Cricket fever is in the air and our Indian music industry leaves no stone unturned to use this as an opportunity to deliver fresh music. Amidst the various tracks released, WAY O WAY O marked collaboration of artists Jahmiel (Jamaica), Catherine Taylor Dawson (UK), Simba Diallo (NZ), Khayelitsha United Mambazo (South Africa) and SANAM band with international singer-songwriter, composer, performer, and producer - Michael McCleary.

Composed and produced by Michael McCleary, the song carries a huge meaning and is sure to melt your heart with a marvellous melody that will linger in your ears for a long time. To get some information on how WAY O WAY O came about we had an exclusive chat with Mickey McCleary.

Here’s what he had to say.

‘WAY O WAY O’ has garnered an immense response. What's your say on this?

It's an anthem for fans for their love for the game and excitement about the best in the world. It has got a great response and stands out from the other anthems in its concept and all-inclusive approach. Patriotic fervour is something that is common to all nations and this song celebrates it.

The song is about cricket, do you have a personal love for the game?

It's a wonderful game. I'm more of a one-day match person. Being married to an Indian, in our family of four we have 2 NZ t-shirts and 2 India t-shirts. Luckily, we can support the two best teams.

Who is your favorite player?

My favorite player is Virat Kohli. I am always making music for ads that he features in so he's become really familiar to me. He happens to be a great player too.

How was your experience of making the song?

Before recording the artists, I pretty much finished the composition and production (along with Achint Thakkar and Parth Parekh from Bay Music House). I had all their parts recorded first with guide voices and then let the final artists do their magic and give it their own vibe right at the end of the process. It was like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle. The challenge was to make the track flow while continually changing from artist to artist.

How was it associating with SANAM band and other artists for the song?

I've known SANAM for a long time and always enjoyed their music and vibe. I knew they would add so much energy to the track and video. Sanam Puri is a terrific singer and the other guys from the band sang some powerful backing vocals. I am pretty fussy when I'm directing singers and I really got them to push their voices to their limit to give us the power we needed. I directed international artists remotely via video calls. It was terrific to work with so many artists.

You have done many ad jingles. Is it essential to have a connection between brands and artists?

Artists bring credibility and authenticity to the world of advertising while brands have the spending power to help in giving them visibility and profile. So it's a mutually beneficial thing. Often subtle advertising through association with good music is a more effective route for a brand. I am starting a new endeavour called BMH syncs, which is cataloguing songs of indie artists and promoting them to the advertising industry to be used in ad campaigns. The resulting sync deals will raise the profile of artists and earn money for them while retaining the artists’ rights over their music.

What are your further plans and collaborations?

I'm scoring music for Pink Gullabi Sky, the new Shonali Bose film featuring Priyanka Chopra and Farhan Akhtar. I'm also composing music for a Netflix original feature film called Maska. Soon, I will be starting to work on Four More Shots Please Season 2. Besides, like always, a lot of TV advert work is on-going at Bay Music House, my new studio complex and multi-composer music house.