How Aksomaniac Is Building Malayalam R&B from the Ground Up
From scoring indie films at 17 to crafting sensual, dissonant R&B in his mother tongue, Aksomaniac’s journey is driven by instinct, emotional honesty, and a refusal to compromise.
In July 2025, I sat down with Aksomaniac over a morning Google Meet call.
What started as a conversation about his music quickly turned into something deeper: a reflection on identity, language, ambition, and the invisible systems artists navigate.
Over 90 minutes, we spoke about everything from bait-and-switch songwriting to the future of Malayalam R&B, and the story behind his sound.
Leaving Home, Facing Resistance
For many Indian artists, making music full-time isn’t just a creative decision, it’s a cultural conflict. Aksomaniac knows this first-hand. His transition into music wasn’t celebrated at home. It was questioned, resisted, and left emotional scars.
“It wasn’t an easy decision and unfortunately it was something that I had to go through alone. Not being able to find a middle ground with my family made it more difficult.”
It wasn’t just about disagreement: it was about being misunderstood, both as a person and as an artist.
“Music’s a gamble here. I get why they were scared—so was I. But it was still a choice I had to make for myself.”
Despite the disconnect, he doesn’t speak with bitterness — just clarity.
“There’s still space to heal, I think. I hope that happens eventually. But for now, I’ve had to walk this path alone.”
In a culture where family expectations often dictate life choices, Aksomaniac’s decision to pursue art, even at personal cost, is as courageous and uncompromising as his music.
Why Malayalam Was a Liberation
Initially writing and singing in English, Aksomaniac soon realized that the language came with invisible barriers.
“I could make a beautiful English song, but if I mispronounced even one word, it took people out of the experience. That kind of pressure made the process feel less natural, to be honest.”
Switching to Malayalam wasn’t just a practical choice, it was emotional. In his native tongue, the vulnerability came easier. It sounded true, raw and real.
“Even if I wasn’t the most skilled writer in Malayalam, I never had to doubt how I was saying things. That changed everything.”
The Mission: Malayalam R&B
R&B, to Aksomaniac, isn’t just about smooth vocals or lush production. It’s an aesthetic, a confidence, a way of being.
“R&B is about intimacy, sensuality, sex appeal. It’s not just the sound — it’s how you look, perform, tell stories. That’s never existed in South India. I want to be the person who brings that.”
With songs like Kanmashi and Paapam, and more on the way, he’s slowly crafting a vision where Malayalam R&B isn’t just a sound but a fully embodied identity: one that feels deeply local yet universally resonant.
From College Dorms to Def Jam: The Leap to Full-Time Music
Until recently, Aksomaniac was juggling music with his engineering studies, making songs from a dorm room setup, mixing on headphones, and scoring films between exams. But 2025 marked a shift.
“I moved to Mumbai around the time the Def Jam deal happened. It gave me just enough stability to say: okay, maybe I can try this full time.”
The move wasn’t impulsive. It was strategic: a one-year bet on himself.
“I told myself, even if things don’t work out, I can always go back and finish my degree. But for now, let me just give this everything.”
That “everything” includes multiple upcoming projects with Def Jam and RTR (real thing records), along with collaborations, rollouts, and the ongoing work of building a self-sustaining creative system around his music.
“I’ve done two soundtracks this year already, but I’m putting film work on hold. Because what I’m doing now — building this identity, this sound — it takes all of me.”
Crafting a World Around the Music
Aksomaniac doesn’t just make music, he builds universes. His cover art, edits, color grading, and rollout plans are often self-made. Even the script for a music video might come before the song is finished.
“Sometimes I write the video script first, then tweak the song to fit it. Or I write the song and the director tells me it doesn’t work, so I change it. Because if I want to be visually heavy as an artist, I need to respect that process too.”
He’s formed a tight, collaborative circle — writers, directors, producers — who’ve grown with him since his first video. That trust, he says, is everything.
