Ashish Manchanda - Music producer and media entrepreneur.
- Isobel Arden
- 13 hours ago
- 4 min read
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Meet Ashish Manchanda.
In this interview, Mark invited Ashish Manchanda to create his own fantasy cultural year from the answers to some easy questions where there are no wrong answers. Enjoy his journey below.
Ashish Manchanda is the sort of music-industry polymath who seems to sleep only when forced.
As CEO of Win Iconic Ventures and co-founder of Boon Castle Media & Entertainment, he straddles the worlds of high-end studio production, live concert engineering, and media innovation. Born with an ear for sound and a nose for opportunity, he’s worked on over 150 film projects—including Dev D, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, The Chronicles of Narnia—alongside acclaimed composers and artists.
A protégé of the legendary engineer Bruce Swedien (yes, that Bruce Swedien), Ashish earned mention in In the Studio with Michael Jackson—in a chapter entitled “The Future of Music Is in Good Hands.” He also holds a design-thinking credential from Stanford and is an alumnus inductee of Full Sail University’s Hall of Fame (graduating as valedictorian).
His career spreads across geographies: in India, he has mixed or produced more than a hundred Bollywood soundtracks and collaborated with acts like Alif, The Local Train, and Coke Studio / MTV Unplugged. Internationally, he’s held FOH / live engineering roles in venues from Avery Fisher Hall (NY) to festivals in the US, and has worked with artists such as Garth Brooks.
Now, he spearheads The Global Ikon, billed as “the first truly global next-gen music reality show,” aiming to reshape how talent is discovered and nurtured worldwide. In his own cheeky words: “If you thought music was local, try hearing what the world sounds like.”
Ashish is also a voting member of The Recording Academy (Grammy), a multi-time IRAA (Indian Recording Arts Award) winner, a public speaker, mentor, and the kind of person who will ask why before settling for how.
Ashish's Fantasy Cultural Year ... with a magic wand and time machine to hand.
🎨 First stop: Paris
Ashish loves castles and old architecture, so they set the scene at the Palace of Versailles — a mocktail in hand (he’s a teetotaller), “Free Culture” by Lawrence Lessig on the table, sunshine, and creative inspiration everywhere.
💼 Plot twist:
A wealthy - if fictitious - French foundation hires him for a year-long, first-class global mission — to explore where in the world it’s easiest and hardest for musicians to build fans. It’s part research, part adventure, part legacy project, complete with a TV series, book deal, and TED Talk.
🌍 First stop on the world tour:
Los Angeles — “the epicentre of arts and culture,” says Ashish. He’d launch from LA before letting the movement ripple globally in local languages and styles.
💃 For entertainment?
He’d go back in time to see Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in their prime, followed by a James Brown performance. Then dinner at his favourite vegan spot, Gracias Madre.
✈️ Next destination:
India — home. Challenge: listen to just one genre of music for a year. His pick? Eastern classical — “rich with nuance and culture.”
🎾 Sporting moment:
Either playing tennis or soaking up the cricket euphoria that only India can offer.
🎨 Then Venice, where he’d step inside Leonardo da Vinci’s art in a virtual reality gallery — a dream come true for a creative mind like his.
🎭 Back to London:
A perfect week of culture:
Monday: Led Zeppelin in their early days.
Tuesday: Hamlet in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Wednesday: The Phantom of the Opera in the West End.
Thursday: Puccini’s La Bohème at the Royal Opera House.
Friday: Film night — Chariots of Fire.
🥗 And to top it all off:
Lunch at a Michelin-starred vegan restaurant with the one and only Sir George Martin, The Beatles’ legendary producer — Ashish’s dream mentor and ultimate creative hero.
Explore more about Ashish below:
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Mark Walmsley FRSA FCIM AGSM
Chief Culture Vulture
Arts & Culture Network
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