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Artists / Producers Featured
Ron
Thaler [ USA ]
RECORD
PRODUCER RON THALER
Canadian-born
record producer, composer, arranger and instrumentalist, Ron Thaler(aka
“Blondie Boy”) has become one of New York City’s most
in-demand music commodities and studio fixtures. His award winning work
with the world’s finest signed and independent artists including
Dweezil Zappa, DJ Logic, Jason Yudoff, Sarah McLachlan, Alicia Keys,
Kelly Saint Patrick, Rob Thomas, Ashley Simpson, Kacie Sheik, Debbie
Gibson, Daya (featuring Chamillionaire and Junior Reid), Sophie B. Hawkins,
Jeff Fiorello, Taylor Dayne, Eric Hill, Ellie Lawson, Lizzy Mercier,
Mercedes Ferrer, Al DiMeola, Elimotion, and Mike Stern, continues to
leave a lasting impression on music listeners worldwide.
Ron’s
production work on artist Jason Yudoff’s 2007 release, “Tragic
Hero”, garnered four 2008 Grammy nominations, for “Album
of The Year”, “Best New Artist”, “Record of
The Year” (for his single “Personal Addict”), and
for “Producer of the Year”. Ron won a 2008 Grammy for his
drumming/sampling work on Alicia Keys top-10 international hit, “No
One”. And 2008 continues to be a banner year for Ron and his artists.
One of Ron’s recently completed productions, Kelly Saint Patrick’s
alt-pop country album “In The Margins”, has been selected
to appear on the 2009 Official Grammy Ballot in 4 categories: “Record
of the Year” for her pop-country chart topping single “Shame
On You” (co-written with Ron), “Best New Artist”,
“Best Female Pop Vocal”, and another nod to Ron’s
production touch with a nomination for “Producer of The Year”.
“Shame On You” has also been nominated for a 2008 CMA (Country
Music Award) for “Single of the Year”. In addition, you
can see and hear Ron on NBC TV’s new hit series “Lipstick
Jungle” alongside actors Brooke Shields and Andrew McCarty. Ron
has a recurring oncamera speaking role as part of (Sony/BMG) artists
Project Grand Slam, whose 2007 album “Let’s Play”
Ron produced, and whose music & performances are featured throughout
the series.
Ron
is the founder and owner of Ron Thaler Productions (RTP, www.ronthalerproductions.com)
& RT Type Music (RTTM), a music production and publishing company
headquartered at Tainted Blue Studios, an aesthetic and spacious European-inspired
recording environment and production facility located on 7th Avenue
in the heart of Manhattan's Times Square. The studio boasts a sate-of-the-art
tracking and mixing environment, an 80-channel 9000-Series SSL board,
HD Pro-tools system, 24-track 2” reel-to-reel, highly prized vintage
outboard gear, and its legendary and vibrant live room that has seen
the making of many of the most popular and important records of the
last 25 years. Ron’s continuing association with today’s
most thoughtprovoking artists is rooted in his trademark production
style: attention to artistic detail while encouraging the artist’s
natural musical empathies; a rich and distinctive audio signature; an
emphasis on unique organic sounds and textures; and a highly creative
and multi-layered use of analog & digital audio technology.
Inspired
& emotive cutting-edge music, stylistic intuitiveness and versatility,
and a true hands-on approach… words implicit to successful artists
at the center of modern music, and words which best describe Grammy
producer Ron Thaler.
http://www.ronthaler.com/index2.htm
Ross
Garrett aka D’Opus [ AUS ]
Don’t
be fooled by the smooth rhyming or fierce cuts, Ro & D’O don’t
do hip hop like everyone else - it’s more. Maybe it’s something
in Canberra’s water or the pair’s continuing desire to bash
down musical boundaries, but one thing’s for sure – Kevin
Rudd isn’t the only one setting the agenda in the nation’s
capital.
Ross
Garrett (D’Opus) and Rowan Thomson (Roshambo) met in 2003; the
former already an established DJ having supported everyone from the
Jungle Brothers, DJ Q*Bert, Mr. Thing and De La Soul, while emcee Ro
had built up an impressive reputation for spreading the hip hop gospel
through his long-running show on 2XX FM. An insatiable appetite for
new beats lead Ro to approach the one man he knew had the goods. With
a mutual respect based purely on reputation, a musical synergy was immediately
formed. After continuing to work as individual artists, the pair realised
that their combined interests, strong work ethic and a desire to turn
their hobby into a vocation could form the basis of an amazing partnership.
Coming
from Canberra’s tight hip hop community, local legend’s
Koolism played a pivotal role in mentoring the pair, inspiring them
to strive towards one simple goal – to make great music. Taking
inspiration from the golden era of hip hop, classic funk and contemporary
drum ‘n’ bass, what Ro & D’O came up with was
a unique blend of story driven hip hop. Having worked together for only
a few months the lads released a promotional single ‘The Question’,
which received national airplay on Triple J’s Hip Hop show. From
then on Ro & D’O have enjoyed a meteoric rise up the ranks.
