Aruna Beth Abrams (born January 16, 1975) is an American singer,

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

, DJ, producer and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

. She is best known as a vocalist in

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

since 2007 but has been working as DJ and producer of her own work since 2011. She resides in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Early life and career

Aruna grew up in

Flemington, New Jersey Flemington is a borough in and the county seat of Hunterdon County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

. She began studying classical piano and later, jazz improvisation, and left her hometown to study piano as well as film scoring and electronic music production at the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

, Boston. In 1996 she worked on the 'Portal' project together with members of the

progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad :Fusion music genres, fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven s ...

band Cynic, providing vocals and keyboards. This material was eventually released in 2012 as ''The Portal Tapes,'' under the Cynic name. At Berklee, Abrams completed courses in music production, audio editing and sound design. She graduated in 2002. Growing up, Abrams listened mostly to 70s and 80s pop, which changed when 'my tastes started diversifying and I got into hair, thrash and death metal as a teen'. She first began performing as an acoustic singer-songwriter at local coffee houses in Boston,SoundClick artist: Aruna
listing and interview, (accessed, December 7, 2014). and recorded the three-song demo ''Broken Circles'', produced by Alain Mallet and mixed by

Kevin Killen Kevin Killen (born October 22, 1959) is a music producer, engineer, and mixer. His work has been recognized by multiple awards and nominations, and he has worked with a range of recording artists including Shakira, Peter Gabriel, U2, David Bowie ...

. In 2000 she was selected as the opening act for the Boston show of The Girls Room Tour showcase. After graduating college, Abrams relocated to Los Angeles. In 2004, she recorded and self-released her first full-length album, ''Running Red Lights''. While pursuing a career as a pop singer-songwriter, Aruna experienced early success when a number of her songs were featured on the

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

shows, ''

Laguna Beach Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish for "Lagoon") is a seaside resort city located in southern Orange County, California, in the United States. It is known for its mild year-round climate, scenic coves, environmental preservation efforts, and a ...

'' and '' The Hills''. Her break-through was the co-written hit for

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip hop ...

entitled “ I Got Nerve” for the 2006 #1

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

album, the '' Hannah Montana: Season One'' soundtrack. The song reached #67 on the Billboard Hot 100.

EDM vocals and songwriting career

In 2006, she was discovered through MySpace by her manager Stuart Squires, who began pitching her for dance collaborations. Six months later, Abrams was approached by

The Thrillseekers Steve Helstrip, known by the stage name The Thrillseekers, is an English DJ and record producer. His debut single was "Synaesthesia", released in 1999. Helstrip has worked under the guises of En Motion, Insigma, Rapid Eye and Hydra. He also w ...

to feature her vocals on a track. The collaboration was her introduction into the

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...

world, supplying the track “Waiting Here For You”. She has continued to work with other trance acts, including

Cosmic Gate Cosmic Gate is a German DJ duo consisting of trance music producers Claus Terhoeven (born 1972) and Stefan Bossems (born 1967). Both hail from Krefeld, Germany. On October 28, 2009, ''DJ Magazine'' announced the results of their annual Top 100 ...

ATB André Tanneberger (; born 26 February 1973), better known by his stage name ATB, is a German DJ, musician, and producer of trance music. According to the official world DJ rankings governed by ''DJ Magazine'', ATB was ranked No. 11 in 2009 and ...

Ronski Speed Ronny Schneider (, born on 18 March 1975), better known by his stage names Ronski Speed and Sun Decade is a German electronic dance producer and DJ. Biography Ronski Speed started his career as a DJ in 1997. Ronski Speed was influenced by grou ...

and

Roger Shah Roger Shah (; born 29 November 1972), also known as DJ Shah and Sunlounger, is a German electronic music composer and producer. Biography History Roger Shah was born in Esslingen in West Germany to a German mother and a Pakistani father ...

