Brian Tellis

Industry Veteran

Brian Tellis has spent over 20 years in the Indian entertainment scene, with a formidable equity value that transcends event management, radio, music retail, and stage

In 1994, co-founded Fountainhead Promotions & Events (www.fhevents.com) - a private limited event-management company that ranks amongst the leaders in its sphere of business. The parent company has spawned several subsidiaries across India: Insignia Tourism Marketing, Oranjuice Entertainment, The Production Terminus, and Hot Box, which explore both lateral and vertical business opportunities. An established, knowledgeable consultant in the radio space backed by a strong and early association with commercial radio in India, right from its experimental frequency-sharing phase in 1993 to the current multi-frequency scenario.

Over the past 14 years, Brian has ably mentored and guided Fountainhead Promotions & Events to its pre-eminent status as one of India's leading event management companies. Fountainhead has successfully conceptualized and executed several corporate and entertainment events. It has also created its own event brand, The One Tree Music Festival (www.onetreefestival.com), which showcases artists of international renown, like Kool & the Gang, Walter Trout, Uriah Heep and Earth, Wind & Fire.

As a consultant to Viacom, and its brands MTV and VH1, Fountainhead has hosted the MTV Music Awards (The Immies) and the MTV Style Awards. For the Turner International channel Pogo, Fountainhead is presently running the Pogo Amazing Kids awards. Similarly, on the popular Cartoon Network, the company is behind the success of Toon Cricket.

Brian has also been a successful Radio show host, an executive producer, and consultant. He worked with the core team at Radio Mirchi (ENIL), on the conception, design, and launch of Radio Mirchi. He was the Breakfast Show Host of the very successful show Hello Mumbai at the station. He has also developed radio software for Times FM, Radio Mirchi, and other stations.

Dwayne Das

Audio Professional/Engineer

Dwayne Das is an audio professional/ engineer with industry experience spanning over 35 years.

He started his career with Electro craft where he got the opportunity to work with big Indian and International artists like Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, A. R. Rahman, Zubin Mehta, Sonu Nigam, Falguni Pathak, and bands like Bryan Adams, Deep Purple, Roger Waters, Bon Jovi, etc.

He has undergone training with popular speakers manufacturing companies like L'acoustics and D&B and did his 'Lake' certified training from London, as well as 'Ease' training in Germany.

Dwayne was notably the first Indian ever to be a L'acoustics Certified Engineer.

He then went on to join Alphatec as National Head (Application Engineering) where he gets the opportunity to design/ redesign audio equipment to fit the consumer's best needs.

Dwayne's core competence is his keen ear for a balance of sound- right from an untoned instrument to a dead speaker in a 16 box array; nothing escapes him!

He believes that it is important to share the knowledge he has acquired over so many years with all those who want to enter the audio field, to give back to the industry where he has achieved so much.

Gaurav Kapur

VJ / Actor / Television Presenter

Gaurav Kapur is a multimedia mercenary with a career track record that spans over radio, stage, TV & film.

One of India's top sports presenters, he is renowned for being the host of popular cricket shows, 'Extraaa Innings T20' and 'Cricbuzz Live'.

He's the producer & creator of the sports chat show 'Breakfast with Champions' and India's most successful podcast 22 Yarns with Gaurav Kapur, on Spotify.

He is also an entrepreneur and investor in consumer tech and content companies.

Gaurav Sharma

Chief Programming & Digital Strategy Officer - Fever fm, Radio Nasha & Radio One

An MBA by qualification, Gaurav has over 20 years of extensive experience in presenting & leading Creative & Radio teams. He was one of the first employees of Fever FM and has spent 11 years contributing to its growth. A penchant for music, a palette for exquisite food, and a voice to croon make Gaurav a true blue creative programming guy.

Jehan Johar

Founder: Ra Music / Festival Curator for Sula Fest

Jehan Johar's journey through the music industry spans continents, decades, and a variety of roles. His exposure to music started at a very young age where he was witness to some of the first electronic dance music parties on the planet during the early '80s, in Goa. He also played the saxophone from age 11 till 17.

While living in New York (1997-2004), he started an event organization outfit called Sound Species, that put together electronic dance music parties in various night-clubs in Brooklyn & Manhattan. This is also when he started to DJ (psytrance & techno), and since then has played in over 15 countries, the biggest psytrance festivals in the world like Boom and Ozora with his psytrance avatar, 'Janux', and is signed to the Italian label; Looney Moon Records. Jehan is also the first Indian techno DJ (Jupitero) & Promoter to organize official ADE parties in Amsterdam in 2011 & 2012.