The DIY Bootcamp That Changed Everything
In 2022, producer Rachit invited him to a private Discord server that included artists like Fatboi Raccoon, Circle Tone, Sez On The Beat, and Hisab. At first, he hesitated, thinking Discord was only for gamers, but joining that space changed the trajectory of his career.
“That space made me a better producer. People would tell me if my kick was bad — and then actually send me a better one. It was like a bootcamp. And it’s where I met Fatboi.”
Their chemistry clicked. Fatboi often sends him instinctive, unfinished sketches. Aksomaniac then refines and rearranges them in intricate ways. It’s a creative back-and-forth that just works.
The Sound of Trust: Mixing with Circle Tone
Since his 2024 project Explained Twice, Circle Tone has been his go-to for mixing and mastering. But their process is far from smooth.
“We argue all the time — full-on disagreements. But we trust each other. He even does additional production sometimes. That honesty makes the songs better.”
Everything is hands-on. Aksomaniac is present during almost every session. And he’s obsessed with making sure the tracks sound great on every system: headphones, car speakers, Google Home.
On Albums, Attention Spans & Audience Conditioning
Aksomaniac isn’t in a rush to force a concept album. While Explained Twice had a loose narrative, his newer projects are more fluid — shaped by the times they’re written in, and by how audiences are evolving.
“Right now, the only thing that matters is that the music comes out. Whether it’s a single or an EP doesn’t matter, I’m still building the listener base. So I’ve been releasing songs one by one in a waterfall format.”
He describes his current project, Vartamanam (which means “present” or “conversation” in Malayalam), as more of a timestamp than a tightly-bound concept.
“It’s just an exhibition. Songs written in the same time span, same headspace. Not a narrative, but a mood.”
Still, he has a long-term vision.
“Hopefully one day, when more people are waiting for a full-length project, I’ll go back to doing something high-concept. But for now, I just want to put out music that’s cohesive, and condition listeners to my sound.”
Making Music That’s Democratic
Despite his experimental tendencies, Aksomaniac isn’t trying to make music that alienates. He wants his songs to be felt on the first listen, and explored on the fifth.
“I don’t personally want to make music that needs five listens just to understand. You should enjoy it immediately, and then find more every time you come back. That’s a more democratic endeavour. ”
Artists like The Weeknd and Daft Punk, he says, have nailed this balance: adored by casual listeners and critics alike.
The Bait and the Switch
His most recent song Paapam with Shreyas, may sound like an upbeat dance track at first, but peel back the layers and you’ll find something darker, unresolved. That tension is intentional.
“A person who doesn’t understand the language could dance to the song — but also feel like something’s wrong. It doesn’t resolve in a home chord. It stays dissonant, uneasy.”
It’s a technique he calls “bait and switch,” a recurring motif in his songwriting: drawing listeners in, only to confront them with unexpected emotional weight.
From Bedroom Composer to Film Festival Scores
At just 17, while preparing for engineering entrance exams, he got a DM from a senior asking if he could compose for a short film. He said yes, and ended up scoring a full feature that premiered at an international film festival.
“One of the pieces was a 7-minute freestyle on piano. I let the scene play and just played through it, instinctively. That’s when I realized I loved scoring, not just making music, but reacting emotionally to story.”
Film opened up a new side of his artistry. But with time constraints and other priorities in play, he’s stepping away from that world, at least for now.
Letting Go of the Underground vs Mainstream Divide
He’s clear-eyed about the scene’s contradictions, especially the snobbery that sometimes surrounds what counts as “real” music.
“A mainstream song can be sincere. An underground song can be insincere just to look cool. Bigotry is bigotry. If a song is made with care, it shows no matter where it lives.”
The Future Is Rooted and Wide Open
With a Def Jam deal, multiple collaborations, and an audience that’s slowly catching on, Aksomaniac knows he’s just getting started. His goal isn’t just sonic, it’s cultural.
“Can Malayalam R&B be a thing? Can I build something where a 50-year-old and a teenager both feel something? That’s the space I want to grow in.”
He’s not just writing songs. He’s building the future of an entire genre: one dissonant chord and intimate lyric at a time.
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