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The last time I saw Stefan Mahendra was in late August last year, deep in the dustbowl that was Victoria Park. He was crooning in a silk shirt on All Points East’s ‘Amex Unsigned’ stage, swaying with a gentle coolness as his backing band laid down some soulful R&B. 

“That was such a fun day. I really enjoyed the perks of being an artist that day. I absolutely sent it after my performance and was out until like three o’clock in the morning.

“People hear that I’m a musician or an artist, they’re all like, ‘oh, this guy must be pretty wild.’ But I’m probably the most disciplined, healthiest guy ever, actually. I’ll very rarely enjoy a gig like that. But I didn’t have anything the next day and I never drink if I’ve got a gig the next day. So that day I was off and thought, fuck it.”

Barely six months later, Mahendra’s star is quickly rising as he capitalises on his move to America, a gamble to grow his audience that seems to be paying off.

“LA has honestly been a dream so far. I waited on that visa for a while, and you can spend a lot of money on the process and end up not getting it anyway.

“But thankfully it was approved in March last year. A lot of US audiences were really vibing with my music, so I was thinking that I need to just come out here and see what the market’s like.

“I had been trying in London for four or five years, but sometimes, an artist needs to leave and go to the US. I think a few artists have done that – Jessie J broke in the US first and then she was big in the UK after that.

“I’m just really enjoying being here and soaking up the sun. And you can’t go wrong with that, can you?”

For all the sun-soaking and globetrotting, Mahendra’s career so far has been a hard-grafted pursuit, balancing both the collaborative and the independent. He seems to understand that, while music is first and foremost, the industry is a game we all have to play to find success.

“LA’s a community where there’s so many people wanting to do writing sessions every day. If you really want to, you can fill up your calendar with two, three sessions a day and you’ll always find someone that’s up for it.

“But I think you can really burn out quickly doing that as well. And if it’s not intentional and you’re going to write for the sake of writing, you might have a lot of sessions that aren’t really your bag. What I came here to do is write with people that can help with my project, or I can help in projects that I find interesting. It’s that kind of city where everyone’s just down to explore and create as much as possible.

“I think I’ve been like releasing collabs for the last two years. It’s probably been purely collabs apart from my last two singles. But I think as well as finding people that you really enjoy writing with, collaborating with people that have a similar fanbase to you is really, really important in driving up your numbers. 

“And, you know, the main motivator behind me doing all the collabs was – it sounds so bad – but it was to get my numbers up. You can keep releasing stuff, but one of the best ways to expand your audience is to latch onto someone else’s.

“And likewise, they can latch onto mine as well, and hopefully it’s a two-sided win. There’s this one particular guy that I collaborated with called Walker, and we played both songs at All Points East that I wrote with him in Chicago.

“I came across his song on Spotify one day and I was thinking, this guy’s amazing. And I was visiting LA in early 2024 and I took a risk and messaged him to see if he was up for a session, that I’d just fly to Chicago and meet with him.

“And he was up for it. We met and I wasn’t sure if we were going to vibe on the first session, but something clicked. And the next day we just came out with two really, really fun songs.”

Last year was Mahendra’s most successful so far, opening for Grammy-winner October London and legendary soul group The Stylistics.

“2025 was a game-changing year for me, because I got things I’d been working towards for a long time, like tours that I’ve wanted. I really wanted to open for artists on tours, and I managed to get two of those last year: October London and The Stylistics.

“Festivals like South by Southwest and All Points East, too – I felt I’ve been ready for those for a long time. And it’s just like, how? How do you get it? How do you make it happen when you’re not managed, or you don’t have an agent or anything like that? 2025 was amazing, and I achieved a lot of stuff with no team, which is kind of insane. I know a lot of people with teams aren’t getting those opportunities.

“And it’s like, take a look at your team. What are they doing for you? Because if you’re paying people 10-20%, and I’m here doing it by myself and getting this stuff, just me,  there’s something going on that’s not right. 

“It’s a lot of grafting and finding out who does what, seeing if you’ve got any mutual friends, asking them to make an introduction, cold emailing, cold calling, all of that stuff. But if it can come as a reference from someone else, that’s way more beneficial to you in trying to secure something. 

“And keep persisting. I did the Stylistics tour in November, and the people that booked for that, I had been like pestering for months and months and months. I was like, ‘hey, I think I’d be a great fit for this artist.’ They were like, ‘oh, no, it’s not going to work out. This one’s already got support, blah, blah, blah, blah.’ And eventually, I just hit at the right time. And it was, ‘yeah, I think we can actually get you on this one.’ So yeah, persistence, man. I think that’s the key.

While supporting these established acts, Mahendra was keen to pick up any tips and tricks for his own performances.

“I think I definitely absorb a lot whenever I watch other people’s performances. At the start of the year, it was the October London shows. He had an instant stage presence, and he really played into the fact that he was this big star from America and he’s coming out to England and doing these shows.

