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Intro:
On stage, clad in his trademark white, he is impossible to miss. Wireless keyboard in one hand, an ever-ready clutch of his own productions in the other, his live crowd-interacting performances have brought an entirely new experience for club and festival goers worldwide. In 2010 this unequalled approach was reflected in DJ Magazine`s Top 100 chart, when he re-entered its top 50 for a third year running, landing at #34. As a music producer he`s scaled the heights of national charts and with 6 artist albums & compilations released in the last 3 years alone. He is very possibly the most prolific trance musician working today. He is ...
Early History:
Born in Esslingen in southern Germany, Roger started to hit his production stride in 1999, putting out the tracks `Claps`, `The Mission` & `Tides of Time`. In 2003 his `High` release was signed by Virgin Records imprint Nebula. This marked his first non-domestic release and over the course of the next 5 years he inked productions to a range of heavy-hitting trance labels - Anjunabeats, VANDIT & Black Hole among them.
The Armin Connection:
In 2007 Armin named Shah`s `Who Will Find Me` as his favourite track of that year. Having heard the demo of its follow up, Van Buuren saw significant crossover potential in the track and made contact early in 2008 to ask if Shah would like to collaborate on it. The result was the Chris Jones vocalled `Going Wrong`... A top 5 smash in The Netherlands national charts, the track went on to become one of the biggest selling trance singles of the year. From there Magic Island Records – Shah`s primary label - moved from his own stable to that of one of industry-leading Armada Music.
Magic Island Records:
An imprint for both Roger`s own material and that of likeminded producers, Magic Island releases have quickly become fixtures in the CDJs of some of the world`s biggest spinners. Notable up and coming names like Ralph Fritsch, DJ Cosmo, Kim Svard and Walsh & McAuley have all put out productions on the label. In December 2010 it celebrated its 50th release with Kim Svard`s `Manne`s Song`.
`Songbook`:
The quickest produce of the Magic Island/Armada deal was Roger`s first artist album, `Songbook`. Well received by both press and fans alike, it was much praised for its innovative dual club mix and acoustical version approach. Singles taken from it like `Don`t Wake Me Up`, `Going Wrong` & `Who Will Find Me` (a Top 20 ASOT Tune of the Year in 2008) proved to be particularly popular. The follow-up to `Songbook` is currently slated for Q2, 2011.
Live & DJ Performances:
In late 2008 Shah changed his artist name, dropping the `DJ` prefix and revising it to . This move signalled a move away from straightforward DJ sets, which he`d found increasingly inhibiting. Numerous countries around the world have subsequently played host to the performances. Hot-spots like Sydney, Ibiza, Argentina, Poland & India have been rocked, with Roger performing at tent-pole events including the ASOT400, I Love Kiev, Gatecrasher`s NYE & Judgement Sundays. In October of 2010 Shah sold-out a solo, 4000 capacity event for Foro Corona in Mexico, where he played for six hours, incorporating 65 of his tracks and 18 live performances into the night.
Pseudonyms & Side Projects:
In addition to his own-name tracks, Roger has also produced under a myriad of other aliases. Notable among them are his `pka` DJ Shah, High Noon at Salinas, Magic Island & Savannah. Shah is also one half of the Anjunabeats released act Purple Moods, Black Hole project Global Experience and ASOT`s Black Pearl, whose `06 - `11 spanning singles `Coral Sea`, `Java`, `Bounty Island`, `Rise` & `Discovery` generating much additional interest in Shah`s solo productions.
Sunlounger:
Sunlounger is without doubt Roger`s best known nom de plume. It was under this handle that he released the `Another Day on The Terrace` long-player in 2008. It reached No.1 on Dutch iTunes` `all-music-genres` chart and spawned four singles (`In & Out`, `Aguas Blancas`, `Crawling` & `White Sand`). The project become so celebrated that Roger expanded Sunlounger into a live act - a performance of which was featured on Armada`s Armin Only It was this experience that he credits with being the catalytic point of his move to live performances. In 2009 Roger released the Sunlounger follow-up `Sunny Tales`, with progeny singles included `Catwalk`, `Mediterranean Flower`, `Change Your Mind`. It also contained the much-revered `Lost` - a track that took the illustrious `Single of 2008` title on the A State of Trance radio show. Most recently his third album outing under the name, `The Beach Side of Light` (released in autumn 2010) brought 12 more sun-kissed tracks to fans, including collaborations with vocalist including Zara Taylor, Inger Hansen & Antonia Lucas.
`Magic Island: Music For Balearic People` − The Compilations:
Roger`s compilation series has so far seen three outings (2007, 2008 & 2010). Encapsulating everything Roger stands for musically, their intrinsically White Island trance sound has sound-tracked an uncountable number of clubbers holidays. Roger typically uses the compilations as first-listen holders for future singles & collaborations with Vol.3 including team-ups with Signum, Leon Bolier and Tenishia.
`Magic Island: Music For Balearic People` − The Radio Show:
Broadcasting weekly, Magic Island - Music For Balearic People is a 2 hour radio show carried by the famous DI-fm station and is currently being syndicated to many other countries, most recent additions including Mexico and Jordan. Presented by Roger every Friday between 21.00 GMT (22:00 CET), it showcases a combination of melodic trance in the first hour, with the 2nd focusing on Balearic, chillout and Dream trance.
Remixes:
Shah has reworked tracks for legendary vocalists like Sarah McLachlan and Nadia Ali. He`s also remixed tunes for a litany of trance-masters including Tiesto, Armin Van Buuren, Mark Norman, York, Cosmic Gate, Josh Gabriel, Johan Gielen, System F, The Thrillseekers, Solarstone, Three Drives, Matt Darey & Oceanlab. Most recently Roger has rewired Andain`s `Beautiful Things `10` and Richard Durand`s `Always The Sun`.
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