| DJ Sets ::Roger Shah
N0. 98 RATED DJ IN THE WORLD ON THE
DJ LIST
Roger Shah, Sunlounger, Black Pearl, High Noon at Salinas,
Global Experience, Savannah and of course DJ Shah. No matter
under which guise he releases it, every single track is a
sunny, Balearic beauty with a warm touch to it. German producer
Roger P. Shah has been heating up the scene with his production
for many years already. No matter how cold the winter might
be, there’s plenty of heath descending from the magical
tones and beats of his sound.
Starting the Fire
Roger’s recognition as a producer started spreading
like a fire in 1999, when his first few tracks, ’The
Mission’ and ’Tides of Time’ were introduced
to a large amount of party lovers. But that was only just
the beginning. His first hit came in 2003, when ’High’
was released by UK’s Virgin Records Nebula imprint.
Ever since, Roger Shah’s unstoppable inspiration and
drive to produce music has been paying off big time. Reading
Roger’s discography is harder than it seems, since it’s
a maze of guises and collaborations. His tracks are spread
out over 15 guises , 19 name variations and 21 collaborations,
so it’s clear that Roger has been placing bets on more
than just one horse. Roger explains: When I started my career
as a full time producer, it wasn’t possible for me to
generate the income I needed, I couldn’t live from just
one project. So I did a lot of different things with different
labels and countries. This has been a great way to find out
how each company works and what they do for me as a producer
and artist. So that’s how I found out, that for me Armada
is the best company to work with.
Another reason for the aliases is that I do different stuff
with different people, who are involved with several projects.
For example; I have my well known ’Black Pearl’
project with former star producer Ralph Fritsch, who is one
of the best musicians I’ve ever met. He had his own
big hit records and projects when I was just a beginner, so
I’m really happy to do some stuff with him and that
I could sign him to my Magic Island label for his solo comeback.
Luckily, nowadays his work is limited to only a couple of
guises. But there’s surely no limit to the diversity
in his productions. From warm vocals to deep trancy beats
and rolling basses, Shah’s been there. And the beauty
of it is, that it does all have that characteristic Shah sound
so many love. His Balearic sound has found the way to many
headphones and speakers, all over the world. Roger: “I
think it’s touching the people, due to the beauty of
the voices and melodies. It’s music to dance to in the
club or at the beach, but also to listen to at home during
daily life.“ One thing’s for sure:
it’s been heating up the crowds for many years already.
Keep the Fire Going
All of a sudden, in early 2006, there was this huge summer
guitar riff stuck in the head of listeners to Armin van Buuren’s
radioshow ’A State of Trance’. It was that one
contagious, delicious melody, that kept bugging the minds
of so many EDM lovers. It was ’White Sand’, Shah’s
ultimate summer hit produced under his Sunlounger guise. The
song was played in Armin’s set and radio shows for weeks
in a row, eventually leading to a release on the prestigious
Armind label and being the opener of Armin’s ’A
State of Trance 2006’ compilation. The support Shah
received was overwhelming, as it catapulted him straight into
the circle of big boys in music industry. Even though ’White
Sand’ echoed on for months and months, Shah wasn’t
the type to stand still for long or wonder what to do next.
He kept on making one monster track after another, and seemed
to have found the formula to success with his productions,
providing everyone an everlasting summer. The Ibiza feeling
was no longer limited to a couple of weeks of partying and
relaxing in July, August and September, but also available
in the form of an mp3. Some heavyweight productions like ’Aguas
Blancas’, ’In & Out’ and ’Beautiful’
kept his status high and his production muscles flexed for
even better tracks to come. He released two Sunlounger albums,
of which ’Another Day On The Terrace’ went number
1 on Dutch iTunes’ ’all-music-genres’ chart,
and his long-awaited ’Songbook’ album, with amazing
vocal tracks and Balearic beauties.
