| Brian Rajaratnam | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 2, 1991 Monmouth Junction, New Jersey, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | New York University, Berklee College of Music |
| Occupation | Audio engineer |
Brian Rajaratnam is an American born Sri Lankan sound engineer. He won a Grammy Award for his work on the song Flowers at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards along side Miley Cyrus, Kid Harpoon, Tyler Johnson, Michael Pollack, Spike Stent, and Joe LaPorta.
Biography
He was born and raised in New Jersey. His parents hailed from Sri Lanka and they moved from Sri Lanka to the United States. He then relocated to New York in order to pursue his ambitions of becoming a doctor, which involved following a conventional, traditional pathway expected of a South Asian origin. However, he changed his mind from pursuing his career to become a doctor to entering the music field, as he decided to quit his medical studies halfway through his pre-med tenure at college.
He insisted that music was always close to his heart especially during his time in Sri Lanka. He developed an interest and love with music during his visits to his aunt's house in Sri Lanka where he first began to play piano before playing his trade learning to play multiple musical instruments.
Career
He heavily researched through online platforms to seek better career prospects by venturing into musical arena and explored about the possibilities of joining music-related courses. He eventually joined the Berklee College of Music in Boston and he also obtained his degree in Audio engineering in 2017. He worked his way out to explore any business roles that are incorporated within the musical field, as he had previously had the misconception that the only job role in which a person could interpret music was by way of becoming a music teacher. He attained the misconception back when he was studying at the high school, as most of the students were unaware of additional job roles attached to the music industry. After completing his higher studies, he collaborated with numerous studios and worked his way up to being an assistant, joining English musician Kid Harpoon, with whom he worked on several projects.
He became popular for his work as a sound engineer/mixer for American singer Miley Cyrus's award-winning chartbuster song Flowers which went onto garner over one billion streams on Spotify. Flowers eventually became the most streamed song of the year after its release in 2023. Flowers also went onto receive six nominations at the 2024 Grammys which also included 2 nominations for Brian Rajaratnam. Brian was eventually announced as the winner in the Best Engineer/Mixer category after having collaborated with Miley Cyrus for the production of the single Flowers.
Selected discography
- 1995: Toy Story – assistant recording engineer
- 2021: Heat Above – recording assistant
- 2022: Minions: The Rise of Gru – recording engineer
- 2022: The End, So Far – assistant engineer
- 2022: Takin' It Back – engineering
- 2024: Can We Please Have Fun – recording engineer
References
- "2024 Grammys: These Berklee College of Music alumni, faculty won awards Sunday". masslive. 2024-02-05. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
- ^ "The man behind Miley Cyrus's first ever Grammy". Print Edition - The Sunday Times, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
- Piña, Christy (2024-02-05). "Miley Cyrus on Grammys Record of the Year Win: "Please Don't Think That This Is Important — Even Though It's Very Important"". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
- "2024 Grammy Awards: Most memorable moments". The Economic Times. 2024-02-05. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
- "Grammy Awards 2024: Taylor Swift, SZA, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish win big - See complete list of winners". The Times of India. 2024-02-05. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-06-16.