No Borders x Bianca Maieli, Co-Founder of No Nazar

Tell us about who you are.

I was born and raised in LA and still call it home. My mother is from Colombia and my father is from South India and they met in school in Southern California. I consider it to be fate because growing up in LA has influenced so much of who I am. I grew up in an incredibly diverse city and musical hub that has shaped so much of my music tastes. I see myself as an extension of my parents, nothing I do would be possible without them. They are the coolest and smartest people I know and so much of who I am is because of them.

How does your identity inform your work?

It influences everything I am and everything I do. I am of the spiritual thought that we are beyond our physical realm - gender, ethnicity, etc. and that the true self is more than all those things; but as someone having the human experience, I feel like my identity does play a huge role in my art. As a woman, as a queer identifying person, as someone from a mixed Latin and South Asian background that grew up in LA, and even deep diving into those identities further - I feel like it’s all molded me into the person and artist that I am. My music reflects and expands the multitude of dimensions that make up my identity. 

How would you characterize yourself as an artist? How would you characterize the music you make and listen to?

I’m a multi-hyphenate artist. My main hustle right now is music and I’ve been DJ’ing and producing music for years now so I feel comfortable in that space. But I’m also involved in filmmaking and all aspects of that art form from writing to directing to acting. I also paint - oil and canvas is my preferred medium for painting and I’m hoping to incorporate that back into my life more. There’s something so soothing about painting that no other art form compares to. 

The music I make and listen to is incredibly broad. My main focus is in global dance music, so I love making and playing music that makes you move. I also love the fusion of different sounds and genres and how that evolves into new expressions of music. But I seriously love it all from downtempo RnB, to Jazz, to Metal, to Salsa and everything in between. 

What influences do you draw from? 

I’m a big fan of any artists that push the envelope and do something unique or different but stay authentic to who they are. Some of the bigger artists that fit that description for me have been M.I.A., Missy Elliott, The Mars Volta, & Bad Bunny to name a few… but yeah, my parents were probably my first influence ever. I would carefully peruse their CDs as a kid and deep dive into their music collections. They had different tastes but I loved all of it. 

My wife is also putting me on to amazing music all the time. When we first met we would send each other music and make playlists for each other all the time. Because of her I’ve been exposed to a lot more Bollywood and Qawwali deep cuts.  

I also draw huge inspiration from my No Nazar team. They are always raising the bar for me and coming out with some of the best music I’ve heard, it’s incredibly inspiring and also creates a fun healthy competitive spirit between us that fuels me in my own music production. 

Is there anything else you would like to share with our readership?

I hate to sound cliche, but honestly the world could use more love, so just a reminder for all of us to move with more compassion and kindness for ourselves and others.