. Together with Mark Eteson she recorded the single “Let Go”, which was released on October 25, 2010 through the

Anjunabeats Anjunabeats is a British record label started by producers Jonathan "Jono" Grant and Paavo Siljamäki of Above & Beyond in 2000. Initially exclusively a trance music label, around 2011 Anjunabeats started releasing primarily trance-edged hou ...

label and later included on the''Volume 8'' compilation from the same label. Two years later the single “Live Forever” with

Ferry Corsten Ferry Corsten (; born 4 December 1973) is a Dutch disc jockey, record producer and remixer from Rotterdam. He is well known for producing many pioneering trance tracks during the 1990s–2000s under his numerous aliases, including System F, Moon ...

was released and featured on the album WKND. She also appeared in her first video for the song. In 2013 she went on to collaborate with

Armin van Buuren Armin Jozef Jacobus Daniël van Buuren ( , ; born 25 December 1976) is a Dutch DJ and record producer from Leiden, South Holland. Since 2001, he has hosted ''A State of Trance'' (ASOT), a weekly radio show, which is broadcast to nearly 40&nbs ...

on "Won’t Let You Go" for his artist album ''

Intense ''Intense'' is the fifth studio album by Dutch DJ and record producer Armin van Buuren. It was released on 3 May 2013 by Armada Music. The first song announced to be on the album is " Waiting for the Night", featuring the singer Fiora, which ...

''. On these collaborations she noted that 'writing my own lyrics and melodies is and has always been a non-negotiable. I just can't sell a song I didn't write in the quite same way'. In the beginning of 2009, she was contacted by Myon (Mario Egeto) of DJ du
Myon & Shane 54
to work together on a track. After releasing “Helpless,” both parties had ideas for track collaborations that didn't fit into their own artist personas, so the trio formed a new side project that they dubbed Velvetine. “Safe” was the first original track released by Velvetine in 2010 on ''Anjunabeats Volume 7'' and was warmly received by fans and by Armin van Buuren, who crafted an intro mix for it and a mashup version with his track, “Face to Face”. Velvetine's second single “The Great Divide” was released in 2012, reached #1 on the Beatport trance and dubstep charts and first played by Armin on ''

A State of Trance ''A State of Trance'' (often abbreviated as ASOT) is a Dutch trance radio show hosted by Armin van Buuren and co-producer Ruben de Ronde that first aired in June 2001. It is aired weekly every Thursday at 20:00 (CET) and 14:00 (EST). As of Jan ...

#573''.

DJ and production career

In 2011, Abrams decided to move into DJing, and has credited Myon & Shane 54 as the inspiration for her to make the transition. She started her own radio show, ''The Hot List'' in September 2011on

DI.fm DI.FM (formerly known as Digitally Imported) is an Internet radio broadcaster consisting of over 90 channels dedicated to electronic music, such as house, trance, techno, drum and bass, and dubstep. DI.FM broadcasts handpicked selections consist ...

. In August 2012, she became the first solo female act to do a guest mix for Above & Beyond’s ''Trance Around the World'' radio show. Afterwards, ''The Hot List'' reached #14 on the

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

Top 200 Music Podcasts chart. Touted by Tony McGuiness of Above & Beyond as "one of the most talented singer/songwriters around at the moment". Aruna joined Above & Beyond for a second time in November 2013, doing a guest mix for their podcast, ''Group Therapy''. In 2012, Aruna performed on the “A State of Pink” stage at Armin van Buuren's ''A State of Trance 550'' festival in

Den Bosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. A year later, she accompanied him with live vocals during his set at the

Hollywood Palladium The Hollywood Palladium is a theater located at 6215 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. It was built in a Streamline Moderne, Art Deco style and includes an dance floor including a mezzanine and a floor level with room for up to 4,000 ...

in LA. She has also performed live at

Nocturnal Wonderland Nocturnal Wonderland, formerly known as Nocturnal Festival, is an electronic dance music festival in San Bernardino, California, United States, founded in 1995. History Nocturnal Wonderland is a two-day event (a three-day festival from 2011 to ...

