Steve Roach (musician)

Steve Roach
Steve Roach in Tucson, Arizona, 2013
Background information
Born	February 16, 1955 La Mesa, California
Genres	Ambient
Website	steveroach.com

Steve Roach (born February 16, 1955)^[1] is an American composer and performer of ambient electronic music, whose recordings are also classified in the genres of space, drone, and new-age.

Overview

Roach during a soundcheck at SoundQuest in October 2010, Tucson, Arizona.

Steve Roach performing at SoundQuest 2010.

Originally a Motocross racer, at the age of 20 Roach taught himself to play the synthesizer^[2] after being inspired by such influential synthesizer artists and groups as Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, and Vangelis. His debut album Now appeared in 1982, followed by Structures from Silence in 1984. In 1988 he released his acclaimed Quiet Music series, along with what has been described by critics as his masterpiece, the double-album Dreamtime Return.^[2]

As Roach's approach to ambient music matured, he has typically^[3] been beatless, although his rhythmic and trance-based groove and tribal-ambient releases are nearly as numerous^[3] as his more atmospheric releases. Some recordings are strictly synthesizer based, whereas some recordings include ambient guitar experiments, and other releases cross over with more ethnic influences.

He was an early proponent^[4] of the didgeridoo's use in ambient music and learned to play it during his extended trips to Australia during the 1980s. He later worked with Mexican musician Jorge Reyes who would introduce a Prehispanic element, and these fusions would further establish Roach as one of the founders^[3] of the tribal-ambient sound.

Roach is married to author and equine teacher Linda Kohanov^[5] (who provided vocals on some of his albums). They live in Tucson, Arizona.^[6]

Discography

Solo albums

• Now (1982) – reissued on Now / Traveler in 1992
• Traveler (1983) – reissued on Now / Traveler in 1992
• Structures from Silence (1984 Fortuna) – remastered 2001
• Quiet Music 1 (1986) – cassette, collected in 1988/1999
• Empetus (1986 Fortuna) – remastered 2008 as a 2-CD collection
• Quiet Music 2 (1986) – cassette, collected in 1988/1999
• Quiet Music 3 (1986) – cassette, collected in 1988/1999
• Quiet Music (1988 Fortuna) – completed as the 2-CD Quiet Music: Complete Edition in 1999
• Dreamtime Return (1988 Fortuna) – 2 discs, (remastered 2005 Projekt)
• World's Edge (1992) – 2 discs
• Origins (1993 Fortuna)
• The Dream Circle (1994 Soundquest/Projekt)
• Artifacts (1994 Fortuna)
• The Dreamer Descends (1995) – 3-inch CD
• The Magnificent Void (1996 Fathom/Hearts of Space Records)
• On This Planet (1997)
• Slow Heat (1998 Timeroom Editions)
• Atmospheric Conditions (1999 Timeroom Editions)
• Light Fantastic (1999)
• Early Man (2000) – 2 discs
• Midnight Moon (2000 Projekt)
• Time of the Earth (2001)
• Core (2001 Timeroom Editions)
• Streams & Currents (2001)
• Darkest Before Dawn (2002)
• Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces (2003 Projekt) – 4 discs
• Life Sequence (2003)
• Fever Dreams (2004)
• Holding the Space: Fever Dreams II (2004)
• Places Beyond: The Lost Pieces Vol. 4 (2004) – rarities collection
• Possible Planet (2005)
• New Life Dreaming (2005)
• Immersion : One (2006 Projekt)
• Proof Positive (2006)
• Kairos: The Meeting of Time and Destiny (2006) – CD + DVD
• Immersion : Two (2006 Projekt)
• Fever Dreams III (2007) – 2 discs
• Immersion : Three (2007) – 3 discs
• A Deeper Silence (2008)
• Dynamic Stillness (2009) – 2 discs
• Destination Beyond (2009)
• Afterlight (2009)
• Immersion : Four (2009 Timeroom Editions)
• Sigh of Ages (2010)
• Immersion Five – Circadian Rhythms (2011)
• Groove Immersion (2012)
• Back to Life (2012)
• Soul Tones (2012)
• Future Flows (2013)^[7]
• Spiral Meditations (2013)
• At The Edge Of Everything (2013)
• Bloodmoon Rising (2014)
• The Delicate Beyond (2014)
• The Delicate Forever (2014)
• The Desert Collection - Volume 1 (2014)
• Invisible (2015)
• Skeleton Keys (2015 Projekt)
• The Skeleton Collection 2005 - 2015 (2015 Timeroom Editions)
• Etheric Imprints (2015 Projekt)
• Bloodmoon Rising - The Complete 5 hour collection (2015 Timeroom Editions)
• Vortex Immersion Zone (2015 Timeroom Editions)

