What Is This Behaviour?

We wax lyrical with Nikita Chauhan, the CEO, and founder of TranslateNC; a music talent management and strategic marketing company looking after Guiltybeatz,  DJ Semtex & more. 

Ep 79 goes under the surface, starting with Nikita’s journey from working in a call centre in Derby to hustling her way in and then eventually leaving radio production at the BBC to start up her own business. With a deep understanding of how music unites us, Nikita’s trust, transparency, and communication drive her to help musicians tell their stories their way. 

Our conversation taps into Nikita’s boldness as well as a challenging work experience that shaped her for the better. Following our EP 77 with Leo Kalyan, we continue exploring the blessings of being South Asian in music - this time behind the scenes rather than on the mic.

Nikita’s mantra is ‘You don’t know what you don’t know’ so in that spirit, if you’re new to WITB or the powerhouse that is Nikita Chauhan, dive right in and get to know.

Aaron, Almass & Reuben x

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Presented by Almass Badat & Reuben Christian

Produced by Surya Elango

EP 78 with Leo Kalyan is here to bless your ears!

Bringing in wisdom, warmth, and undeniable skill is @leokalyan the singer, songwriter & music producer from London who has taken the world by storm with their Bollybeats, mashups, and uniquely playful renditions of classics old and new. 

After a social-media hiatus over the pandemic, Leo transformed their Indian Classical training into a phenomenal series of Bollywood x chart mashups that explore the musical synergy between Afrobeats, Latinx & Indian music. Leo’s videos went globally viral on Tiktok & Instagram with support from respected musicians like Grimes & AR Rahman (as well as the rest of the world)!

Confidently and utterly themself, Leo is open about their gay & non-binary identities amongst the many facets that make up this brilliant artist. We caught up with Leo talking everything from bilingual and non-English music embedding into the mainstream, how gender-neutral pronouns are a part of ancient Indian language and 15th, 16th, and 17th century Punjabi Hindi poetry, and why queering fashion is a powerful tool to make people see and treat you differently. 

Listen to Leo’s music, check out their IG & tiktok and like, share and subscribe to WITB for more insightful, honest, and hilarious conversations with South Asian people going against the grain. Thank you Leo! 

Aaron, Almass & Reuben x

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Presented by Aaron Christian, Almass Badat & Reuben Christian

Produced by Surya Elango

Illustrator and designer Jasmin Sehra enters the WITB chat on EP77!

Inspired by her Naniji’s DIY cassette tape covers and old school South Asian typography, Jasmin AKA Paradise Girl has been making art from her early childhood. Now specialising in typography and a tropical range of illustration and design styles, Jasmin’s clients include Fenty, Armani, Nike, Estée Lauder, MTV Europe, Levis & Converse. Her artwork has been seen on products and posters as well as large scale murals.

Aside from Reuben pitching his bald head as a canvas to Jasmin, we talked about how Jasmin finds inspiration in her family, why being curious and constantly trying out ideas helps define her artistic identity and how Jasmin found community in the early days of Instagram. We love this episode as Jasmin affirms the joy of the journey and not getting lost on our end goals.

Check out and support Jasmin’s work and like, share and subscribe our pod. We’re forever grateful.

Aaron, Almass & Reuben x

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Presented by Aaron Christian, Almass Badat & Reuben Christian

Produced by Surya Elango

Episode 76 welcomes the author and screenwriter, Nikesh Shukla to the WITB community.

Leading up to the release of his teen fiction novel ‘Stand Up’, award-winning author and screenwriter @nikeshshuklawriter kicks off our 2023 season with a conversation that inspires us to appreciate the layers beneath the surface.

Nikesh is the name behind the award-winning ‘Brown Baby’, ‘The Good Immigrant’, and can be thanked for reintroducing Pavitr Prabhakar aka Spider-man India back into Marvel Comics in 2022. In this honest & insightful episode, we explore mastering the craft of writing, the power of friendship, why good mentoring is vital and the mental impact Nikesh experienced after publishing the widely acclaimed ‘The Good Immigrant’.

Nikesh shares the lesser-known impacts of releasing a book on race and immigration during a time when the UK was polarised with Brexit: stay or remain.

Look forward to tender moments, lots of laughter and a deep dive into the makings of Nikesh, a respected and valued member of our community.

Please subscribe to our podcast (it really helps), and share with your friends.

Tag @whatisthisbehaviourpodcast on IG and let us know what you think of episode 76.

Aaron, Almass & Reuben x

A month after the launch of the WITB 101 at White City House, Jayshree, the editor on the project, joins us for a candid reflection on the process. We peel back the layers on brown excellence, following a feeling and it being a marathon not a sprint. We take a closer look at our blind spots and the challenges of trying to get the resource out to industry decision-makers. Throughout, we listen back to some of the event’s highlights from Goldtooth’s live DJ set right through to the Q&A with the community that got us thinking.

On Friday 5th August 2022, we launched the WITB 101; our annual, growing, open resource of 101 South Asian people going against the grain. Lock in to Aaron, Almass & Reuben tapping into the WITB 101's inception and the anticipation of the big day.

As three seperate artists with public profiles, personal branding is something we can’t ignore. But what exactly is a personal brand nowadays? Is it seperate from our authentic selves? And what’s the best way to curate one? If that’s even actually possible.

Multi-award-winning Global Head of DEI at M&C Saatchi Group, Taz, talks to us about her purpose-led journey from teaching to becoming the only woman of colour in a leadership position at her current company, covering the joys and pains of doing such meaningful yet heavy work. 

