Shiyana Gurjaradesh
Shiyana Gurjaradesh | |
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 Shiyana Gurjaradesh in 2017 | |
| Born | Shannon Iyala Gupta January 4, 1993 |
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| Years active | 2014 – present |
| Height | 165 cm (5 ft 5 in) |
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Shannon Iyala Gupta (born 4 January 1987), better known by her stage name Shiyana Gurjaradesh (Elamite: Šiyana Gurjaradeš) is a Canadian-born Elamite singer-songwriter, composer, record producer and actress.
Born in Vancouver and raised in Anmore, she moved to Ardašir after graduating from secondary school to pursue a career in professional acting, despite having little formal experience in theatrics. In 2014, she rose to prominence after placing second in the ERTS's Sound of the Year programme. Her eponymous debut studio album, Shiyana (2014), incorporates elements of western pop and alternative rock music while blending themes and motifs from traditional Elamite and Persian music. The majority of lyrics written by Shiyana are written in English and some are in Persian; while she is also able to speak Hindi-Urdu, Shiyana does not speak Elamite.
Early life and education
Shannon Iyala Gupta was born on the 4th of January, 1993, to second generation Indian Canadian David Gupta and first generation Pakistani immigrant Leela Gupta (née Dehwari) in Vancouver. She is the second of their three children and the younger of their two daughters. Gupta and her siblings spoke English as their first language and their mother's dialect of Persian growing up. She herself took the initiative to learn Hindustani as well, as both of her parents were fluent.
Raised in Anmore in the Vancouver metropolitan area, Gupta attended Anmore elementary and middle schools before attending secondary school at Heritage Woods High School in nearby Port Moody. It was there, Gupta reflects, that she discovered her love of music; she reflects: "I sort of found my talent there... I had an incredible music teacher who managed to convince me I could do anything." Intent on becoming a professional musician, she worked at a petroleum station in Anmore until she had saved enough to follow up on an opportunity to go abroad after secondary school. Scouting out opportunities online, she found a musical upstart in Elam near a work-exchange host programme. As she became established, she ceased using her birth name Shannon Gupta professionally, feeling it too foreign to Elamite audiences, and adopted the stage name Šiyana Gurjaradeš.