Max Graham (; born April 17, 1971) is a British-Canadian DJ, composer, and producer of

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

. Known for fusing

progressive house Progressive house is a subgenre of house music. The progressive house style emerged in the early 1990s. It initially developed in the United Kingdom as a natural progression of American and European house music of the late 1980s.Gerard, Morgan; ...

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

, and

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

, he is most famous for his open-to-close DJ Sets (where he typically plays 6 to 8 hours), his ''Cycles'' CD series/radio show, and his remix of the classic song "

Owner of a Lonely Heart "Owner of a Lonely Heart" is a song by British progressive rock band Yes. It is the first track and single from their eleventh studio album, ''90125'' (1983), and was released in October 1983. Written primarily by guitarist and singer Trevor ...

" (by Yes) in 2005. He is also the founder of record labels Re*Brand and Cycles.

Biography

Graham was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, and lived in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

before settling in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

, in 1989. At age 15, in 1986, he began as a hip-hop DJ before discovering dance music in the 1990s. He was a

resident DJ In the DJ culture, a resident DJ or local DJ refers to a DJ is part of the staff of employees of the club, unlike a guest artist, who works as freelancer, which means that he or she plays on several clubs (including several countries). Obtainin ...

at the famed Atomic Nightclub in Ottawa from 1997–2001. He has been touring globally as a DJ and producing melodic dance music since 2000.

Career

1997–2001: Atomic Nightclub, Hope Recordings

During his residency at Atomic Nightclub, Graham was discovered by label executives and signed to Hope Recordings; one of his first productions, “Airtight”, was noticed by

Nick Warren Nicholas John Warren (born 24 October 1968) is an English DJ and record producer. He is best known as a member of the electronic music duo Way Out West, his record label and global live events brand, The Soundgarden, and for his albums release ...

and

Paul Oakenfold Paul Mark Oakenfold (born 30 August 1963), formerly known mononymously as Oakenfold, is an English record producer, remixer and trance DJ. He has provided over 100 remixes for over 100 artists including U2, Moby, Madonna, Britney Spears, Mas ...

in 2000. Oakenfold subsequently put two of Graham's tracks on his album ''Another World''. Tiesto also put “Airtight” on his '' In Search of Sunrise 2'' album. That same year, “Airtight” was nominated for a

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall o ...

. He gained immediate acclaim and was voted #23 in the DJMag top 100 DJs for 2001 and was chosen to mix the famous ''

Tranceport Tranceport is a trance music DJ mix album series. The series debuted in November 1998 with Paul Oakenfold's '' Tranceport'', released on Kinetic Records. The album featured many trance songs that were receiving a lot of dance club play at the time ...

'' CD Series (''Tranceport 4'') that year.

2002–04: ShineMusic and the "sidechain" mixes

Graham created the "Shine" concept in 2002, which included a mix CD, a label (Shinemusic), and club nights. In 2004, Graham signed two singles to

Sander Kleinenberg Sander Kleinenberg (; born 29 December 1971) is a Dutch disc jockey, VDJ, and record producer. He founded and runs Little Mountain Recordings and THIS IS Recordings. Kleinenberg is well known for his use of digital video in concerts, his "Every ...

's Little Mountain label, entitled "Does She Know Yet?" and "Automatic Weapon". His remixes at the time went by the name "Max Graham's Sidechain Mix", named after the bass-pad sound that was heavily sidechained in his tracks. Included in these remixes was

Guy Gerber Guy Avraham Gerber (born 1974 in Holon, near Tel Aviv) is an Israeli electronic DJ/producer and musician who works in the underground techno scene. His projects range from collaborating with hip hop figure Puff Daddy, to starting a left-field n ...

's “Stoppage Time”, released on

John Digweed Thomas John Digweed (born 1 January 1967) is a British DJ and record producer. ''DJ Magazine'' voted him World No 1 DJ in 2001. As well as achieving success as a solo act, he has collaborated with Sasha as Sasha & John Digweed, and with Nick M ...

's Bedrock Label.

2005–06: “Owner Of A Lonely Heart”, ''Essential Mix''

Graham produced a bootleg remix of Yes track "

", which was played on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

and signed by Ministry of Sound and released globally. It reached #9 in the UK, giving Graham his first Top-10 UK Hit. During this same period, Graham was signed to the Bullitt agency and released music on Deep Dish's

Yoshitoshi Recordings Yoshitoshi Recordings is a dance music record label which is owned and operated by (Washington, D.C.) house producer Sharam. It was founded in 1994. While pigeonholed as a progressive label, its releases in fact cover a broad spectrum of modern d ...

