Michael McCleary is a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

songwriter, composer, performer, producer and director based in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, India since 2007. He has worked on a large number of advertisements such as for brands such as

Levi's Levi Strauss & Co. ( ) is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's ( ) brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, ...

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British Multinational company, multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates Service (economic ...

and films such as Waiting, Margarita with a Straw,

Shaitan Iblis (), alternatively known as Eblīs, also known as Shaitan, is the leader of the devils () in Islam. According to the Quran, Iblis was thrown out of heaven after refusing to prostrate himself before Adam. He is often compared to the Chri ...

and

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. Besides his prolific work on soundtracks for ad-films, background scores and songs for

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

films, he is also well known for his re-interpretations of old Bollywood songs under the stage name of ''The Bartender'', most notably Khoya Khoya Chand and Hawa Hawai from ''

'', Neend Na Mujhko Aaye and Eena Meena Deeka from '' Shaandaar'', Fifi from ''

Bombay Velvet ''Bombay Velvet'' is a 2015 Indian neo-noir crime film directed and co-produced by Anurag Kashyap, based on historian Gyan Prakash's book '' Mumbai Fables''. It stars Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Karan Johar in lead roles, Johar making h ...

'', O Lal Meri / Mast Kalandar from ''

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

'' and Dhak Dhak from '' Nautanki Saala''. He has also released an album of full-length versions of some of his most popular advertisement jingles called TV Dinners.

Personal life

Michael McCleary is a New Zealander who was born in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, India. He lived and worked in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

for nearly fifteen years and is currently based primarily in

. He studied Composition and Orchestration at the Wellington Conservatorium of Music and at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

, then worked as a music producer in London at the

Trident Studios Trident Studios was a British recording facility, located at 17 St Anne's Court in London's Soho district between 1968 and 1981. It was constructed in 1967 by Norman Sheffield, drummer of the 1960s group the Hunters, and his brother Barry ...

among other places. He is married to writer and actress Diksha Basu.

Career in India

McCleary began his career in the Indian industry with a collaboration with

Lucky Ali Maqsood Mahmood Ali (born 19 September 1958), better known as Lucky Ali, is an Indian singer, songwriter, and actor. He is considered an important artist to popularize pop culture and albums in Indian music and is considered one of the finest a ...

. He was responsible for the music arrangement for the album Sunoh and several subsequent Lucky Ali albums and he has also worked regularly with

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinem ...

. He has worked on many advertising campaigns in India, including Vodafone, Coca-Cola, Levi's, Titan, Garnier, Lakme, Reliance, Canon, Sony, Pond's and Cadbury Dairy Milk. McCleary has also worked in

. He composed & produced all the tracks and background music for the film '' Waiting''. In 2015 he won the Best Composer Award for the film '' Margarita with a Straw'' at the

Asian Film Awards The Asian Film Awards are presented annually by the Asian Film Awards Academy to recognise the excellence of the film professionals in the film industries of Asian cinema. History On January 29, 2007, Wilfred Wong, the Chairman of Hong Kon ...

. He also created the background score for

Dibakar Banerjee Dibakar Banerjee (born 21 June 1969) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and advertisement-filmmaker known for his work in Hindi films. Banerjee started his career in advertising, being a feature filmmaker, he still continues to ...

's 2012 political thriller ''

'' as well as contributing music for several other films including ''

'', ''

Kahaani ''Kahaani'' (; ) is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Sujoy Ghosh. It stars Vidya Balan as Vidya Bagchi, a pregnant woman looking for her missing husband in Kolkata during the festiv ...

'', '' Love Sex aur Dhokha'', '' Shaandaar'', ''

'' and '' Chennai Express''. He composed the background score and a few tracks for

Bejoy Nambiar Bejoy Nambiar (born 12 April 1979) is an Indian film director, and screenwriter known for his work in Bollywood. He is mostly known for his critically acclaimed short films, ''Rahu'' and '' Reflections'', starring Mohanlal. He was the winner o ...

's second film, ''

'' and then turned into a full-fledged Bollywood music director for

Rohan Sippy Rohan Sippy is an Indian film director and producer, he worked as a director in films like ''Kuch Naa Kaho'' (2003), ''Bluffmaster!'' (2005), ''Dum Maaro Dum (film), Dum Maaro Dum'' (2011) and ''Nautanki Saala'' (2013). Early life He is the ...

's 2013 film, '' Nautanki Saala''. He also created the background score and one track for the 2014 film, ''

Shaadi Ke Side Effects ''Shaadi Ke Side Effects'' () is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by Saket Chaudhary, and starring Farhan Akhtar and Vidya Balan. It is the sequel to the 2006 film '' Pyaar Ke Side Effects''. The film is produced by B ...

