Singing sensation Ashwin Shenoy is hitting the high notes in his quest to achieve international fame, after graduating from one of the world’s most prestigious music institutes.

Ashwin, 24, who is originally from Bangalore but moved to Bahrain when he was just six months old, moved to Boston, Massachusetts to study at the US Berklee College of Music, dubbed the world’s premier college and conservatory for contemporary music.

There, he finished his bachelor’s degree in Music Performance and also a bachelor’s in Music Production & Engineering. Ashwin said: “The opportunity to go to Berklee was amazing. Initially, my parents were a little unsure about the subject and wanted me to go for something safer and continue music on the side. But the more I produced this music, they started to believe that I really had it in me to achieve bigger things than just being in a band playing in clubs.

“I would compose a lot and put together ideas fairly quickly and show them. The more I did this, the more they encouraged me during my time at Berklee and the more they started to believe in me.

“The urge to express art was very strong and this attitude runs through my family, so they understood my need to do this. My father plays the tabla and harmonium, both self-taught, and my mother is a painter. My grandad also played the veen, a traditional Indian string instrument.”

Ashwin had little formal training in music when he took to guitar and drums during his time at St Christopher’s School, joining a metal band called Adamant Eve which also performed at different venues, most notably, his first public performance at a ‘Reflux’ rock music festival at the Bahrain International Circuit.

This was the turning point for Ashwin to take music more seriously. It proved to be an excellent decision, and he now can boast two EPs under his name.

One of them, O.A.K., was a collaboration with Yemeni poet Omar Ahmed Al Khulaqi, a collection of four songs - the music of which Ashwin composed, produced, performed, arranged and co-engineered to go alongside the lyrics.

He said: “Each song represents distinct emotions and feelings which I evoked best using the musical knowledge and experience that I gained at Berklee. We loved doing it so much that we are currently working together on a sequel, and we hope to make it a serial project over the coming years.”

Alongside the O.A.K. series, Ashwin is heavily involved in his hip hop/R&B alter ego, XENAI. He has released 18 songs since he first started the project last September. He has written, produced, mixed, mastered, and engineered all of them.

He has also acted in five short films around the Boston area and is training in break dance and choreography as he aims to become a triple threat artist. Ashwin explained: “Music combined with acting, drama and dance will go a long way in building the personality I want to have in order to be successful.

“Dance has completely changed my life forever. Not only has it enriched my musical and artistic life, it also brought acting into my life. The movement of our bodies in relation to the music plays a huge part in how I make music now, especially when it comes to my hip hop alias Xenai.

“I think my proudest moment so far would have to be what I am doing right now. This is something I never thought I was capable of, having done so badly in drama class in St Christopher’s and being too nervous to even dance at a party!

“Being honest, just making music with an instrument and voice seems so limited now that I have been exposed to dance and acting. All these arts are interconnected and enrich and support each other in a very interesting way.

“Dancing has helped my improvisation when playing an instrument too and acting has brought more presence into my music and song writing.”

Apart from his personal projects, Ashwin works as an assistant producer to a renowned Japanese multi-instrumentalist, producer, musician, DJ and composer Yukihiro Kanesaka. He has also produced music for many top artists such as Varsha Vinn, Katyayani, Treez and Scott Bell.

His finest moment so far was performing with the Berklee Indian Ensemble where he played for the Oscar-winning Indian composer A R Rahman at the Boston Symphony Hall. The performance garnered more than 17 million views on YouTube.

Ashwin has not forgotten his roots either, and hopes to visit Bahrain soon, work with local talented artistes and inspire the younger generation to give music a chance.

He explained: “It’s been more than a year since I have been back to Bahrain so I would love to return and collaborate with local performers.

“I have seen so much development in the art scene in Bahrain recently, and it brings me so much joy to see people do what they love and truly express themselves. I really believe that it is going to bring a lot of positive change to the country and the people are definitely getting more inspired by it day by day.

“If I could offer anyone advice if they are stepping into the world of music and art, it would be that as an artist, we will go through a lot of rejection, emotional ups and downs, doubt, disbelief and fear of failure. If there’s anything I have learned so far it’s don’t stop!

“All of these emotions are there to push your art beyond boundaries you ever imagined, and make you more mature.

“It is part of our job to look past these emotions during our lowest stages and still put out art because it’s that exact overcoming that will connect you to people from all over the world.

“It does not matter where you are or what your background is, as long as you have a passion and are sincere with yourself, you will make miraculous things happen.”

As for the future, Ashwin is hoping to embark on a world tour and collaborate with other artists, hopefully Bahrain’s Flipperachi & Daffy, Outlaw Productions and 7MND. He also wants to come and perform back home in Bahrain.

Ashwin’s releases can be found on SoundCloud and on all stores including Spotify, Apple Music and iTunes. The EPs are under his name Ashwin Shenoy and the hip-hop singles under the name XENAI.