Arun Shenoy

Arun Shenoy (born 30 April 1978) is a Singaporean musician and songwriter.

Shenoy was born in 1978 at Manipal in coastal Karnataka.

He did his schooling at The Frank Anthony Public School, Bangalore from 1982 to 1993 followed by his pre-university education at St Joseph's Arts and Science College, Bangalore, from 1993 to 1995.

Shenoy returned to Manipal for his engineering degree at the Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT, Manipal) and graduated in 1999.

Shenoy moved to Singapore in 2003 pursue his master's degree by research in Computation Audio from the National University of Singapore (NUS).

He became a Singapore citizen in 2008.

Shenoy has been involved in the local music scene through his university days.

His professional music debut as a record producer came when he worked on the production for an EP by the American hard rock artist Tanadra released on 29 April 2010.

Later in the same year, Shenoy also released a solo EP on 31 October 2010, which was titled Sol.

While attempting to start a career in music, Shenoy said that he worked up to 80 hours a week for 2 years, while producing his debut EP Sol and working with the American artist Tanadra on her solo debut.

He is best known for his Grammy Award nomination at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards for his debut full-length studio album Rumbadoodle released in 2012.

Shenoy's full-length debut studio album Rumbadoodle was recorded across the world over two years and was released on 30 August 2012.

The album has a flamenco feel with fusion influences drawn from contemporary pop, rock and jazz.

Though he hails from a rock music background, Shenoy has said he always loved the Spanish Flamenco for its energy and passion characterized by its flourishes, rhythms and staccato style.

Shenoy has cited Yanni as a major inspiration for the album.

The album consists of 11 songs, which are individually named by a wide range of styles that are integrated into every song.

Shenoy contributes all the proceeds from the album to an education fund for underprivileged people in India.

The Art Directors of the album included Roshni Mohapatra, who was also Shenoy's wife.

On 5 December 2012, Shenoy was announced as a nominee for a Grammy Award at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards in the category of Best Pop Instrumental Album for the album.

He has been noted as a first time nominee alongside other first time nominees in the Pop Field Fun., Carly Rae Jepsen, Gotye and Kimbra, and also among the more than 80 nominees who hail from outside U.S. borders.

"Bliss", the first song from his Indian Fusion project released as a single in 2013 was featured on a worldwide Exclusive First Look on Grammy.com.

"Bliss", Shenoyʼs follow-up single from his Indian World Fusion project was launched by the Recording Academy via a Worldwide Exclusive First Look at Grammy.com in 2013.

The project explores the rich lexicon of Indian classical instrumentation conceptually steeped in ancient Hindu scriptures and mythology in what Shenoy describes as a "long journey back to his own cultural roots."

The song also features Grammy nominated arranger Don Hart and Indian flautist Ravichandra Kulur.

The animated video for the music was scripted by art directors Roshni Mohapatra and Robert Capria and created by Actuality Films in New York.

Shenoy has also collaborated with American producer Matthew Shell on a jazz instrumental single titled "Genesis" in 2013.

Shenoy has been featured by Zen Magazine in the best dressed couples list at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards red carpet arrivals in 2014; and again by Le Guide Noir at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards red carpet arrivals in 2015.

In 2014, Shenoy announced a collaboration with Berlin-based producer Sridhar.

Branded as Sridhar & Arun Shenoy, the first single by the duo titled "Make Up Your Mind Or Leave It Behind" was released on 7 May 2014 and featured Lonnie Park on guest lead vocals.

The follow-up single titled "Illusion" was released on 5 August 2014.

Later in the year, Shenoy announced the formation of a new band Soul’d, a trio of Shenoy on guitar, Ravichandra Kulur on flute and Duke Purisima on bass The band released their first single as a self-titled debut

on 5 September 2014.

The style of music has been referred to as ‘Bansuri Funk’.

It has been noted that Kulur's performance on the flute is fast and melodic with influences of jazz, yet rooted in the Indian traditional style.

His second album A Stagey Bank Affair, released in 2016 was chosen as the Critics's Pick for Best Album of the Year by Jazziz Magazine.

On 1 July 2016, Shenoy released A Stagey Bank Affair, his second album and his first as a collaboration with The Groove Project, a group that consists of 13 other artists.

He was conferred the Outstanding Computing Alumni Award by the School of Computing at NUS in 2018 and is also a Distinguished Alumni of MIT, Manipal.

He is the founder of record label, Narked Records.

Looking back at Shenoy's music over the years, music critic Jonathan Widran has noted that Shenoy's discography may sound a bit scattered, but it's reflective of a brilliant, multi-faceted creative mind, pushed relentlessly by a restless spirit.

He has stated that (band) name shifts aside, it's some of the most compelling, heartfelt and life affirming music he has heard.