Mali: The Sound of Not Fitting In

Aporva Baxi, co-founder DixonBaxi: Design beyond design.

We’re thrilled to share our conversation with ⁠Aprova Baxi⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/aporvabaxi/?originalSubdomain=uk], co-founder and executive creative director of DixonBaxi [https://www.dixonbaxi.com/], one of the world’s most influential brand agencies based in London. This might be the most in-depth exploration of Aporva’s journey to date. He opened up with such generosity, revisiting what it felt like to arrive in London as a two-year-old from Ahmedabad, the impact of Sci-Fi films (like Tron) on his imagination, and the forks-in-the-road moments that shaped the artist and designer he’s become. The episode is full of grounded wisdom and honest stories that offer perspective when you’re wrestling with doubt, imposter syndrome, or just trying to understand the arc of your own path. It’s a reminder that the paths we choose, and the ones that choose us—both matter. We’re grateful for this conversation, and hope you find it as meaningful as we did. • Credits: Original theme music by ⁠Ravi Krishnaswami⁠ [www.copilotmusic.com]

Mali: The Sound of Not Fitting In

We’re extremely excited to kick off THE SUB•SETTERS series with none other than indie singer-songwriter ⁠MALI⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/maalavikamanoj]—a breakthrough voice in India’s independent music scene. She’s a trailblazer shaping the Indian independent music scene at a global level. Some of her highlights include opening for Ed Sheeran in Bengaluru this year and taking home the MTV EMA for Best India Act ’24, in a category stacked with names like Armaan Malik and Hanumankind. For her latest track ‘⁠Dr. Dust⁠ [https://open.spotify.com/track/5jwH0EthUxAtaYJ83bqKfS?si=1651071b3cee456d]’ Mali transforms herself into a cult leader to explore the dark mechanics of control and how power (especially over women) shows up in everyday life. It’s bold. It’s necessary. And we’re super excited to talk to her about it. We really enjoyed making this episode, and we hope you love it too. • Credits: Original theme music by Ravi Krishnaswami [www.copilotmusic.com] Cover photo by Soumya Iyer

Why this? Why now?

Welcome to THE SUB•SETTERS, a new podcast by ⁠SUB•SET [https://www.instagram.com/wethesubset/]⁠ that explores the psychology of our shared South Asian creative experience. Hi! My name is Nitin, and I am a creative director with almost two decades of experience in the industry. Having worked on campaigns for some of the biggest brands in the world, and having launched a few brands as well, my journey is full of experiences that I’m sure mirror other South Asian creatives’ experiences as well. While we’re aware that we’re certainly not the first podcast to focus on South Asian stories, I wanted to take a moment to share why we’re starting this podcast, why now, and what we hope it brings to the conversation around South Asian creativity. At a high level, we aim to bring the same wide-aperture view on the South Asian creative experience as we’ve been doing so far with SUB•SET. And that makes this an important conversation (or podcast) to have, now. More importantly, we’re creating space for stories to explore the ever-changing character of South Asian creativity—with all its complexity, ambition, contradictions, and joy. Our filters for what we deem boundary-pushing creativity still remain the same, and by speaking with some of the most inspiring creatives in the world, we hope to decode where we’re headed as a community, amidst a rapidly shifting cultural and creative landscape. But most of all, we plan to have a lot of fun doing it—and bring you in on it too! 🥳 So please take a moment to listen to this episode that explains why we’re doing this. Much love