, including the single "Crank". 2006 saw him invited for his first Essential Mix.

2008–10: Armada, ''Cycles'' and ''Radio'' (Artist album)

In 2008, Graham shifted to a more melodic sound and signed with

Armada Music Armada Music is a Dutch independent record label that specialises in releasing electronic dance music. The name Armada derives from the first two letters of the founders' first names: Armin van Buuren, Maykel Piron and David Lewis. Signed a ...

. He began his CD series ''Cycles,'' which featured 8 compilations throughout the series, including a selection of progressive and trance songs. In 2010, he release his first artist album, ''Radio'', which included collaborations with Jessica Riddle, Neev Kennedy, Ana Criado and

Protoculture In physical anthropology, protoculture is the passing of behaviours from one generation to another among non-human primates. These cultures are very rudimentary, and do not exhibit complex cultural technology. For example, tool usage is learne ...

2011–14: open-to-close sets, trance, and The Evil ID

From 2008 to 2017, Graham released a new ''Cycles'' CD almost every year as a self-proclaimed “snapshot” of his current DJ sound. He also began touring exclusively playing open-to-close shows, where he focused on a wide variety of genres and a true journey of music. Producing under his own name, he made singles "Sun In The Winter", "Nothing Else Matters", and the hit "The Evil ID", which was championed by

Armin Van Buuren Armin Jozef Jacobus Daniël van Buuren ( , ; born 25 December 1976) is a Dutch DJ and record producer from Leiden, South Holland. Since 2001, he has hosted '' A State of Trance'' (ASOT), a weekly radio show, which is broadcast to nearly 40&n ...

Tomorrowland Tomorrowland is one of the many themed lands featured at all of the Magic Kingdom styled Disney theme parks around the world owned or licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Each version of the land is different and features numerous attractions ...

. Graham also performed regularly at ''

A State Of Trance ''A State of Trance'' (often abbreviated as ASOT) is a Dutch trance radio show hosted by Armin van Buuren and co-producer Ruben de Ronde that first aired in June 2001. It is aired weekly every Thursday at 20:00 (CET) and 14:00 (EST). As of Janu ...

'' shows. During that period, Graham teamed up with

to release a string of singles and remixes, including a remake of Grace’s "Not Over Yet".

2015–17: Leaving Armada, moving away from trance, changing sound

In 2015, Graham began to move away from trance (due to the changing sound that no longer appealed to him) and left Armada, closing down his Rebrand label in the process. His sound changed, and he started the label Cycles with

Black Hole Recordings Black Hole Recordings is a Dutch record label founded by Tijs Verwest (Tiësto) and Arny Bink in 1997. In August 2009, Tiësto decided to leave Black Hole Recordings, setting up the record label Musical Freedom in association with PIAS Entertai ...

. This period saw more underground releases, like "Redemption" and "One Hundred", and showcased deeper sounds such as the tracks "Argentina" and "Sunrise in Flight". He also collaborated with

Estiva Estiva is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil. The population is 11,386 (2020 est.) in an area of 244 km². References {{MinasGerais-geo-stub Municipalities in Minas Gerais ...

on the track "Generation".

2017: The End of ''Cycles''

In late 2017, Graham announced via Facebook that he was ending the weekly ''Cycles Radio'' episodes and taking an extended break from touring and making music.

2019: The Return

In 2019, Graham returned to the scene and announced via social media in August that he was in the studio working on his second artist album as well as relaunching ''Cycles Radio'' with a new monthly format. In March 2021, however, Graham announced that he would be taking another indefinite hiatus.

DJing

Graham is known mostly these days as a DJ for his open-to-close sets, where he typically plays 6–8 hours. He has performed on Above and Beyond's '' Group Therapy Radio'' (multiple times),

Pete Tong Peter Michael Tong, (born 30 July 1960) is an English disc jockey who works for BBC Radio 1. He is the host of programmes such as '' Essential Mix'' and '' Essential Selection'' on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio s ...

Essential Mix The ''Essential Mix'' is a weekly radio show on BBC Radio 1 currently broadcast between 0:00 and 2:00 a.m. UK time on Saturday morning. Originally broadcast on 30 October 1993, the ''Essential Mix'' features contemporary Disc jockey, DJs and m ...

