Santhosh Narayanan did his schooling in RSK Higher Secondary School, Tiruchirappalli and college in J. J. College of Engineering and Technology, Tiruchirapalli. After completing his education, he briefly worked as an assistant to composer A. R. Rahman. He worked as a recording engineer, before beginning to produce independent music and compose background score for films. He scored the music including two songs for the acclaimed short film Advaitham, and produced the score for the Telugu thriller film Nenu Meeku Telusa along with another Rahman protege, Sakti. He was also part of the contemporary folk music band La Pongal with whom he performed in a few shows in 2009.