ShyBoy

Jason Arnold, known by his stage name ShyBoy, is an American vocalist, songwriter, music producer, and DJ/mashup artist.

Music written and performed by ShyBoy has been featured in numerous films, video games, and television shows including America's Next Top Model (CW), RuPaul's Drag Race (VH1/Logo), and Capcom's multiplatinum game Devil May Cry 4 (featuring the end title "Shall Never Surrender," which ShyBoy performed and co-wrote with composer Tetsuya Shibata). ShyBoy has performed on stages in Europe and North America, including a headliner slot at the Carmel Art and Film Festival (at the Pacific Repertory Theatre's Golden Bough Playhouse), a series of shows at the CBGB Festival in NYC, and multiple residency dates at The Hotel Café in Los Angeles. ShyBoy has shared the stage with artists such as Amanda Palmer, Flo Rida, Griffin House, Meiko and Bell X1, and has appeared on numerous radio shows and web series including Stripped Down Live (an acoustic performance showcase hosted by Tears For Fears' Curt Smith).

ShyBoy's debut solo LP Water on Mars was released in October 2013. Produced by ShyBoy and Mark Nubar, the album features co-writes with songwriters such as Allee Willis, David Batteau, Ivo Moring, Wendy Waldman and others. The songs "Bird in Flight" and "Wouldn't It Be Good" were released as singles, both with videos directed by filmmaker Michael Bodie and produced by Loretta Ramos. HuffPost's review of Water on Mars described the album as one that "makes a bold, tuneful impression on today's indie-pop landscape" and that it "is one of the year's smartest, not-to-be-missed debuts." The Monterey County Weekly described ShyBoy's music as "a cross-pollination of RJD2, DJ Shadow and 2001: A Space Odyssey – Arnold's understated vocals quickly erupt into full-blown soulful crooning that's irresistible for eardrums." Kevin Bronson's Buzzbands LA noted ShyBoy's sound as "wondefully dramatic," and described his music as a cross between Nick Drake, Sufjan Stevens, and M83. Coinciding with the release of Water on Mars, the HLN news series Raising America with Kyra Phillips selected one of the album's tracks - "When I Close My Eyes" - as the show's theme song.

In July 2014, ShyBoy released The Interstellar Travel Companion Mixtape, containing a collection of mashups, remixes and original material. On October 1, 2014, ShyBoy's second full-length LP, Lost in Space, was released. The recording features collaborations with lyricist Amy Powers, German electronic music composer/DJ robot koch, composer Jim Dooley (Pushing Daisies), television writer/producer Bryan Fuller and more. The collection contains a cover of the Donna Summer song "She Works Hard For The Money," a track which was also released by Essential Records on the compilation Café de Paris, Vol. 10.

ShyBoy released three EPs, a mixtape, and numerous mashups and singles in 2015, starting in January with the Daisy Pusher EP (which includes the track "Haven't Heard This Song In Forever," featured on ABC's Super Fun Night). In March 2015, ShyBoy released a cover of Sia's "Elastic Heart," recorded as a duet with vocalist Kat Robichaud (of The Voice). In October 2015, the EP Zero Gravity was released, containing remixes by The Beta Machine and Nubar Brooks. It also features an acoustic version of "Zero Gravity (Lost in Space)," recorded live at Wendy Waldman's Longhouse. The recording was engineered by Rob Hoffman and produced by Mark Nubar & Jeff Hoeppner, with ShyBoy on vocals and effects, Nubar on George Winston's grand Steinway piano, Hoeppner on keyboards and Angela Momiyama on acoustic guitar. Released simultaneously on October 30, 2015, The Murder Mixtape and The Murder Ballads EP contain songs from classic thriller, suspense and horror films, including covers of "Love Theme From Eyes Of Laura Mars (Prisoner)" (originally recorded by Barbra Streisand), "(Theme From) Happy Birthday To Me" (originally recorded by Syreeta), and "Theme From (Midnight Express)" (originally recorded by Giorgio Moroder and Chris Bennett).

As lead singer for the band Hypnogaja, ShyBoy received a Hollywood Music In Media Award for Best Male Vocalist (for the band's cover of the Donna Summer hit "On The Radio") and toured with the group throughout Canada and the U.S. He co-wrote/produced numerous recordings with Hypnogaja, including the concept LP Truth Decay (rated 9 out of 10 stars by Outburn magazine, which described it as "an expertly crafted album”). One of the album's songs, "Dark Star," was remixed and released as a single, and featured a vocal collaboration with ShyBoy and SlimKid3 of The Pharcyde. "Welcome to the Future," another track from Truth Decay, was remixed by DJs Kristina Sky, Randy Boyer, Darude, and Menno de Jong and released on the EnMass Music label as a two-part remix package featuring ShyBoy. The song's world premiere was on BBC Radio 1 by DJ Judge Jules.

ShyBoy is a resident DJ and vocalist at Adrian & the Mysterious D's club Bootie at Los Globos in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA. He's also performed at other Bootie events, including New York, Berlin, Las Vegas, and the DNA Lounge in San Francisco. ShyBoy was nominated for Best DJ in the 2014 and 2015 Best of LA Weekly Awards. As a producer, he has created numerous releases, including: mashup concept albums such as The RuPaul Mixtape and MaDonna Summer; remixes for artists such as RuPaul, Purple Crush, Whitney Houston, Donna Summer, and more; original songs, including five singles that he co-wrote and co-produced with RuPaul and Mark Nubar for RuPaul's Drag Race seasons 4, 5,and 6. The songs, "The Shade of It All," "Runway Girl," "Reading is Fundamental," "It's Not Personal (It's Drag)," and "Oh No She Better Don't," were all released digitally by Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey's production company World of Wonder.

CNN featured ShyBoy's music several times in 2015. In April 2015, the song "Water on Mars" was used during a special news report on Mars water discovery; in June 2015, the network featured his song "Bird in Flight" during a story about the 50th anniversary of the first spacewalk by NASA astronauts; and in September 2015, "Water on Mars" was featured twice during the debut of the network's LA Newsroom show, in a special report on NASA's definitive discovery of flowing water on Mars.

In October 2016, ShyBoy released a cover of "Neutron Dance," the Grammy Award-winning hit song by The Pointer Sisters, written by Allee Willis and Danny Sembello and originally featured on the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack in 1984. The single, released via ShyBoy's independent label The Spaceman Agency, was produced by Jeff Hoeppner, ShyBoy, Willis, and Mark Nubar. Willis also animated and directed a lyric video for the song, in addition to illustrating the cover art for the release. Xaque Gruber of HuffPost describes ShyBoy's cover of "Neutron Dance" as "an entirely new, indie-pop version of the classic single with ShyBoy’s understated tenor lilting over delicate, synth-driven grooves." Also in October 2016, ShyBoy's remix of Julia Fordham's "Where Does The Time Go?" was released on Julia's album Mixed, Shaken & Stirred. ShyBoy also contributed vocal harmonies on the song.

2017 releases by ShyBoy include two songs he produced with Allee Willis, Jeff Hoeppner, and Mark Nubar: "Can't Stay With The Pay (Ain't No Little Fairy Gonna Pop Me A Five For That Tooth)" (written by ShyBoy, Willis, Hoeppner, and Nubar) and "He and She" (written by ShyBoy, Willis, and Nubar).