A passionate and devoted musician and Dhrupad singer, Vinay has been following his quest for his music and feels accomplished delving into the ocean of music.

Hailing from Banaras, Vinay Shukla is a musician. He has grown up watching people sometimes sing and sometimes tap on the tabla on the ghats of the Ganges in Banaras, which is steeped in music and art.

Vinay received his school education in Banaras itself. Then he appeared for the Sangeet Prabhakar exam,  organized by Prayag Sangeet Samiti. He received his music education from his guru, Pt. Pashupati Nath Mishra.

His quest to learn music in more depth, took him to the birthplace of Sangeet Samrat Tansen, a renowned  music maestro from ancient times. He found that there is a music gharana named Dagar Gharana who practices the ancient ragas sung by Tansen. He then joined their music school Ustad Alauddin Khan Sangeet Academy in Bhopal where his journey of becoming a Dhrupad artist began. He received music training under Guru Ashish Sankrityayan. He then started performing in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, and many more.

Recalling his childhood, Vinay says he had to experience a difficult childhood as he belonged to a financially weak family. Although his grandfather was a Sanskrit erudite who used to go to distant cities to do debates. Vinay has spent most of his time with him. His grandfather was his first mentor and taught him the intricacies of music. In 2012, he lost his grandfather, which disturbed him a lot, but he started going to his gurus and started serving them and learning from them, which helped him overcome his pain.

Referring to his mistakes, Vinay says that when he lost his grandfather, he was so broken that he got distracted from his music and went away from it for two years. He worked with a studio in Uttarakhand for a while and even worked for companies too. But during those years, he used to feel like he was in the wrong place. Then he returned and joined his music field again. Now, he is happy and feels accomplished in the field of music. He has learned from his mistake that one should do whatever he likes, whether the result is good or bad.

In the music field, Vinay has performed on many prestigious platforms and also received a national scholarship from the central government of India. He also got the opportunity to perform at Tansen Mahotsav in Bhopal and Naina Devi Mahatosav in Uttarakhand.

When he is not busy, Vinay enjoys swimming in the Ganga. Although music is his only passion and hobby, he enjoys spending his time playing different instruments and practicing ragas.

To budding musicians, Vinay's piece of advice is to understand and know the roots of music. Read the ancient scriptures, and meet and learn from old music connoisseurs. Do not blindly follow anyone, do your research, do not imitate anyone’s style, discover your talent and style and find a guru according to it.