M&D Selects: Mayan Rajendran

M&D Selects: Mayan Rajendran

M5 Showroom is a unique space combining a showroom and retail experience. Found in New York City’s SoHo, M5 features many European and Japanese brands such as Stone Island and Herno, often acting as those brands’ entry points into the North American market. And it’s not your typical store. Rather, it’s a 24-hour on-call VIP shopping experience for the most discerning of customers. You may have heard of Drake, The Weeknd, and Carmelo Anthony…

The staff are in the know as well. Not just within sportswear, but in music too. So we tapped M5 team member and taste-maker Mayan to put together his favorite tracks and answer a few questions for us.

Tell us about yourself and how you got involved with M5.

I began at M5 about three years ago. I head the Marketing and PR department at the company. A friend invited me to come in and have a chat with the owner, and soon enough I was coming in every day. We’re a very fluid showroom. We all have different responsibilities that touch on different aspects of our business, and we take turns taking care of things.

We’ve seen “You Know Sound System” floating around in your IG handles. What is it exactly, and what’s the story behind it?

We (the guys at M5) started throwing a party in SoHo a few years back at Botanica. It was an easy way to play some music and get our friends together in one place. Then we started making some tees as a reminder of the event, and some hats. We picked a date, saw who we could have DJ with us, and just kind of ran with that. It’s how I got into DJing. It’s very natural, like your favorite house party, right in the middle of SoHo.

We’ve heard some rumors about the M5 athletic club. Does music influence your workouts? How so?

The M5 Run Club is not a myth; it exists! We just started a run club with Asics a few months ago. We travel a lot and getting more active has become a common topic, so we try to make it out and run the Westside Highway a few times a month. We aren’t runners, but we hope to be.

I definitely use music as a big influence with my workouts. I like to mix it up with HIIT, cycling, yoga, and cross training, and being able to zone out makes a huge difference. With cycling I know I need something fast and heavy, so its usually tech or deep-house. If I’m at yoga, I like something slower and calmer to help with slowing down and controlling my breathing.

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