's ''Transitions'', and

Armin van Buuren Armin Jozef Jacobus Daniël van Buuren ( , ; born 25 December 1976) is a Dutch DJ and record producer from Leiden, South Holland. Since 2001, he has hosted '' A State of Trance'' (ASOT), a weekly radio show, which is broadcast to nearly 40&n ...

's ''

A State of Trance ''A State of Trance'' (often abbreviated as ASOT) is a Dutch trance radio show hosted by Armin van Buuren and co-producer Ruben de Ronde that first aired in June 2001. It is aired weekly every Thursday at 20:00 (CET) and 14:00 (EST). As of Janu ...

''. He has toured to over 75 countries and performed at such festivals as

Ultra adopted by British military intelligence in June 1941 for wartime signals intelligence obtained by breaking high-level encrypted enemy radio and teleprinter communications at the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park ...

and

Dance Valley Dance Valley ("The Woodstock of Dance") is an annual dance music festival organised by United Dance Company (UDC) in the summer in Spaarnwoude, Netherlands. The first edition was in 1995 when 8,000 people attended (and in 2001 90,000 visitors). D ...

as well as performed at some of the most famed venues in the world, including Pacha, Ibiza; Ushuaia, Ibiza; Twilo, New York; Space Terrace, Miami; and open-to-close sets at Cielo, New York, and Output, New York.

Production

Graham's production varies in genre and has been at times hard to classify. Under his name, he makes predominantly progressive house and progressive trance, while he also makes techno under the alias Shelter.

Label Ownership

He has owned three record labels: ShineMusic, Rebrand Records and Cycles Music. In total, he hosted ''Cycles Radio'' for 337 episodes from

Discography

Studio albums

* 2010: ''Radio'' –

Mix albums

* 1996: ''A Delicate Sound of Many'' – Unknown * 2000: ''Cream CD2'' – Yul Records * 2001: ''

Transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipel ...

4'' – Kinetic Records * 2004: ''Shine'' – System Recordings * 2005: ''Mixmag Live'' – DMC * 2007: ''Bal En Blanc'' – Bal En Blanc * 2008: ''Re*Brand, The Story so Far'' –

* 2008: ''Max Graham Presents Cycles'' –

* 2010: ''Max Graham Presents Cycles2'' –

* 2011: ''Max Graham Presents Cycles3'' –

* 2013: ''Max Graham Presents Cycles4'' –

* 2014: ''Max Graham Presents Cycles5'' –

* 2015: ''Cycles6 Mixed by Max Graham'' –

* 2016: ''Cycles7 Mixed by Max Graham'' –

* 2017: ''Cycles8 Mixed by Max Graham'' –

Singles

* 2000: Love the Bomb – Teknology * 2000: Backdraft – Hope Recordings * 2001: Shoreline – Hope Recordings * 2001: Bar None – Hope Recordings * 2001: Airtight – Hope Recordings * 2001: Yaletown – Hope Recordings * 2001: Skyline – Hope Recordings * 2001: Falling Together – Hope Recordings * 2001: Sepia – Hope Recordings * 2001: Dying to Survive – Hope Recordings * 2002: Tell You – Hope Recordings * 2004: Coastline – Shinemusic * 2004: Does She Know Yet – Little Mountain Recordings * 2004: Automatic Weapon – Little Mountain Recordings * 2005: Gone Feat Jessica Riddle – Shinemusic * 2005: Owner of a Lonely Heart vs Yes – Ministry of Sound Record Label * 2005: Crank –

* 2006: Space Disco – Re*Brand Records * 2006: Cosmic Funk – Re*Brand Records * 2007: Smack – Re*Brand Records * 2008: Carbine – Re*Brand Records w/

* 2008: Turkish Delight – Re*Brand Records w/

* 2008: Frozen – Re*Brand Records w/

* 2008: The Power of One – Re*Brand Records w/

* 2008: Clear View Feat Jessica Riddle – Tell me – Re*Brand Records w/

* 2010: Sun in the Winter Feat Neev Kennedy – Coldharbour Recordings * 2010: Dusky 2010 (Does She Know Yet) – Re*Brand Records w/

* 2010: Nothing Else Matters Feat Ana Criado – Re*Brand Records w/

* 2011: F.Y.C. – Re*Brand Records w/

* 2011: So Caught Up feat Neev Kennedy

* 2012: Still There's You Feat Jeza – Re*Brand Records w/

* 2012: Sona – Re*Brand Records w/

* 2013: Where You Are Feat Alana Aldea – Re*Brand Records w/

* 2013: Diamonds with Tania Zygar – Re*Brand Records w/

* 2013: The Evil ID – Re*Brand Records w/

* 2014: Lekker with

Maarten de Jong Maarten de Jonge (born 9 March 1985) is a Dutch former professional cyclist, who rode professionally for ten teams during his career. He claims to have attempted to fly on both Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, but chan ...