''. In 2024, McCleary launched an all-girl

Indian pop Indian pop music, also known as I-pop or Indi-pop, refers to pop music produced in India that is independent from filmi soundtracks for Indian cinema. Indian pop is closely linked to Bollywood, Tollywood, Pollywood, Kollywood and the Asian ...

group, named W.i.S.H. The group consisted of Ri, Suchi, Zo and Sim. The group released its first song ''Lazeez'' on 1 March.

''TV Dinners''

'' TV Dinners'' was McCleary's debut album of English songs. The album consists of songs that Mccleary composed and wrote for major TV advertising brands like

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The origins of the compa ...

Titan Titan most often refers to: * Titan (moon), the largest moon of Saturn * Titans, a race of deities in Greek mythology Titan or Titans may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities Fictional locations * Titan in fiction, fictiona ...

and Lakmé. He has extended these 45-second

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meanings that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

s into full-length songs by adding new composition and lyrics so that instead of sounding like jingles, they sound like tracks from various artists that were placed in TV ad films. Featuring his own vocals on half the album, it also features the singers

Anushka Manchanda Anushka Manchanda aka Kiss Nuka (born 11 February 1984) is an Indian singer, music producer, composer, actress, and former VJ. She came to prominence as a member of the Indipop girl group Viva!. In 2018, she adopted the artistic name Kiss N ...

Shalmali Kholgade Shalmali Kholgade is an Indian playback singer who predominantly sings for Bollywood films. In addition to Hindi, she has also sung in other Indian languages such as Marathi language, Marathi, Bengali language, Bengali, Telugu language, Telugu, ...

Monica Dogra Monica Dogra is an American musician and actress. She has acted in six feature films, as well as released five studio albums with the band Shaa’ir and Func. She is a member on the judging panel of India's first English music talent show, ''Th ...

and Mauli Dave. Five music videos directed by him have been released for tracks from this album.

The Bartender

Going by the stage name of The Bartender, McCleary has three albums released, ''Classic Bollywood: Shaken not Stirred'' (2011), ''B Seventy'' (2013) and ''Classic Bollywood with a Twis''t (2014). The first album re-invents Bollywood songs from the '50s and '60s in a jazzy, seductive style and includes hit songs such as Khoya Khoya Chand (featured in

's film

) and Tum Jo Mil Gaye Ho from the Coca-Cola advertisement directed by

. The second album, ''B Seventy'', was created in honour of

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.* * * * * With a cinemati ...

and was released as a dedication to him on his 70th birthday. It features revamped versions of his most iconic hit film songs, combining

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

and motown while staying true to the original soul of the songs. The third album, ''Classic Bollywood with a Twist'', was launched by

actor

Ranveer Singh Ranveer Singh Bhavnani (; born 6 July 1985) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Ranveer Singh, several awards, including five Filmfare Awards. He is among the highest- ...

. In this album, McCleary has chosen some of the most loved songs from the 50s, 60s and 70s and reinterpreted them with jazzy, seductive and mischievous flare using various genres and a predominantly live band feel. McCleary has been quoted saying, 'A beautiful song is like a beautiful woman. The musical arrangements are like the clothes that she wears. The music recordings, much like clothes, may appear old and outdated to the younger generation, but the beauty of the song composition and lyrics are eternal. My goal is to give that beautiful song new clothes that suit and enhance her beauty for all to see afresh and enjoy. I personally also still love listening to the old recordings.' The Bartender as an artist includes

Suman Sridhar Suman Sridhar is a singer, songwriter, and actor. Sridhar works in music, performance art, theatre and film. Suman is trained in Bharat Natyam classical dance and Indian Classical music and studied Western Classical Music, Women's & Gender Stu ...

Shibani Dandekar Shibani Dandekar Akhtar (born 27 August 1979) is an Indian Australians, Indian-Australian singer, actress, host and Model (person), model. She began her career working as a television host on American television. Following her return to India, ...

, Rachel Varghese,

Saba Azad Saba Azad (born Saba Singh Grewal, 1 November 1985) is an Indian actress, theatre director and musician. She is one half of Mumbai-based electro funk duo Madboy/Mink. She made her Bollywood debut as one of the leads Raaga in the indie film ''Di ...

and Mauli Dave on vocals, Vinay Lobo on guitar, Aditya Ashok on drums, Anand Bhagat on percussions, Ramon Ibrahim on keyboards, Rhys D'Souza on saxophone, Kishore Sodha on trumpet and Mikey McCleary on bass. It has in the past also included

and Sagarika Mukherjee on vocals, Merlin D'Souza on keyboards, and Warren Mendonsa on guitar.

Notable performances

's 70th Birthday Celebrations * Book Launch for Abu Jani – Sandeep Khosla's book, India Fantastique * Blue Frog, Mumbai

Discography

Music albums

Films

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCleary, Mikey Living people 1969 births Musicians from Chennai Musicians from Auckland New Zealand music arrangers New Zealand film score composers New Zealand composers New Zealand male composers New Zealand expatriates in England New Zealand expatriates in India Expatriate musicians in India Victoria University of Wellington alumni