Mikey McCleary
Michael McCleary is a New Zealand songwriter, composer and producer based in Mumbai. He is known for Khoya Khoya Chand and Hawa Hawai from Shaitan, Neend Na Mujhko Aaye and Eena Meena Deeka from Shaandaar, Fifi from Bombay Velvet, O Lal Meri / Mast Kalandar from David 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, Tamil Nadu, India. He is married to writer and actress Diksha Basu.Career
McCleary began his career in the Indian industry with a collaboration with Lucky Ali. 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.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. He also created the background score for Dibakar Banerjee's 2012 political thriller Shanghai as well as contributing music for several other films including Shaitan, Kahaani, Love Sex aur Dhokha, Shaandaar, Bombay Velvet and Chennai Express. He composed the background score and a few tracks for Bejoy Nambiar's second film, David and then turned into a full-fledged Bollywood music director for Rohan Sippy's 2013 film, Nautanki Saala. He also created the background score and one track for the 2014 film, Shaadi Ke Side Effects.
Going by the stage name of The Bartender, McCleary has three albums released, Classic Bollywood: Shaken not Stirred, B Seventy and Classic Bollywood with a Twist.
The Bartender as an artist includes Suman Sridhar, Shalmali Kholgade, Shibani Dandekar, Rachel Varghese, Saba Azad 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 Anushka Manchanda, Monica Dogra and Sagarika Mukherjee on vocals, Merlin D'Souza on keyboards, and Warren Mendonsa on guitar.
TV Dinners was McCleary's debut album of English songs. Featuring his own vocals on half the album, it also features the singers Anushka Manchanda, Shalmali Kholgade, Monica Dogra and Mauli Dave. Five music videos directed by him have been released for tracks from this album.
In 2024, McCleary launched an all-girl Indian pop 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.