Collaboration albums

• Moebius (1979) – as a member of the group Moebius
• Western Spaces (1987 Fortuna) – with Kevin Braheny
• The Leaving Time (1988) – with Michael Shrieve
• Desert Solitaire (1989 Fortuna) – with Michael Stearns and Kevin Braheny
• Strata (1990 Hearts of Space Records) – with Robert Rich
• Australia: Sound of the Earth (1990 Fortuna) – with David Hudson and Sarah Hopkins
• Forgotten Gods (1992) – with Jorge Reyes & Suso Saiz as Suspended Memories
• Soma (1992 Hearts of Space Records) – with Robert Rich
• Ritual Ground (1993) – with Elmar Schulte
• Earth Island (1994) – with Jorge Reyes & Suso Saiz as Suspended Memories
• Kiva (1995 Fathom/Hearts of Space Records) – with Michael Stearns and Ron Sunsinger
• Well of Souls (1995) – 2 discs, with Vidna Obmana
• Halcyon Days (1996) – with Stephen Kent and Kenneth Newby
• Cavern of Sirens (1997) – with Vidna Obmana
• Dust to Dust (1998) – with Roger King
• Ascension of Shadows: Meditations for the Millennium (1999) – 3 discs, with Vidna Obmana (re-released in 2008 as three separate albums)
• Body Electric (1999) – with Vir Unis
• Vine ~ Bark & Spore (2000) – with Jorge Reyes
• Circles & Artifacts (2000) – with Vidna Obmana
• The Serpent's Lair (2000) – 2 discs, with Byron Metcalf
• Prayers to the Protector (2000) – with Thupten Pema Lama
• Blood Machine (2001) – with Vir Unis
• InnerZone (2002) – with Vidna Obmana
• Trance Spirits (2002) – with Jeffrey Fayman, Robert Fripp & Momodou Kah
• Mantram (2004 Projekt) – with Byron Metcalf and Mark Seelig
• The Shaman's Heart (2005) – with Byron Metcalf
• Terraform (2006) – with Loren Nerell (reissued in 2009)
• Somewhere Else (Ascension of Shadows I) (2008) – with Vidna Obmana
• The Memory Pool (Ascension of Shadows II) (2008) – with Vidna Obmana
• Revealing the Secret (Ascension of Shadows III) (2008) – with Vidna Obmana
• Nada Terma (2008) – with Byron Metcalf and Mark Seelig
• Stream of Thought (2009) – with Erik Wøllo
• Dream Tracker (2010) – with Byron Metcalf and Dashmesh Khalsa
• Nightbloom (2010) – with Mark Seelig
• Into the Deep: America, Whaling & The World Original Soundtrack (2010) - with Brian Keane
• The Desert Inbetween (2011) – with Brian Parnham
• The Road Eternal (2011) – with Erik Wøllo
• Shaman's Heart II: The Healing Journey (2011) – with Byron Metcalf
• Low Volume Music (2012) – with Dirk Serries^[8]
• Tales from the Ultra Tribe (2012) – with Byron Metcalf^[8]
• The Long Night (2012) – with Kelly David^[8]
• Copper: Original Soundtrack (2013) - with Brian Keane
• The Ancestor Circle (2014) – with Jorge Reyes
• Monuments of Ecstasy (2015) - with Byron Metcalf & Rob Thomas
• Biosonic (2016) - with Robert Logan
• Second Nature (2016) - with Robert Logan

Live albums Stormwarning (1989 Soundquest) Live Archive (2000) – with Vidna Obmana (reissued in 2009 as the 2-disc Spirit Dome – Live Archive) All Is Now (2002 Timeroom Editions) – 2 discs Spirit Dome (2004) – with Vidna Obmana (reissued in 2009 as the 2-disc Spirit Dome – Live Archive) Storm Surge: Steve Roach Live at NEARfest (2006 Nearfest Records) Arc of Passion (2008 Projekt) – 2 discs Landmass (2008 Timeroom Editions) Live at Grace Cathedral (2010) Live at SoundQuest Fest (2011) – with Byron Metcalf, Brian Parnharn, and Dashmesh Khalsa[9] Journey of One (2011) Steve Roach: Live Transmission (From the Drone Zone at SomaFM) (2-CD) (2013) Alive in the Vortex (2015) Live in Tucson: Pinnacle Moments (2016)

Compilation albums The Lost Pieces (1993 Rubicon) – rarities collection Truth & Beauty: The Lost Pieces Volume Two (1999) – rarities collection Dreaming... Now, Then: A Retrospective 1982–1997 (1999) – 2 discs Pure Flow: Timeroom Editions Collection 1 (2001) Day Out of Time (2002) Space and Time: An Introduction to the Soundworlds of Steve Roach (2003) Texture Maps: The Lost Pieces Vol. 3 (2003 Timeroom Editions) – rarities collection Quiet Music: The Original 3-Hour Collection (2011)

Software and app releases Immersion Station (2010) – with Eric Freeman[10]

References

1. "California Births, 1905 - 1995". Familytreelegends.com. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
2. "Steve Roach | Music Biography, Credits and Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
3. "Stretch out and enjoy the soundscape" by Gemma Tarlach, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 21, 2000.
4. "Instrument owner lauds soothing effects," The Advocate (Baton Rouge) June 7, 1998.
5. Opdyke, David J (29 April 2000). "Steve Roach Interview". spiderbytes.com. Archived from the original on 30 May 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
6. "Echoes On-Line: Steve Roach". Echoes. Archived from the original on 29 May 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
7. "Steve Roach News". steveroach.com. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
8. "Steve Roach Update: Deep Currents Rising". steveroach.com. 29 April 2012. Archived from the original on 29 May 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
9. "Live at SoundQuest Fest". Steve Roach. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
10. "Steve Roach, Eric Freeman: Immersion Station - Infinite Ambient Music". Steveroach.com. Retrieved 2014-08-05.

External links

• Official website