Avalon Hollywood Avalon (or Avalon Hollywood) is a historic nightclub in Hollywood, California, located near the intersection of Hollywood and Vine, at 1735 N. Vine Street. It has previously been known as The Hollywood Playhouse, The WPA Federal Theatre, El Capit ...

alongside Ferry Corsten and at Exchange LA wit
Myon & Shane54
She has performed live vocals and DJ sets internationally. Abrams moved to the UK-based record label Enhanced Recordings in 2013. Her solo track “Reason to Believe” was her first single with the label and reached the #3 position on the Beatport Trance chart in August 2013. Remixes to “Reason to Believe” peaked at #7 and #9 in the

Glitch Hop Glitch is a genre of electronic music that emerged in the 1990s. It is distinguished by the deliberate use of glitch-based audio media and other sonic artifacts. The glitching sounds featured in glitch tracks usually come from audio recording de ...

and

Chillout Chill-out (shortened as chill; also typeset as chillout or chill out) is a loosely defined form of popular music characterized by slow tempos and relaxed moods. The definition of "chill-out music" has evolved throughout the decades, and generally ...

charts, the latter a mix she self-produced. In 2014, Abrams released ''Amsterdam Enhanced'' together with AWD. In 2015 she released the compilation ''Aruna - The Hot List Volume One'' a DJ Mix including her own work both as vocalist, remixer and producer. In support the digital single 'What If?' was made available. She has continued to write, produce and DJ, concentrating mostly on drum and bass. In November 2016, she released the single "Ready To Go" with English music producer Rameses B featuring American vocalist Kingdøms on

Monstercat Monstercat (formerly known as Monstercat Media) is a Canadian independent electronic music record label based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Founded in 2011 by Mike Darlington and Ari Paunonen, the label released music on a tri-weekly basis unt ...

. She also contributed to the remix of 'Time To Say Goodbye' by

Mr FijiWiji Brendan Matthew Galdo (born October 5, 1995), better known by his stage name Mr FijiWiji, is an American electronic music producer, known for producing chill-out, future house, future and dubstep songs. Galdo peaked at No. 12 on ''Billboard's'' ...

originally from the Dogma EP. In 2017 she co-wrote the song 'Trust You' for the album ''

Trust Trust often refers to: * Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality It may also refer to: Business and law * Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another * Trust (bus ...

'' by the singer Jaqi Velasquez that reached #7 on the Billboard Latin Pop Album chart. In September 2019, she made a return to the live stage as vocalist when she appeared at the Electric FAIRy tale festival.

Style

Abrams 'went through the requisite Lilith phase' in college listening to mostly female artist such as

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

and

Sarah McLachlan Sarah Ann McLachlan Order of Canada, OC Order of British Columbia, OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is ''Surfacing ( ...

. It began to influence most of her writing and 'it was around that time that I really began consciously honing my craft'. During her career, Abrams has written a large number of trance tracks where she found herself 'limited by their structure, and also the imagery that they impose from a lyrical perspective, since the tracks and the sounds in trance are so big and lush and epic, the lyrics kinda have to follow suit, so they end up being somewhat abstract'. In general, her method of working centres on the melody before the lyrics are written. Abrams prefers 'the intimacy of pop lyric writing and arrangements, which allow the melody and the story of the song to be the main focus, not the kick drum and the lead lines'.

