Shanay Shah - Here I Am 3.5 Years Later Enjoying My Journey of Being a Full-Time Musician (Singer | Songwriter | Composer)

I was always passionate yet skeptical about becoming a full-time musician. Hence I never gathered the courage to give it a shot. While working at Zomato in 2014, one of my clients was looking at organizing an unplugged night at his restaurant every Friday. 

1. Tell us more about your background and journey. 

I've had a roller coaster of a career since I started working at the age of 19. An Entrepreneur at heart, I started my first venture in 2009 while I was pursuing my Third year of Bachelors in Financial Markets (BFM). 

Our company Ion Education took initiative to introduce interactive education on boring yet important subjects like Stock Markets, Real Estate Investments, Debt Markets, etc since formal education did not teach us anything about how things worked in real life. 

After pursuing it for several years I decided to take a sabbatical and move to San Francisco to explore the start-up ecosystem. Back then I had just bought a Ukulele and had learned a few songs. 

So I spent a lot of time on the streets of San Francisco with my Ukulele, busking, and performing music, as it put a smile on the faces of strangers. 

When I got back to Mumbai, I decided that I needed some work experience in fast-growing Tech start-ups and that’s when I started working at Zomato. I still kept in touch with my passion for music on the weekends by either jamming with musician friends or occasionally performing somewhere. 

Years later, I decided to pursue it full-time, and now it's been over 1000 days that I have been traveling across the country, and to other countries to entertain people. 

2. When did you first decide you wanted to pursue music and how did you start? 

I was always passionate yet skeptical about becoming a full-time musician. Hence I never gathered the courage to give it a shot. While working at Zomato in 2014, one of my clients was looking at organizing an unplugged night at his restaurant every Friday. 

I saw this as an opportunity and made a demo for him to listen to, and he was kind enough to hire me. The next 3 years I spent my weekends performing at some bar or the other for fun, until I got laid off from another startup I was working at, in 2017. 

Instead of looking for another job I gave myself 6 months to prove whether I was cut out for this profession or not. Here I am 3.5 years later enjoying my journey of being a full-time musician. 

3. Who is your favorite artist and why? 

It’s a really tough choice, however Lucky Ali’s music has inspired me the most. At a time when Bollywood was your only source of music and no one was taking risks, he bought in a fresh sound, which gave birth to the Independent music industry. 

He was far ahead of his time and his voice was like none other. His compositions and lyrics gave a completely new dimension to Hindi music. 

4. Can you throw some light on opportunities one gets as a singer? 

The opportunities in India as a singer are endless. However one has to understand the music business first in order to be successful in the long run. You can either make a career as an entertainer where you sing and perform other people’s music (cover songs) or release your own compositions and garner fans. 

It’s easier to do the former since the opportunities are more as people hire singers/bands for almost all kinds of celebrations these days. 

The latter involves spending a lot of time and effort creating and singing your own melodies and finding an audience that listens to them. 

5. Is formal training required or can one train themselves purely on the basis of talent? 

It’s not required but definitely recommended. Rather than making mistakes by learning yourself, a mentor or guru will allow you to stay focused and learn faster. 

6. What piece of advice would you like to give to future and aspiring artists? 

If you can pursue your art irrespective of commercial success or validation from people, you will truly enjoy it. 

7. Which is your favorite book and why? 

ZEN PENCILS VOLUME 2: Dream The Impossible Dream 

The first story in this book had planted the seed for me to become a musician. It’s one of the most inspiring books I’ve read and always brings a smile to my face. Anytime I am feeling low or dejected due to challenges in my career, this book gives me renewed hope.

Instagram ID - @shanayshahmusic

Shanay Shah

Singer | Songwriter | Composer

Interviewed By - Aditi Ashok