As the world opens up post-pandemic a lot of us are called to travel, for both work and the need to turn-the-hell-up ;) So we share stories on how travel is shaping us, its importance in helping us understand the world, plus we throw in a few travel hacks for good measure :)

Academy Award®, BAFTA, and Independent Spirit Award-winning filmmaker Joseph talks candidly about his journey from music journalism to being the first Patel to win an Oscar - and how important moments like these are for the South Asian community. 

We're two! And we're honoring it by taking stock of another year in the pod game, sharing our ups and downs, and what we've observed in the global pioneering South Asian scene. 

Ahead of The Dialled In Festival on 9th April 2022, Aaron and Almass chat to Aneesha and Kavya about navigating the music game as an artist, a manager, and a DJ; from working to your own tempo right down to how they formed their dynamic duo partnership. 

Reva, a Creative Director and Stylist based in Los Angeles & New York,  talks about the importance of building a creative community and how she is experimenting with the way visual culture can educate, shape & express the world around us.

All three of us give and receive mentoring, and agree that without it, navigating life and work would be a lot more challenging. We talk about how to find and approach a mentor, the difference between a mentor and a coach, and how certain lessons have shaped us. 

To celebrate Valentine's Day we indulged in some four-way verbal intercourse with Poppy, a co-host on the 'Brown Girls Do It Too' podcast; going back and forth on everything from shame and culturalization around sex, right through to the underrated healing power of rage wanks. 

We start 2022 off by answering some revealing questions around career, sex, money, relationships and family, using 'The Confessions Game' from The School of Life. Expect moments of truth, depth, awkwardness, avoidance and hilarity ;)

We chat to Samia, Alisha, Kiran, Amad and Mahnoor from the Daytimers collective about everything from opening up rave culture to non drinkers right through to creating space for the South Asian community to connect and grow together. 

After a deeply introspective and uncomfortable two years, we put aside generic New Years Resolutions and ponder who we really want to be in 2022, welcome our future selves and share our professional and personal end of year rituals. 

London based artist Karimah explains how her painting work in street, community and public art aims to bring us together. 

"How does it feel to have a full POC team?" is a question Aaron was asked while working on a film set recently. At the time, Aaron hadn't even noticed that this was the case, let alone land on how he actually felt. So he brought it to the pod for us to dissect...

Artist, speaker and activist Jonah tells us why he co-created The Blindian Project; a social impact media platform and global community at the intersection of Black x Brown culture, normalising Black x Brown relationships and dismantle anti-Blackness wherever it exists.

What is the relevance of passion projects in a number crunching society?

World renowned mixologist Ryan aka Mr Lyan journeys through opening White Lyan, the world's first cocktail bar to use no perishables, founding Dandelyan, awarded the 'World’s Best Cocktail Bar', right through to teaching mixology on masterclass.com!

Non South Asian led Yoga retreats, white dreadlocks, African inspired western high fashion; at what point does cultural appreciation cross the line? 

Multiple award winning entrepreneur Leyya talks work/life balance and explains how her organisation ‘The Other Box’ uses positivity to create a more inclusive creative and tech industry.

As we experience summer after a year of restricted movement in lock down, how do we currently feel about our bodies and what plans do we have, if any, to respect and honour them more?

Queer, muslim, clinical psychologist and award winning poet Sanah explains how reimagining our relationship to pain can aid our collective emotional and mental wellbeing.

We discuss what the blue tick verification system signals to each of us and whether we think it’s helpful or harmful for society.

On the pulse since 2010, senior commissioner Ravi has shaped video content at Channel 4, Dazed, VICE, and now runs Soursop; a next-gen creative consultancy that helps brands connect to premium Gen Z and Millennial audiences.

We enjoy two funny and heart warming chats with our fathers about their come-up, and what it's like parenting rebels ;)

Valentina explains her mission as a ‘community weaver’ and why her latest project Youth X Youth; a global youth led education movement, is so important for the future of education. And our world.

Heeral talks about life as a young social tech entrepreneur and how she accidentally created Amica: a friendship app for women travelling solo.

BBC Broadcaster & film critic Ashanti Omkar shares her journey of cultural discovery and intuitive learnings from two decades of working in Indian Arts & film.

We (Aaron, Almass and Reuben if you're new here!) take stock and process one year in the pod game, exploring personal and professional relationship building, acknowledging challenges that arise and ideating on the future of WITB.

From interning at Sony Music to becoming the Head of Concert Publicity at Live Nation, Mo shares tips on great PR and thoughts on the importance of live experiences.

The UK’s lockdown regulations are fully lifted on June 21st 2021, which we’ve named ‘COVID Independence Day’. We discuss what a New Normal could look like in terms of work, socialising, relationships...and dating apps ;)

Rosh talks to us through her intuitive journey creating Alighieri; an award winning collection of jewellery inspired by poet Dante's Divine Comedy.

We get into a deeply honest, passionate and at times uncomfortable debate around the idea of asking our listenership for financial support for our podcast’s evolution.

Sunthar V, a comedian from Canada, conveys the importance of alternative spaces for underrepresented comics to voice their stories.

We created this podcast to break limiting South Asian stereotypes, but what exactly ARE some of them? We listed a few, and it got kinda idiotic lol.

We enjoy two hilarious and revealing chats with our mothers about the pains and pleasures of being our co-creators.

Sumit covers his contribution to the origins of music programming in Mumbai's thriving music scene, landing now, as Soho House Mumbai's programmer. 

We reminisce on the era and project that connected us, shaped us and ultimately lead to this podcast.

We start by unpacking Valentines Day then end up redefining love itself. Cupid step aside ;)