From 2008 till 2015 Jehan was the Head of Music Programming of the Blue Frog in Bombay. He was part of the core team that gave birth to this legendary venue that changed the landscape of the independent music industry in India for bands, DJs, and music lovers. He spent over 7 years programming live and electronic talent across multiple genres; Indie, Rock, Reggae, Dub, Jazz, Electro swing, Hip-hop, Balkan, Latin, Afro, World, Fusion, Funk, Blues, Breakbeat, House, Techno, Trance, Psytrance, Dubstep, Drum & Bass, Experimental, and more...

In 2010 Jehan launched Studio Ra; Goa's first professional music recording and production studio, available to artists on a rental basis, and will soon be offering a course in electronic music production. In 2015 he launched Ra Music, a consultancy company & programming operation that focuses on curating live & electronic music for festivals & events. His clients include Sula Fest; one of the country's leading live music festivals.

Merlin D'Souza

Music Producer

India's leading Lady musician, Merlyn, is a consummate Pianist Composer and Music Director.

She is one of India's leading Music-Producers also fondly called the "FEMALE REHMAN" (article on website) whose body of work extensively includes many exciting genres of music. She has composed and produced music for Bollywood, Theatre, Sonic (Sound) Branding, Albums.

Recently awarded: International World Women Inspirational Leadership Awards in Music from 83 countries globally. The International Rodas Women's Day award /Nominated for 2013 KARAMVEER AWARDS For her role in music for Women's Empowerment.

Merlin's bands are 'Soul Yatra' and 'Indiva'.

Key Achievements:
Merlyn and her fusion band 'Soul Yatra', was chosen to perform a special composition WE ARE ONE (reflecting the global feeling of Mumbai's blend)

"Make in India": Created a special song for the Honorable Prime Minister Modi and World Leaders at an exclusive sit-down gathering.

Performed the closing ceremony finale for Lusofina Games at Fatorda J.Nehru Stadium, Goa, for CM Manohar Parikkar and world guests.

Google's 18th anniversary for delegates of Mountain View.

Performed Jazz Fusion, Hindustani and World Music along with her bands Soul Yatra and the all-female band Indiva, in the USA, Europe, Asia and all over

Owen Roncon

Industry Veteran

Co-Founder and Creative head at FHMKTG and OJ, one of India's leading experiential marketing companies.

Shaped music-related IP's ranging from electronic dance music - The Smirnoff Experience to pure live music to The Mahindra Blues Festival, Asia's largest blues festival.

Pet Project - Live from the Console. Created along with Sony Music, a live platform for Independent Artists.

Oranjuice Entertainment, under the Aadyam banner, was also a proud part of India's first homegrown musical, Sing India Sing, reliving the art of musical theatre.

Live music and performance where our heart lies, primarily because that's what the artist likes best. Creating the perfect platform for this is our passion, be it curated IP's, large format concerts, Corporate events, or underground cult gigs.

Ratish Tagde

Musician & President of The Musicians Federation of India (MFI)

Ratish Tagde holds a triple master's degree in Indian Music with Gold Medal. He's the Founder of the first-ever TV Channel "Insync" in non-film and independent music space

President of The Musicians Federation of India (MFI) which is affiliated to the International Federation of Musicians (FIM) having chapters across 70 countries and registered with UNESCO.

President of Global Community of Indian Music (GCIM)

Chairman of Perfect Octave Private Limited (POPL) possessing arguably the largest HD video content library in classical, Ghazal, Sufi, Fusion, etc. music genres

POPL is a media production house of TV/web serials and music videos

A Law graduate and a senior Company Secretary in Practice

Awarded the prestigious SURMANI puraskar by Sur Singar Sansad in Mumbai.

Samantha Noella

Singer & Vocal Coach

Samantha is a western contemporary vocal singer/ songwriter and celebrity vocal coach based in Mumbai.

She has worked as a singer, lyricist, and composer since 1992, and began vocal coaching in 2006. She is a well recognized, certified vocal coach in western contemporary music and has coached several students, amateurs, semi-professional and well-known industry professionals like - Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Varun Dhawan, Hritik Roshan, Shraddha Kapoor, Ali Fazal, Hazel Keech, Ileana D'cruz, Nargis Fakhri, Eli Avram, Farhan Akhtar, Vir Das, Shradha Pandit, Shahana Goswami, Manasi Scott, Shannon Donald, to name a few.

Samantha also worked on the TV reality show ' Raw Star ' as a vocal coach.