The duo’s highly anticipated first EP The Question was released
in 2006 and distributed through legendary local imprint Obese Records.
With guest tracks from Hau (Koolism) and Minky Faber, the album represented
a new style of hip hop that incorporated stripped back funk samples,
laid back beats and deeply reflective rhymes. It proved an unbeatable
combination, garnering the pair widespread critical acclaim and ensured
the EP gained heavy rotation on both national and local radio spending
four weeks on Melbourne’s KISS FM Top Ten chart and receiving
extensive play on Triple J.
With
the success of the album the group’s support slots began reading
like a who’s who of international and local hip hop – Cut
Chemist, Blackalicious, Z-Trip, The Herd and Muph & Plutonic, just
to name a few. As their own entity, Ro & D’O have also played
shows country wide including Stonefest, Trinity Bar Block Party, and
the Corinbank Festival.
2008 is shaping up to be a massive one for Ro & D’O, having
just released their longawaited full-length album The Switch, with the
first single ‘Million Dollar Bill’ well and
truly part of Triple J’s rotation. Whilst thoroughly ingrained
in traditional hip hop, Ro & D’O are firm believers in messing
with the status quo and their latest offering is set to challenge conventions,
subvert what you know and totally blow your mind.
Taking
inspiration from the golden era of hip hop, classic funk and contemporary
drum ‘n’ bass, what Ro & D’O came up with was
a unique blend of story driven hip hop.
www.mercuryswitch.org
www.myspace.com/dopusroshambo
Simon
Flower aka Peak:shift [ NZ ]
Proving
that a little isolation can go a long way…residing in the far-flung
islands of New Zealand did nothing to stop Simon scoring several releases
in 2007 on prestigious and in-demand labels such as Poker Flat, Moon
Harbour, Compost Black Label and newcomer Curl Curl. The releases have
very quickly scored highly with punters and DJs alike, being charted
or played by people such as Steve Bug, Josh Wink and Anja Schneider,
and even securing no.3 in the top50 Groove magazine singles chart.
While
he might seem to most as a newcomer, Flower has in fact since the early
90’s been producing, promoting parties, DJing and running labels.
He was one of the small group of people instrumental in starting and
keeping the underground techno scene in Auckland, New Zealand alive
and kicking, from 1993 through till the present. Their roots and inspiration
were found principally in the Berlin/Detroit axis, deep electronic music
with soul.
As
a way of showcasing an emerging deep and organic local sound, Flower
started the ‘Nurture’ label in 1997, and for several years
released friends’ music, and also his own music under the moniker
‘Peak:shift’ (he now predominantly releases under his real
name, Simon Flower). The warm and deep techno releases on the label,
of which Simon attributes the natural surroundings of New Zealand as
a major influence, built up a healthy critical reputation around the
world until he put the label on hiatus in 2003.
While
as a DJ he has over the years in New Zealand played alongside a wide
variety of well known international artists such as Richie Hawtin, Ian
Pooley and Derrick May, and has DJ’s overseas in England (Fabric
/ 1001), Japan (Loop), and Australia – it is now playing his music
live that is exciting him the most.
In
August 2007 Simon was invited to Germany by the Goethe Institut in order
to meet German producers and experience the vibrant electronic scene
there, while playing his live set to packed venues such as the legendary
Golden Pudel in Hamburg, the C/O Pop festival in Cologne and Watergate
in Berlin.
http://geist-agency.com/public/index.php?a=artistInfo&idArtist=53&lang=eng
Sean
Cooper aka Coopa [ NZ ]
Sean
Cooper (also know as Coopa) is the man behind Cooparation.
Sean
has worked with Hi-Technology music and computer products for over 25
years. He is an internationally recognized Logic specialist and has
supported, taught and supplied the application since it was first ported
to the Mac in 1993.
Sean
is also a musician, composer, engineer and producer and has worked on
a wide range of projects both in NZ and overseas. He is a self confessed
"synth-nerd", "Mac-head" and "audio-geek".
Over
the years Sean has been fortunate enough to work for and with some of
the very best talent in the world and with some of NZ's leading establishments
including; Liam Howlett of The Prodigy, Moby, Paddy Free (Pitch Black),
Andrew Mclaren (*stella), Alan Jansson, Lisa Reihana, The Nomad, Auckland
University, MAINZ, Te Ara Poutama (AUT), Jim Hall (Soundtrax), Justyn
Pilbrow (Player One), Dave Dobbyn, Tom Bailey (Holiwater Project), TVNZ,
TV2, Avondale College, Eddie Rayner, St Cuthberts College, Auckland
Boys Grammar, Luke Thompson (Red Bull Music Academy), Magnolia Corparation,
EXCEL School of the Performing Arts....and many more
http://www.cooparation.com/
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