Warren Mendonsa on India's Music Economy, AI, new offerings and more

Warren Mendonsa has spent over two decades carving out a space for blues and instrumental music in India, first with Zero, then with Blackstratblues. His songs like PSP12, Spitleaf, Christmas in July, Bombay Rain, Anuva’s Sky, and Ode to a Sunny Day continue to resonate with his fans across generations.

Mendonsa is slated to perform at the Mahindra Blues Festival 2026 at Mumbai’s  Mehboob Studios on February 14-15,  alongside a mix of global and rising voices like Matt Schofield, Altered Five Blues Band, Shemekia Copeland, D.K. Harrell, and Eric Gales, among others.

Ahead of his performance, Mendonsa, who currently resides in New Zealand, opens up about the realities of building an audience as an independent artist in India, how AI is reshaping the session music, what makes the festival an institution and more. He also hints at new music dropping before mid-2026 and the possibility of more Zero reunions.

Here are edited excerpts of the interview:

Q: You’re set to return to the Mahindra Blues Festival 2026. What is that one thing or two that sets this festival apart from the rest? As an artist, what makes the Mahindra Blues Festival stand out for you compared to other music festivals?

Warren: It’s the only festival in India dedicated to keeping Blues music alive. Having stood the test of time, it has turned into an institution. I love the fact that they give young artists a platform every year.

Q: You’ve built a global audience without a major label. What hard trade-offs did you have to make between artistic control and commercial growth?

Warren: Statistically, over 90% of our audience is in India, so I wouldn’t really say it’s a global audience.

Q: You operate largely outside Bollywood. Has that insulated you from compromise, or cost you scale?

Warren: I’m just a guitar player, and this sounds like a question for a management graduate

Q: How has the Indian listener changed over the last decade? Are people more open to instrumental and non-Bollywood music, or is discovery still trapped inside algorithms?

Warren: I have lived outside India since 2020, so all I would say is I hope so!

Q: What is the one contract clause Indian musicians routinely ignore that later comes back to hurt them?

Warren: Allowing their names to be published in Festival lineups before the advance payment has cleared.

Q: Do you see a future where Indian artists can realistically tour mid-sized venues abroad at a profit, or is that dream overstated?

Warren: Yes, because I’m an optimist at heart, but I’m not entirely sure how long this will take.

Q: AI can now generate usable guitar parts in seconds. Do you see this as a creative tool or a long-term threat to session musicians?

Warren: It all depends on who is driving it. It will definitely affect those who rely completely on sessions, and may be a wonderful tool for a young kid with ideas to flesh out.

Q: What should every independent musician learn about tech today if they want to still be relevant five years from now?

Warren: The technology they would need to be aware of in 5 years is probably going to be a more advanced version of what we already have to be aware of today - social media algorithms and AI music generation.

Q: What are you currently working on? What’s next? Will we see the OG Zero lineup come together again to make music?

Warren: A new album of new music is tentatively scheduled for release before mid 2026. It is currently in its finishing stages, and we are very excited to finally play it live in front of audiences. Rajeev (Talwar, the vocalist of Zero) and I live on opposite ends of the planet, so every time there is an opportunity for us to meet in India for a gig, we are more than happy to do so.