| Gareth Emery | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Gareth Thomas Rhys Emery |
| Also known as | GTR, Rue De Gar, Runaway |
| Born | 18 July 1980 United Kingdom |
| Genres | Trance |
| Occupations | Disc jockey Record producer |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Labels | Five AM (2003–2008) Garuda (2009–present) |
| Website | Official site |
Gareth Emery (born 18 July 1980 in Southampton, England) is a trance-genre producer and DJ. In 2011 he was voted the #13 DJ in the world by DJ Mag Poll.[1]
Contents |
Gareth Emery was born in Southampton, but he is now in Manchester, England. He is a producer and DJ of trance music.[2] He comes from a diverse musical background that includes classical piano training, jazz, and a little punk rock. Gareth has emerged in the last few years as one of the world's major trance DJs. Since entering the DJ Mag Top 100 poll at number #34 in 2006, he has climbed every year since being ranked #31 in the 2007 poll, #23 in the 2008 poll, and entering the top 10 in 2009 at #9.[3] He is widely tipped to become one of the next global stars of trance music, with both Paul van Dyk and Ferry Corsten naming him as a future star in their DJ Mag Top 100 interviews in 2006/2007. In 2010 Gareth was named as #7 DJ in the world by DJ Mag.[4]
Emery first came to the attention of the electronic music community in early 2002, when his debut vinyl release (a white label remix of The Shrink's classic 'Nervous Breakdown') was broadcast live on BBC Radio 1 from the Mardi Gras festival on Judge Jules' show. After being championed by a host of DJs, including Eddie Halliwell, Pete Tong, Guy Ornadel, Scot Project and Dave Pearce, 'Nervous Breakdown' was picked up by Nutrition for an official release and later featured on a number of compilations including the Godskitchen Direct mix album.[5]
Following the hard tech-trance flavour of 'Nervous Breakdown', Gareth turned his attention back to his traditional style of trance with his next release, a double A-side comprising the tracks 'Psiclone' and 'Flood Control' on his own label Influential. The release picked up considerable support from all the major trance spinners, including Armin van Buuren [6] and Ferry Corsten.
However, the track that truly put Emery on the production map was GTR – 'Mistral', which was the fourth track he had produced. It was created entirely on a laptop computer over the course of a two week holiday in Provence. Nevertheless, the CDR that Gareth sent to Paul van Dyk caused a storm when van Dyk debuted it live on the radio during the Nature One Festival. 'Mistral' received huge support from some of the world's leading DJs, including Tiësto, Paul van Dyk, DJ EGG, Armin van Buuren and Ferry Corsten, and received highly positive reviews in Mixmag, Muzik, and DJ [7]
In this period, Emery continued to become established within dance music albeit not quite living up to the explosive success he had enjoyed in 2003 (largely due to GTR - Mistral). He did however spend a lot of time working at the now apparently defunct Five AM [8] label (which he co-owned), whilst establishing himself as a DJ, making regular appearances at British nightclubs such as Godskitchen, Slinky, The Gallery, Passion and the Tangled Trance Fest, establishing an international residency in Vancouver, and playing all over the world.
2006 probably represented the year when Emery first started to become a serious global contender, partly due to his radio show The Gareth Emery Podcast [9] which was launched in March '06 (see below) and became extremely successful, and also due to finding form in the studio again. Before 2006, it looked unlikely that Emery would be able to better the success of 'GTR - Mistral' (from 2003), but that year he managed it with two huge anthems: the first being his remix of Albert Vorne's 'Formentera What' [10] and the second 'Another You, Another Me',[11] written with fellow DJ Lange.
In the passing years, Emery has showed little sign of slowing, with numerous big tracks and remixes like 'More Than Anything', 'This Is That', his 2009 hits 'Exposure',[12] Metropolis,[13] and his 2010 Global [14](Which is also the theme for 2010 Global Gathering[15]). He is now well established as a globally successful DJ and producer, now under his new record label Garuda. Starting in 2009, Garuda has also hosted a series of club nights at Manchester superclub Sankeys.[16]
Emery has a distinctive and unique production style that can perhaps best be described as a fusion of trance and progressive, with psy, tribal and techno flavours. His productions have been described as intelligent, driving, melodic and progressive. His dub mixes are often done in his signature "stuttering vocal" style, which he pioneered on his early hit 'Bouncebackability' (co-produced with Jon O'Bir).[17] He is well known for playing a diverse showcase of music both in his DJ sets and his podcast, and has often dismissed his categorization as a 'trance' DJ simply stating that he plays good records regardless of genre.
From 2003 to 2008, Gareth was associated with the (now apparently defunct) Five AM label under which some of his biggest hits were released (Mistral / This Is That / More Than Anything), and where he was also involved as an A&R and co-owner. However in late 2008 he announced he would no longer be involved at Five AM, instead starting a new label 100% owned by him called Garuda. The first Garuda release was his own record 'Exposure / Metropolis' released in May 2009 which was a very successful record, topping trance download charts on sites like Beatport and Audiojelly for over a month.
Garuda (garuda.nu) is Gareth's current label and has been the home for all of his music since its inception in 2009. It is named after the bird-like creature from Hindu / Buddhist mythology, which Gareth became aware of whilst touring Indonesia. Unlike his previous label Five AM, the label is also involved as a club night running events at Manchester superclub Sankeys, usually featuring extended (3 hour) sets from Gareth and a guest. Guests so far have been Ferry Corsten, Markus Schulz, Above & Beyond and Sander Van Doorn.
Gareth Emery produces the 'Gareth Emery Podcast'. It's an 60-120min podcast featuring ten or more tracks. The podcast is available through iTunes or for direct download from the Official Podcast Website, which includes information on the podcast and a full tracklist archive. The podcast was nominated for "best podcast" for three years running at the Miami Winter Music Conference and is generally considered to be one of the most popular dance music podcasts on the internet (helped in part from being one of the first dance music podcasts).
The Podcast Annual 2007 was the first album to come from Gareth's podcast experience. Two CDs showcase a selection of the best tracks of 2007.
Gareth Emery's production aliases include GTR, Cupa, Digital Blues and a house project under the meme Runaway.
His production history includes collaborations with artists like Lange, Solid Globe, Jon O’Bir and CERN with releases on a multitude of labels including A State of Trance, Lost Language, Multiply, Bonzai, and his native Five AM label.
In May 2005, Gareth released his debut mix CD, "Five AM Sessions: Volume One", featuring a diverse blend of electronica that ranges from deep & dark tech-trance, to funky tripped out electronica, and his own signature style of pure driving trance.
In September 2010 Gareth released his first artist album "Northern Lights". Reviews have generally been positive, with Maxumi Magazine saying "Slick production and excellent use of vocals firmly cements Emery’s reputation as the up and coming Trance producer of the decade."[18]