NOBODY is more surprised at how Arya's life has turned out today than the man himself. For someone who translated Hindi songs into English to impress his friends while in school, Arya today has to his credit a nomination at the 11th Hits FM Music Awards.
"I was in my early teens then and my friends were amazed at how I wrote such beautiful lines. But one day they found me out," laughs the singer.
That was that but the embarrassment didn't relegate him to the closet. Instead, after the episode, he was determined to make original music. "I was embarrassed but the reason my life is going in the very direction is, purely because of that incident," he says.
Then came days and nights of hard work; he started working on his own lyrics and composingthe music for it. While in college in India, slowly he started singing to his friends and honing his musical talent side by side. The end result: a vocally and lyrically refined Arya. Needless to say, his originals brought him a lot of positive responses. But he maintains, "The suggestions I received from my friends in college were a source of motivation which ultimately brought out the singer in me."
This was long before he actually recorded his first song. Even though he wasn't formally trained in music then he always made sure that he was around music in one way or the other. He worked with Hits FM for sometime and then left for the US to try out his luck. He didn't have enough money, influence or famous friends in the US but he did have Angel Allenstien who helped approach the recording studios of America. Going to the US worked for him when he got the chance to record his first song entitled Maya.
With the recording came a chance to perform at a program organised by the American Nepali Association in New York. The performance squarely got him to the eyes of the NRNs and thus encouraged him to bring out an album of his own.
His self titled album recently hit the market and is an eclectic solo album. From rap to rock, Arya has experimented with various genres of music. His songs have a pop appeal to them and have been influenced by the likes of king of pop Micheal Jackson, Mariah Carey and the Beatles. Even at times when he is bemoaning love's saddest verses he does it with so much warmth that you can't resist listening to them for the second time. His number Jeevan Saathi beautifully articulates the importance of having a life partner. Arya has synchronised the lyrics of this song to the tune and has sung it with a rare passion.
With so many varieties of music in one album and a passion that is clearly audible in the songs, Arya is a man to watch out for in the realm of Nepali MUSIC.
