MANA CONTRACTOR
VOCALIST | EDUCATOR | PRODUCER


SWEET LAND
MARCH 1 2020
A head-spinning abstraction of colonialism and whitewashed mythology, “Sweet Land” has been described by its creators as “an opera that erases itself.” It achieves an effect not unlike that of traveling back in time to witness the first Thanksgiving, then returning to the present to hear its story warped through the traditional, wholesome retelling.

JUNE 29 2019
Ever listened to a voice so sonorous that it flows with the sound of instruments in an alchemy where it appears that there is no saturation point between the sound of metallic strings and the singer’s voice? It is like the two coexist and sweep through your soul in a perfect harmony. That is exactly how Mana Dhanraj’s voice appeals to me.

MARCH 2 2018
"A self-professed late bloomer, 29-year-old Contractor is making amends. With her school Music Education and Life Arts (MELA) in Bengaluru, she gives up-and-coming artists the kind of music education she hopes she had received."

CHANDBIBI & THE WASTE CANDIDATES
JAN 15 2015
As Winter chugs along, I need firey vocals, warm guitar and driving bass-lines. I found just the thing on ReverbNation with Chandbibi and The Waste Candidates. Although they’re listed as ‘experimental’, and I usually avoid that, they produce a clean but acidic jazz-fusion. Their album Tidy Funk was recorded in Chennai at Voice and Vision Studios, and they are currently unsigned. Out of Bangalore, India, they aren’t exactly local, but I had to interview them.

CHANDBIBI & THE WASTE CANDIDATES
OCT 25 2015
"From Chandbibi...what one hears is raw and rich guitar riffs, lyrics which touch the heart and an upbeat sound that can get one to dance immediately. "

CHANDBIBI & THE WASTE CANDIDATES
DEC 26 2014
The mammoth, trippy nine-minute jam that is “What Have We Become,” which was also one of their best moments when they debuted in Mumbai earlier this year.