Solarstone

Solarstone

Artist Biography

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• Last edited by: richiemowatt | view edit history
• Date: 16 Feb 2010, 05:53
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Overview:
For over a decade Solarstone (Rich Mowatt) has been creating dance-floor traffic jams with a convoy of revered club classics, all-out anthems & critically-acclaimed albums. As a DJ, he spins weekly at clubs around the planet and for globally-recognized names like Cream @ Amnesia, Ministry of Sound, Gatecrasher & Full-On-Ferry. In 2008 Solarstone entered DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs poll for the first time at 93. Releases from Solarstone’s label projects Solaris, solarSwarm & Molecule are instrumental components of his highly individualistic sets and are constantly supported by the trance & prog spinning elite. Solaris International, his weekly show enjoys a dedicated fan-base and is broadcast across some 50 FM & Internet stations.

Solarstone – The Music:
Originally a 3 piece (with former members Sam Tierney & Andy Bury), Solarstone blazed a trail through the emergent days of the trance phenomenon, founding their name with the club hits like ‘Green Light’ (1995), ‘The Calling’ (1997) and ‘The Impressions EP’ (1998). As the first trance tsunami peaked in 1999 Solarstone left an indelible mark on the scene with the Top 40 hit ‘Seven Cities’. The track - one of the very first true Balearic Trance anthems - has been re-released 3 times and has sold in excess of 500,000 copies. Remixed in 2002 by Armin van Buuren, its instantly-recognizable sunset-sound legacy can still be heard in tracks being released today.

Over the next 6 years Solarstone continued to feed the ever-hungry trance-masses with speaker-sensations like ‘Solarcoaster’ (2003), ‘Speak in Sympathy’ (2004), ‘Eastern Sea’ (2005), ‘Like A Waterfall’ (2006) & ‘The Calling’ (2007). In May 2008 he released ‘RainStarsEternal’ – an album described by DJMag as “a consummate all-rounder from the UK’s original trance master”. ‘R.S.E.’ has so far spawned six singles including ‘Spectrum’, ‘4ever’ & ‘Late Summer Fields’ - the latter of which Rich produced, sung and wrote lyrics for. In the autumn of the following year its remix companion piece ‘RSEMIX’ was released with refashioned tracks from the likes of Ferry Corsten, Probspot, Stan Void, Bissen & Pedro del Mar.

On the compilation front in 2006 he released his first long-player, the 99-06 compendium album, ‘AnthologyOne’. In the late spring of 2009 Rich launched his next compilation series, Electronic Architecture. Born from Rich’s longstanding love of pop art, it won plaudits and acclaim around the world for its imaginative premise and (in their article covering it) was hailed as “a magical blend of music, art and design” by M8 Magazine.  In 2010 ‘EA’ received an IDMA nomination in the ‘Best Full-Length Dj Mix Category’.

Solarstone – The DJ:
Solarstone behind a pair of CDJs is something that every electric dance music lover, planet-wide, should witness at least once in their clubbing careers! Rich brings together a clear and abiding love of melody with an intrinsic, perceptive aptitude for floor-quaking performances. Since learning to spin in the late Nineties, he’s played for the majority of the super-club brands (inc. Cream, Ministry of Sound, Gatecrasher, Slinky & Euphoria) and spun alongside the worlds best-known DJs many times over. Unlike many other spinners he also maintains a huge home-country following, playing almost as much to UK audiences as to ones abroad. Rich’s worldwide travels have also taken him to some of the biggest events and festivals across the globe, and also some of the most remote. Over the years these have included islands in the Philippines, bush parties in Australia and massive festivals in the heart of Brazil. 

Solaris International – The Solarstone Show:
Solaris International is Rich’s long-running and widely-syndicated radio show. Working on a fully fleshed-out 2 hour format of features, interviews, guest mixes and regular spots, it has developed over two years from a cult following into a weekly essential tune-in for large sections of the electronic dance community. Presented on alternate weeks with Robbie Nelson, Solaris International broadcasts across some 50 FM & Internet stations including the Passion FM network to a listenership of over 8 million.

Solaris, Crashing Waves, Molecule & solarSwarm – The Solarstone Labels:
Opening for business in August 1999, Rich co-owned, a&r;’d and managed the Deepblue imprint. The launch-pad for a multitude of club hits (including ‘Like a Waterfall’, ‘Jump the Next Train’ & ‘Why’), he eventually parted company with the label in July of 2008. Alongside his new experimental imprint Molecule, and Uplifting Trance Soundklash label Crashing Waves, he now owns and manages Solaris Recordings – the spiritual home of Solarstone’s recordings.

At the start of 2009, Rich launched solarSwarm, an online community of die-hard Solarstone fans, which, in a ground-breaking move, became the world’s very first social network record label. Managed and A&r;’d by the Swarm, it quickly became a wildly popular endeavor and now has 100 members regularly contributing to its output.

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