Discography

;EPs *2001: ''Broken Circles'' ;Albums * 2004: ''Running Red Lights'' Compilation * 2015: ''Aruna - The Hot List Volume One'' ;Featured singles * 2007:

feat. Aruna – Waiting Here for You * 2008: Double Agents feat. Aruna – Electrified * 2008: George Acosta feat. Aruna - Fallin' Backwards * 2008:

feat. Aruna - All the Way - ''Pure Devotion'' * 2009:

feat. Aruna - Under Your Spell - '' Sign of the Times'' * 2009:

Filo & Peri Filo & Peri ( , ) are American DJs and EDM producers Domenick Filopei and Bo Pericic. Career Filo & Peri were discovered and signed by Armin van Buuren to his Armada record label. They ranked in the ''DJ Mag'' Top 100 in 2006 and 2007. Filo & ...

feat. Aruna - Ashley - ''Nightplay'' * 2009:

feat. Aruna - My Saving Grace - ''

Future Memories ''Future Memories'' is the seventh studio album by German artist ATB, released on May 1, 2009. Just like '' Two Worlds'' (2000) and ''Trilogy'' (2007) before it, this album also features two CDs. The first CD consists of dance songs, while the s ...

'' * 2009
Myon & Shane 54
feat. Aruna - Helpless * 2009:

DJ Shah Roger Shah (; born 29 November 1972), also known as DJ Shah and Sunlounger, is a German electronic music composer and producer. Biography History Roger Shah was born in Esslingen in West Germany to a German mother and a Pakistani father. ...

Feat. Aruna – Now or Never - ''Songbook'' * 2010: Velvetine – Safe (Wherever You Are) * 2010: Mike Shiver & Aruna - Everywhere You Are * 2010: Aruna with Mark Eteson - Let Go * 2011:

Myon & Shane 54
feat. Aruna - All Around You - '' Wake Your Mind'' * 2011:

feat. Aruna - Free Falling (Barra) - Wake Your Mind * 2012:

feat. Aruna - Live Forever - '' WKND'' * 2012: Velvetine - The Great Divide * 2012:

Markus Schulz Marcus, Markus, Márkus or Mărcuș may refer to: * Marcus (name), a masculine given name * Marcus (praenomen), a Roman personal name Places * Marcus, a main belt asteroid, also known as (369088) Marcus 2008 GG44 * Mărcuş, a village in Dobârl� ...

feat. Aruna - Sing Me Back to Life - ''

Scream Scream may refer to: *Screaming, a loud vocalization Amusement rides * Scream (Heide Park), a gyro drop tower in Soltau, Germany * Scream! (ride), a tower ride at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags New England * Scream! (roller coaster), at ...

'' * 2012: Aruna - Save the Day * 2013
Myon & Shane 54
with Aruna - Lights * 2013:

feat. Aruna - Won't Let You Go - ''

'' * 2013: Aruna - Reason to Believe * 2013:

Conjure One Conjure One is a Canadian electronic music project, headed by Rhys Fulber, better known as a member of Front Line Assembly and Delerium. History After performing with Front Line Assembly at the 1996 Roskilde Festival, Fulber left the band to ...

feat. Aruna - Still Holding On * 2014: Aruna - Start a Fire (Johan Malmgren Original Mix) * 2014: Aly & Fila feat. Aruna - The Other Shore * 2015: Aruna - The End (Husman Vs. Aruna Club Mix) *2015:

Boom Jinx Øistein Johan Eide (; born 10 September 1974 in Bergen), better known by his stage name Boom Jinx, is a Norwegian music producer and DJ. Career In 1989, Boom Jinx started making music with SoundTracker developed for the Commodore Amiga comput ...

with Aruna - Light as a Feather * 2016:

, Direct & Aruna - Time to Say Goodbye * 2016: Aruna & Rameses B - Ready To Go (feat. KINGDØMS) * 2016: Aruna - What If/Sunrise * 2016: Aruna - All Of You (Ost & Meyer Vs. Aruna Mix)

References

External links

*
Aruna
discography on

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aruna (singer) American women singer-songwriters Trance singers 1981 births Living people American heavy metal singers American rock pianists American women pianists Berklee College of Music alumni People from Flemington, New Jersey Singer-songwriters from New Jersey Monstercat artists 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American pianists American women heavy metal singers