Shay Mann sets off on his mission to take people on an expedition of sound.

Shay Mann is the alias of Shayan Mannan, a producer and composer residing in Toronto, Canada.

Formerly known as 'Disease' & 'DiseaseMusic', Shay grew up in a musical family with a cultural background in South Asian instrumentation. Shay took a shining to learning a variety of new instruments from a young age. He started on the Harmonium, Tabla and acoustic drums. While he gravitated towards percussive instruments, it wasn’t until he discovered the synthesizer that the songwriting pieces began to fit. It opened the floodgates into exploring new sonic territory, and combined with his already established repertoire of musical knowledge, his vision began to manifest as reality. Fast forward to today and the project 'Shay Mann' now sees him combine idiosyncrasies of Electronica, Finger Drumming, Ambient and Downtempo to create his brand of eclectic music.

His music echoes influences from a broad spectrum of famous producers ranging all the way from rap pioneer Dr. Dre, to cinematic prodigy Hans Zimmer. It is no surprise that his music also reflects the raw attitude of Hip Hop, juxtaposed against lush, cinematic tendencies and emotive soundscapes. What started off as just beat boxing and finger drumming in high school to lay down the beats while friends rapped over it, grew to a full-scale musical project. Shay Mann sets off on his mission to take people on an expedition of sound. He invites you to join him on that journey. (Spotify Bio)

Q: Share a little about yourself and where you are from?

I am an electronic musician from Toronto (Canada).

Q: How would you describe your music?

I make distilled, chill-out electronic music. Something like 'ambient bass' with haunting pads layered with beats. I also make hip-hop instrumentals.

Q: You recently released your single ‘Cloud Forest’. Can you tell us a little about this song?

I composed this to capture the essence of what I felt when I hiked the Cloud Forests in Costa Rica during my recent trip. Being up so high in altitude, you literally are walking in the clouds and have very low visibility most times, with a beautiful wind. What seems like it might be wet and rain drops, is just mere mist and fog (cloud) that you go through. It was quite the experience, & I made this piece of music to reflect what I felt when I did that hike. I tried to bottle that ethereal vibe.

Q: Do you have any other plans relating to this release? A video?

No video, I just make music and I'm happy with that. Maybe in the future.

Q: Are there any challenging aspects to creating and/or recording your music?

Yes, trying to name a track! In this case it was very easy and obvious, but I think most people who make music with no lyrics, would agree that sometimes naming the track is the hardest part.

Q: Do you plan to release one song at a time, or do you have plans to work on an Ep or album?

I used to create albums but now enjoy just making one track at a time whenever I feel. It's much more liberating but I still appreciate listening to people's albums. It's a rare thing.

Q: It looks like 2021 was a creative year. Does this have anything to do with the pandemic or just feeling creative? Will we see the same energy in 2022?

Absolutely it does. The pandemic forced people to spend time more deliberately indoors, and for me, it led to more time to making music and playing around with sounds.

Q: Would you like to collaborate with anyone? If so, who and why?

No, just me, myself and I. I mean sure, I'd love to work with Hans Zimmer and Dr.Dre but realistically that's not happening anytime soon haha.

Q: Has your musical journey had a deliberate direction, or did it simply evolve in whatever direction it found?

Definitely no deliberate direction. You can only connect the dots looking back, not in the present or forward. I started playing the Tabla (east Indian percussion), then the Harmonium, then the drums, then discovered the synthesizer and transitioned into electronic music. I started with making rap beats as I was heavy into hip hop, then slowly expanded into electronica of other sorts. To answer your question, it simply evolved over time in whatever direction it found.

Q: What is the best song you ever released and why?

That is a tough question. It's hard to pick one, but so far it just might be this one (Cloud Forest), simply because it's very personal when I made it and that moment in the actual hike was magical.

Q: What song do fans seem to favor?

'This Moment' - I'm not sure why but that is also a moody track with a mellow pad, laced with a beat that kicks in.

Q: What types of satisfaction do you get from music?

I live for music and film, and they are interconnected. It's the art of it, the randomness of it. Music is the soundtrack of your life, literally. I listen to the same tracks over and over again and listen to different aspects of it. For example, I'll notice a small sound panning on the left side that I never noticed before, and that'll stay with me every time I listen to it going forward.

Q: Has your style changed over the years?

Definitely. As I mentioned before, I started with South Asian instruments (physically playing it), then the drums, then electronic music wise I started with just rap beats, to trance, techno, and now a lot of downtempo/lo-fi and breakbeat.

Q: Tell about a magical moment or positive experience that has happened through music.

Listening to the soundtrack of a film permanently imprints the music with the movie and vice versa. For example, you can play any track from Hans Zimmer's 'Batman Begins' soundtrack and I can tell you exactly which scene it played in, and vice versa.

Q: Would you like to travel to other countries to perform your music? If so, what would be your first stop?

Since I make electronic music, this may sound strange but no - I don't really care to perform it, I'd just like people to enjoy listening to it on their own time. I'm not looking to go on stage or anything. I love just creating it in my private time and letting people enjoy it similarly.

Q: What music do you listen to ‘for fun’?

A very big range. I listen to everything from Hans Zimmer scores ("The Last Samurai" is underrated), to ATB [German trance], to The Beatles, to Dr.Dre's 'Chronic 2001'.

Q: Who inspires you musically?

That's easy. Hans Zimmer, Dr. Dre, Beethoven.

Q: What’s more important to you fame, or credibility?

Credibility. Fame without credibility, or integrity, is worthless.

Q: What is your favorite/best outlet to connect with your followers Instagram, Spotify, FB, Twitter, iTunes? How would you want them to follow?

For social media, Instagram - it's the only one I'm active in. I'm a minimalist so I try to use those things as little as possible. If you're into travel, I do post material from my travels so hope you're into that! For music streaming, whatever the fans prefer but Spotify is what I personally use if that helps.

Q: Are you currently working on any projects we should look out for?

I'll be re-working one of my old albums and releasing it soon - it might be the only full album I ever post again!

Q: Did I forget to ask something? Something you would like to say, that I did not address.

Nope.