– Re*Brand Records w/

* 2014: Axiom with

– Re*Brand Records w/

* 2014: Purple – Re*Brand Records w/

* 2015: Rock Steady (as Shelter) –

Yin Yang Yin and yang ( and ) is a Chinese philosophical concept that describes opposite but interconnected forces. In Chinese cosmology, the universe creates itself out of a primary chaos of material energy, organized into the cycles of yin and ya ...

* 2015: Redemption – Cycles w/

* 2015: Pinned (as Shelter) –

* 2015: One Hundred (Late Night Mix; Raw Mix) – Cycles w/

* 2015: Sunrise in Flight / Argentina – Cycles Blackhole Recordings * 2016: End Beginning – Cycles w/

* 2016: Amnesia – Cycles w/

* 2017: Generation with Estiva – Cycles w/

* 2017: BCN – Cycles w/

* 2017: Guiding Light feat. Neev Kennedy – Cycles w/

Remixes

* 2000: Bullitt – Cried to Dream –

Virgin Music Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...

* 2000: Starecase – Lost 22 – Hope Recordings * 2000: Subgod – Velodrome TV – Polyester * 2000: Vicious Cycles – Vicious Cycles –

Platipus Records Platipus Records was a British trance music record label that was based in London, England. It was founded in 1993 by Simon Berry, and early releases included Union Jack and Art of Trance. Later, the label included artists like Dawnseekers ...

* 2001: Uberzone – Bounce – Astralwerks * 2001: Conjure One – Redemption – Nettwerk * 2001:

globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model glo ...

– Can't Stop Fallin' In Love – Avex Trax * 2002: Conjure One – Sleep – Nettwerk * 2002: Cultivate – Broken Pieces – Lost Language * 2002: Barakka – Song to the Siren – Lost Language * 2003: Strawberry Fields – Release Records * 2004: Madoka – Afterburner – Private Reality * 2004: Jase From Outta Space – Do What You Want – Shine Music * 2004: Tilt – Twelve – Lost Language * 2004: DT8 Project – Winter –

Data Records Ministry of Sound or Ministry of Sound Group is a multimedia entertainment business based in London with a nightclub, shared workspace and private members' club, worldwide events operation, music publishing business and fitness studio. ...

* 2005: Sam Perez – Across the Ocean – Yoshitoshi * 2005: Leah – Contact High – Wooden Records * 2006: Filterheadz – Endless Summer – Love Distortion * 2007: Purple Code – The Rising – Re*Brand Records * 2008: Marcus Schossow – Swedish Beatballs – Coldharbour * 2008: Jerome Isma – Vila Nova – Electric * 2010: tyDi Feat. Tanya Zygar – Half Light –

AVA Recordings AVA Recordings is an electronic dance music record label founded in early 2006 by UK producer & DJ Andy Moor. In 2014, Vancouver based producer & DJ Somna (Benjamin Leung) joined the label as Moor's partner and co-owner. AVA Recordings was a sub ...

* 2010: Filo & Peri ft. Audrey Gallagher – This Night – VANDIT * 2011: Grace – Not Over Yet w/

– Perfecto * 2011:

– Topaz – Re*Brand Records w/

* 2012:

Solarstone Richard Mowatt, commonly known by his stage name Solarstone (formerly spelled Solar Stone), is an Irish trance DJ and producer based in Wales. The music project Solarstone was founded as a trio, and also used the pseudonyms Young Parisians, Liq ...

& Scott Bond – 3rd Earth – Captivating Sounds w/

* 2013:

Gabriel & Dresden Gabriel & Dresden is an American electronic music duo comprising Josh Gabriel and Dave Dresden, formed in San Francisco, California. They collaborated from 2001 to 2008, then again from 2011 to the present. During that time, they have created num ...

ft. Neil Ormandy – Tomorrow Comes w/

– Organized Nature w/

* 2015: Solid Stone ft. Jennifer Rene – Not Enough – Re*Brand Records w/

* 2017: Forerunners – Relic – Cycles w/

* 2019: Michael & Levan with Stiven Rivic – Stardust – Kunai Music

DJ Magazine Top 100 rankings

* 2001: No. 23 (Debut) * 2002: No. 83 * 2003: No. 56 * 2004: No. 64 * 2005: No. 96