“And it was the confidence that I really took from his performance, that I need to be a little bit more confident in myself when I’m on stage, which I think I have worked on throughout the last year. 

“But then with the Stylistics, I learned that these guys have been going for years, that this is their 57th year of touring, which is insane.

“And every show they would do a two-hour soundcheck – it’s like they did two gigs a day. Honestly, I just thought, wow, they care about it even after so many years. And I learned a lot about audience participation and making jokes on stage.

“They were really funny. They had a great chat with the audience. It’s all-encompassing: confidence, audience participation, talent. Absorbing all of that is hopefully what’s going to make me the best performer I can be.

“I think I’m naturally more of an introvert and I think a lot of artists would probably agree with me that you have to sometimes adopt a persona. And it’s striking the balance between not coming across as someone that’s not authentic, but also making sure that you’re giving the audience the best experience and making them feel really comfortable, because you can tell if a performer’s not comfortable on stage

“For the longest time, I used to play keys and sing at the same time. I would be behind the keyboard, and I wouldn’t have to worry about what I was doing with my hands or engage with the audience as much because I thought people would be like, ‘oh, he’s playing keys at the same time. He’s probably really busy in his mind.’

“But people don’t actually care. They just want to be engaged with, and they want to know that this performer is super confident and super comfortable. And that energy you transfer to the audience is so important.”

Mahendra has already started 2026 in superb form, touring the US with R&B singer Joss Stone and preparing the release of his new EP.

“The new project is 95% done right now. That’s the big release for this year. And I’m going to do vinyl for it and merch and everything. I’m so excited, it sounds so Marvin Gaye. It’s going to be a vibe that one.

“One of the songs I played at All Points East, ‘Too Late’, is definitely the most Marvin sounding one. But the others, I think, sound more like Leon Bridges’ vibe.

“And soulful R&B, that kind of thing. But I’d say these songs are more mainstream appealing than some of my others. Like with ‘Wanna Know’, you have to really like soul and R&B and D’Angelo and stuff like that to enjoy that song. I think it’s very in that niche.

“The songs on this next EP are very soulful. A really broad audience would like this stuff.

“I want to get to 100% and have everything finished and ready, and then think about a release date. I don’t want to rush and say it’s definitely going to come out last week of February. I want to make sure the strategy is right around it.

“And, you know, I’ve got all the promo ready to go as well. Finishing the EP, unfortunately, is only about 10% of the work. It’s just the world we live in right now – the music is just the smallest part of it now and how you market it and how you get it in front of people is  the most important thing.”

Amongst the Bridges and the Gaye, however, Mahendra has a soft spot for gospel music from the Deep South.

“I’d say the majority of my influences are pretty straight down the line as what you would expect, listening to my sound. But I grew up listening to American gospel. I don’t know if that’s common for people that make music like me, which is maybe why the American market is invested in my sound a little bit more. I listened to really hard American gospel from the south of the US.

“I’ve spent a lot of years like trying to figure out my sound and who I am instead of like trying to impersonate other people. I grew up listening to Stevie Wonder and trying to impersonate him when I sang. And then I realized a few years later that I need to find my own voice. I can still be influenced by him, but to make sure it’s me too.

“One of my first memories of inspiration was discovering this guy called Smokie Norful on YouTube. I was obsessed with anyone that could play keys and sing at the same time, because I grew up playing keys first and I was always really in awe of people that could do that. So, Smokie Norful was one of the first gospel artists I did a deep dive on and was blown away by his ability to play keys so brilliantly, while singing unbelievably well.

“Smokie Norful was the first one that started it. And through that, I slowly discovered Stevie and Marvin and all that Motown world. It wasn’t until university when I went to BIMM in London that I discovered D’Angelo’s stuff.

“And I would rinse him for years. Every time I would take the train up from South London to Fulham, it would be D’Angelo’s album on repeat. No skips. I know all the bass lines off by heart. And Donny Hathaway’s as well – his live album, I’m obsessed with it. I still play it every day.”

But as successful as Mahendra has been as of late, he always has one eye on the future.

“I’d love a Grammy. Just going to leave that here. I’m going to speak that out there because it’s been on my mind forever. And a world tour, as well. That’s been a goal for a long time because playing live is my favourite thing to do.

“And I think I’m not far from it, to be honest. Even if it starts on a small scale, I’m actually not that far from it, which is really exciting. 

“Being able to fully make a good living from my own music is an important thing to have, but it’s funny I that I’ve left that last. Although it is like super important to be able to afford to live and to eat food, you know, I want a Grammy.”

Considering Mahendra’s mindset and recent trajectory, it’s not hard to imagine him clasping a golden gramophone. Just don’t forget to get your three meals a day, Stefan.

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