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The Musical Journey Born
into a family very rich musical heritage Valentine got initiated
into music at a very tender age of four years when he gave
his first live concert in Lucknow. Valentine is the nephew
of the famous Van Shipley popularly known as "Man with
the Golden Guitar and magical Gypsy Violin", who is one
of the pioneers of instrumental music in India. He draws his
inspiration from varied musical traditions and his work reflects
influences of greats such as Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler,
Jimmy Page, Van Halen, Ritchie Blackmore, J.J. Cale, Larry
Carlton, B.B.King and R.D. Burman.
As a teenager at St. Xaviers School in Delhi, he was part
of the famous Glee Club at the school headed by the most prolific
music composer / director - Param Vir. He has sung for various
musicals like Jesus Christ Superstar, Oliver, Mikado, Joseph
and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Evita etc. At college
Valentine played with various rock bands winning most of the
prestigious competitions like IIT (Delhi / Kanpur), BITS Pilani's
Culfest etc.
He got a Tear Fund Scholarship on the recommendation
of Sir. Cliff Richard to study Music, Communication and Radio
Broadcasting at Cambridge University, U.K. While in London
Val worked with the BBC and also got initiated in the Asian
Underground Music Scene. He has traveled all across Europe
and played with various Pop, Rock, Ethnic, Folk and Jazz outfits.
On his return to India, Val worked with the
likes of Mr. Louis Banks and Astaad Deboo and with Grammy
Award winner Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and also played with
India's No.1 Rock Band - Parikrama. He has played a lot of
live concerts across India and abroad including duo performances
with Roshan Abbas of the Mastercard Family Fortunes, Public
Demand and Breakfast with Zee fame. He has composed, produced,
directed and recorded music for the first highly successful
original Indian musical "Graffiti" - Postcards from
School directed and produced by Roshan Abbas and choreographed
by Shiamak Davar.
Val is also the founder member of the now
famous "Friends of Music". The only music club of
its kind in this country to provide a platform to young artists
for the promotion of original music and bringing together
performers from various genre of music on a common platform.
Val has also composed music and background
scores for numerous radio and television productions in the
form of jingles and title tracks for Mobilink, Coke, Nescafe,
Mescos, Dabur, Amazer Tyres,Gillette etc. He has played live
concerts as a solo artist and with his band for Cosmopolitan,
India Today , BBC (live) in Birmingham and Sunrise Radio London.
He has also scored music for various documentaries too.
Apart from his fire brand stage presence and his style of guitar
playing, Val is a major player in the Northern Indian music
recording industry. Val released his
debut Instrumental album called "SHARARAT" on Times
Music featuring hit songs form classic Hindi Movies played
for the first time on Acoustic, Nylon and Slide Guitar. It
is the No. 1 selling Album in India in the Instrumental Category.
It has some amazing fluid Guitar playing in Val's inimitable
style and his interpretation of these classics evergreen tunes
from Bollywood. SHARARAT 2 in the same series has just been
released in 2006.
Val also released his instrumental album called
'Memorable Ghazals of Jagjit Singh by Valentine Shipley' on
Times Music label. He has played all the hit classics of Jagjit
Singh on Guitar. It is the first album of this kind in the
world and has been really appreciated globally by various
audiences and also by Mr. Jagjit Singh himself.
Val's debut singing album 'The Wandering Mystic' released
in 2005 on Times Music.
It features his fluid, bluesy style of guitar playing and
open singing featuring folk songs from Himachal, Saint Sufi
Poet Kabir and couple of Latin music influenced Guitar instrumentals…..
The album clearly reflects his love and passion for music
specially Guitar…
Val has also played and toured with India's
leading band "Silk Route" winner of 3 Channel [V]
awards. He is also presenting live music on Subah Savere the
breakfast show on DD1 while being the in-house music director
for Riverbank Studios headed by Mr. Mike Pandey - winner of
the Green Oscar for his wildlife film "The Last Migration".
Val also co-anchored "Cool Talk Café" on
DD News a DD International.
Val also teaches students music at his Academy
called Valentine Shipley Academy of Music & Performing
Arts in New Delhi and is also started a successful Music Academy
in Nagpur @ Bishop Cotton School teaching Guitar/Drums/Keyboards/Vocals
etc...
Val is proficient in playing various instruments
like 6 and 12 string Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards, Mandolin,
Drums, Slide Guitar, Bass Guitar, Tabla, Piano, Electric Lead
Guitar and Banjo, apart from having a very expressive and
powerful stage and vocal presence and his inimitable style
of Guitar playing.
Val is also the first Indian to be premiered
on the Internet on the Eve of India's 50th years of Independence.
His style of music ranges from Rock & Roll, Jazz, Funk,
Blues, and Live remixes Jazz-Rock and contemporary Indian
music. What sets him apart from other musicians in his ability
to connect with audience and his showmanship. This ability
enables him to provide a sense of familiarity to the audiences
while providing the crowd
with an entertaining experience. The musicians in Val's band
are all top of the line studio and stage folks with loads
of experience
Val is also associated with various
Charities,NGO's and Foundations to work for issues he deeply
feels about like Environment, AIDS awareness, Social Responsibility,
Autism besides being a very avid Photographer |
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