Although a western singer, Samantha, trained in Indian classical music for 3 years, Samantha studied under the tutelage of Grammy award winner Peter Eldridge, Barry Harris, Grammy nominees like Roseanna Vitro, Karrin Allyson, Norman Simmons, Jay Clayton, as well as Jeanie LoVetri, Jaime Vendera, and most recently Wendy Parr . Samantha holds 2 licentiates from Rockschool Uk in music performance and Music Education. She is also a certified somatic vocal coach as well as a level one certified Modern Vocal Training Coach. Samantha has a music school called 'Scattitude Academy of Music ' that provides music education at every level.

Samantha continues to perform both in India with her band 'Samantha and the crooked Tailbones as well around the world. She has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry. A.R Rahman, Zakir Hussain, Louiz Banks, Ranjit Barot, Taufiq Qureshi, Salim Sulaiman, Ram Sampath, Clinton Cerejo., Vishal Bharadwaj

Samantha featured on coke studio with Ram Sampath, as well as features on 3 films by Zakir Hussain- everybody says I'm fine, Mr.& Mrs. Iyer and For real. She is most remembered for the legendary Nescafe jingle she worked on in 1998 with Ranjit Barot

Swanand Kirkire

Lyricist & Writer

Swanand Kirkire is a National Award-winning lyricist, playback singer, writer, assistant director, actor, and dialogue writer, both in television with Marathi and Hindi films.

Apart from films, his lyrics for popular TV series Satyamev Jayate (O richiraiyya and Rupaiya) and The Dewarists (Kya Khayal Hai) have caught the imagination of the audience.

Mr. Kirkire won the National Film Award for Best Lyrics twice: first in 2006 for the song "Bande Me Tha Dum...Vande Mataram" from the film Lage Raho Munna Bhai, and then in 2009, for the song "Behti Hawa Sa Tha Woh" from the film 3 Idiots. He won his third National Award for his work in Chumbak (Marathi) for Best Supporting Actor.

Tom Callahan

CEO / Founder Indie Advance

Tom Callahan has been a thought leader in the music business and tech industry for over 30 years. He began his career as a touring musician and then transitioned into executive record promotion positions at Indie label powerhouses Enigma Records, I.R.S. Records, and Virgin Records in the late 80s and early 90s. After leaving the corporate world, he started his Indie promotion company while he simultaneously co-founded and operated Coyote Records and Vellum Entertainment. As a record promoter, Tom was nominated for the promoter of the year in 1998 and 1999, and with Vellum Entertainment nominated for "Gold AC record label of the year" in 2000.

In addition to working in the Indie world, Tom also played a critical role in the radio success of major label artists such as Lenny Kravitz, Paula Abdul, Hall & Oats, Rod Stewart, Phil Collins, Shania Twain, Lee Ann Rimes, Lionel Richie, and countless others. As Tom continued his promo company, he also moved into artist management, where he launched and guided the careers of many artists over 15 years. First, as co-founder of Laurel Canyon Entertainment, Tom worked with artists; Donnie Kehr, Lisa Mordente, Arnold McCuller, Natalie Archangel, and Thom Bishop. As Co-Founder of Boulder Entertainment Group, he worked with artists such as Phoebe Snow, Suzy K, and Deborah Franco. Finally with Callahan's long-held "Tom Callahan & Associates", Tom represented Jeff Timmons (founder-98 Degrees), Kaile Goh (Lava/Universal), Natalia Lesz (EMI), Justin Hopkins (Pama Records-Sweden), David Boyles (LMFAO, Columbia music-Japan), Michael Shapiro, Amy Hef, Cab 20, J-Henry, Omar Torrez, Jordan Hill, Krish Sharma (3 X Grammy winner, mixing), Miggs, Ms. Moxie, Olivia Rox and many others.

For the past 5 years, Tom has done a deep dive into the music licensing and tech world. Tom was instrumental in the launch and rapid success of leading licensing and branding platform, Songtradr, as their CCO. He is also a mentor for the LA Techstars incubator and consults for companies in the digital and advertising space.

Tom currently sits on several advisory boards and is an in-demand lecturer and podcast guest in the music and tech industry. He has also been involved in martial arts for 40 years and currently holds the rank of 5th dan and title Renshi Shihan in Kyokushin Karate serving as the Chairman of the USA and International Secretary for Kyokushin-Kan Karate-Do. He brings this self-discipline, integrity, and Budo philosophy to every endeavor.

After wearing many hats throughout his career, Tom has come full circle, turning his attention back to his first love; working with independent artists around the world. "Indie Advance," an idea Tom had back in 2009, has resurfaced as his current venture. Indie Advance is a platform geared toward the education and advancement of independent artists' careers, from the neophyte of just starting, to the seasoned performer looking for guidance, introductions, or packaging to take them to the next level.