconic which is kind of cool.”

Jonita on the legacy of influential Indian playback singer Lata Mangeshka on her career.
“She was one of my first gurus and a lot of the cover versions that I've done have been her songs. The only way I would learn is to just listen to her. I just repeat her songs, listen to them on loop, write down as much as I could. Like, literally, I would study her voice, because she was so incredibly versatile, she’s so incredible. Her music, oh my god, will live on forever, like been a number of songs that she's sung. It's just like an encyclopedia for us to keep studying.”

Jonita on her Bollywood debut film with Indian movie composer Vishal-Shekar.
“And so I was just like in awe of the fact that they were working on one of his films. And then because I was there and because I had done a lot of covers on YouTube and they had kind of heard of me before that moment. They asked me if I wanted to record a scratch version for the song they were working on. And it just ended up happening in a way that they locked my voice within a few months and then that became my debut in Bollywood.”

Jonita on participating in Spotify’s EQUAL program.
“Being part of the EQUAL program is a very big honor for me. I mean, they put me on a billboard at Times Square. That's insane to have a solo feature like that. I'm really, really grateful. And I just love what they're doing for women in music in general. So anything I can do to be part of that and propel that, you know, I'm always there.”


You can listen to the full episode here.