It seemed as if Roger has been working day and night to finish
these high quality albums, or was it possible he used some
of his old stuff? Roger: No, this was no old stuff. The quality
of my old tunes from some years ago haven’t got the
quality of the tunes I do right now. Or let’s say, since
2005 when I made my first international deals. I’m always
writing music and composing melodies, so I always have my
own back catalog of layouts and composed stuff. When I work
on a new album, I always do a mixture of composing new stuff
to express my current inspirations, but also look through
my already composed layouts to see if there’s something
that fits my current project.
Inflammable Chemistry
Roger had been working with some very talented vocalists
before, like Jan Johnston, but he found some pure chemistry
in the form of Adrina Thorpe. This American singer caused
major damage with her lush vocals on ’Who Will Find
Me’, as it was voted number one track of 2007 by the
listeners of the ’A State of Trance’ radioshow
ánd favourited by Armin van Buuren himself.
If there was any track of which the crowd knew the lyrics,
it was ’Who Will Find Me’. Simultaneous chanting
filled the air as soon as the acoustic guitar of the track
was heard. Adrina, from then on, was locked into the hearts
of many trance lovers. But Roger himself is a huge fan as
well. Roger: Adrina is amazing. To be honest, I think she
deserves to be a superstar like Dido or Sarah McLachlan.
I’m so happy that I found her and that she is up to
work with me. More beauty came in the form of ’Back
to You’, which has just been released on the Magic Island
imprint of Armada. Although it seems that Roger was quite
busy enough already, he also settled himself with a surprisingly
masculine collaboration. No one less than Armin van Buuren
and UK’s singer Chris Jones found their way to Shah’s
studio and blended their talent into smashing cooperation
’Going Wrong’. As the first official single of
Armin’s ’Imagine’ album, it managed to enter
the Dutch charts with a number 5 position.
An Outburst of Flames
Roger Shah’s inspiration seems endless. After ’Going
Wrong’, Roger’s back with ’Lost’ and
’Back to You’. Roger: “I think
that ’White Sand’ in 2006 and ’Who Will
Find Me’ in 2007 have been really important for my breakthrough
and to get the international attention, but let’s not
forget my 3 big tracks from this year: the collaboration with
Armin for ’Going Wrong’, which ended in a top
5 crossover hit, but ’Lost’ and ’Back to
you’ as well. Everywhere I go, I have to play these
tracks, otherwise the crowd will kill me. That’s how
far the popularity of Roger Shah goes.
Even though his impeccable relaxing sound, or easy-going
attitude might tell you he’s just back from another
holiday, it’s clear that the little sun hours he gets
don’t come anything near the time he spends in the studio.
But let’s not forget about the gigs! Roger: When I work
on a track, I always try to create a special atmosphere in
it. In the past I got my inspiration from my magic island
Ibiza, where I spent some time every year, but nowadays I
travel so much and play at so many nice places and beach parties,
that this inspires me to create the sound and feeling in my
songs.
On Fire: Magic Island
Only a few months ago, Roger felt it was time to team up
with Armada Music to take care of the already respected Magic
Island imprint. Roger: “To do this team
up was a natural way after the great collaboration and interaction
I had with Armada over the past years. We already started
with some of my own stuff and I think it’s doing great.
We had a number 1 at Beatport with the next Sunlounger single,
’Sunlounger feat. Zara Lost’, and my current single
with Adrina entered on a number 2 spot, so I think it’s
a great start for the label. And be aware, cause this label
has got some pretty exciting things coming up! Roger: The
next big thing coming up is my Magic Island album for which
I signed a lot of great new and 100% exclusive tracks and
for which I made some new exclusive tracks under my different
aliases .
But the album also features some great collaborations with
mates from the scene. We will release this album first and
then schedule all tracks from the CD as single releases. So
we have a busy schedule and a lot of amazing tunes to come,
to push the Magic Island label fast forward. I have 30 tracks
on the Mix album, that means about the same amount of releases
to come over the next months. During this time, I’ll
look out for the next pearls for the second Magic Island album.
With the release of his ’Magic Island - Music For Balearic
People’ album and his next team-up with Adrina Thorpe,
’Back To You’, coming up, it’s clear that
Roger Shah isn’t even near the end of his inspiration.
His Balearic sound will light souls for a long time to go.
N0. 98 RATED DJ IN THE WORLD ON 
