Roberto Concina (3 November 1969 – 9 May 2017), known professionally as Robert Miles, was an Italian record producer, composer, musician and DJ. His 1995 composition "

Children A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

" sold more than 5 million copies and topped the charts worldwide.

Early life

Robert Miles was born in

Fleurier Fleurier was a municipality in the district of Val-de-Travers in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. On 1 January 2009, the former municipalities of Boveresse, Buttes, Couvet, Fleurier, Les Bayards, Môtiers, Noiraigue, Saint-Sulpice and ...

, Switzerland, to Italian parents. Miles became proficient at playing the piano during his youth in

Friuli Friuli ( fur, Friûl, sl, Furlanija, german: Friaul) is an area of Northeast Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity containing 1,000,000 Friulians. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli Venezia Giuli ...

, Italy, in the small town of

Fagagna Fagagna ( fur, Feagne) is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Udine in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about northwest of Udine. As of 2011, it had a population of 6,279 and an area of ...

, where his family moved when he was young, and had been in the music scene since 1984. He worked as a DJ in some Italian

clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album '' kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

and private radio networks, and in 1990 he used his savings to establish his own recording studio and a

pirate radio station Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially ...

Music career

1994–1997: Breakthrough and ''Dreamland''

In 1994, Miles wrote a

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 chill-out piece based on acoustic guitar chords and soft synthesizer effects, "

", which was later developed into a dream house song featuring a piano theme on top. The single picked up sales slowly, but within two weeks of its official release in 1995, it had sold more than 350,000 copies all over Europe and topped the

charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

in many countries. The single received an unprecedented "Essential Tune of The Week" three weeks in a row on

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 str ...

's show, causing a furious bidding war. It was then signed to Deconstruction Records in the UK by Giles Goodman of Dynamik Music (who represented Platipus Records the initial UK licensee). After occupying the Euro Top 100 chart number 1 spot for thirteen consecutive weeks , by 1997, "Children" had sold more than five million copies worldwide. It earned Miles

platinum records Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

in many countries, a

Brit Award The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

(Robert Miles is, to date, October 2022, the only Italian artist who has received the award) as Best International Male Newcomer 1997, a World Music Award as World's Best Selling Male Newcomer, and various other awards. Miles' next single was "

Fable Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a particular m ...

". Part of this song was used in the theatrical trailer for the U.S. movie ''

Ever After ''Ever After'' (known in promotional material as ''Ever After: A Cinderella Story'') is a 1998 American romantic period drama film inspired by the Charles Perrault fairy tale, "Cinderella". It is directed by Andy Tennant and stars Drew Barrymor ...

'' starring Drew Barrymore and

Dougray Scott Stephen Dougray Scott (born 25 November 1965) is a Scottish actor. He has appeared in the films ''Ever After'' (1998), '' Mission: Impossible 2'' (2000), ''Enigma'' (2001), ''Hitman'' (2007), and ''My Week with Marilyn'' (2011). Early life Sc ...

. His debut album '' Dreamland'' was released on 7 June 1996 in Europe, and released in the United States about a month later. The album included a cover of " One and One" featuring British singer Maria Nayler. This cover became very popular (it reached number 1 in the Euro Top 100 Singles Chart during the Christmas period and remained in the top spot for six consecutive weeks) and was later released as a single in Europe and the U.S.

1997–1998: ''23am''

In November 1997, Miles released another track, "

Freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving one ...

", which was one of the key tracks on his second album '' 23am'', featuring vocals provided by Kathy Sledge of

Sister Sledge Sister Sledge is an American musical vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed in 1971, the group consisted of sisters Debbie, Joni, Kim, and Kathy Sledge. The siblings achieved international success at the height of the disco era. I ...

. Containing a different feel from the previously more club-oriented ''Dreamland'', ''23am'' incorporated more lyrics-driven songs than its predecessor while maintaining Miles' trademark piano sound from the first album.

1998–2002: Departure from label and ''Organik''

After splitting from

Deconstruction The term deconstruction refers to approaches to understanding the relationship between text and meaning. It was introduced by the philosopher Jacques Derrida, who defined it as a turn away from Platonism's ideas of "true" forms and essen ...

, BMG and his former management in London, he set up his own

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

Salt Records Salt Records (S:alt Records - suitably:alternative) is a UK-based independent label/platform for eclectic music. Founded by Roberto Concina (aka Robert Miles) in 2000, it became the home for artists such as Robert Miles Roberto Concina (3 ...

(stylised as S:alt Records, with S:alt being short for suitably:alternative) in 2001 and released his third album, '' Organik'', featuring the new single "Paths" with vocals provided by Nina Miranda of Smoke City. Guests on the album included Trilok Gurtu,

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, ...

and Nitin Sawhney. Music from ''Organik'' was used on various movie soundtracks such as '' The Bourne Identity'', ''

Derrida Derrida is a surname shared by notable people listed below. * Bernard Derrida (born 1952), French theoretical physicist * Jacques Derrida (1930–2004), French philosopher ** ''Derrida'' (film), a 2002 American documentary film * Marguerite Derri ...

'', and '' City of Ghosts''. It was licensed to Narada Productions' Shakti Records label in the USA. In 2002, an album containing mainly

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

es of songs found on ''Organik'' was released. The album, appropriately entitled '' Organik Remixes'', contained remixes by the winners of the remixing contest held on Robert Miles's Web site, as well as remixes from well-known artists such as Future Sound of London, Riton, and Alexkid among others. The album also had one new track, "Bhairav", which featured the vocals of Amelia Cuni.

2004–2005: ''Miles_Gurtu''

In 2004, Miles released ''

Miles Gurtu ''Miles_Gurtu'' is the fourth studio album by Robert Miles, the second he independently recorded and produced. The record was released on 10 February 2004. Robert Miles and Indian jazz percussionist Trilok Gurtu met while recording Miles's last ...

'', his fourth album, which was a collaboration with percussionist Trilok Gurtu and included

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to ...

elements. Also guesting on the album were Nitin Sawhney,

Jon Thorne Jon Thorne (born 12 February 1967) is an English double bassist, producer and composer. Career Thorne is self-taught and started playing at the age of 23. He has studied and played jazz for a number of years following and considers Danny Thomps ...

, Mike Patto and Paul Falloon.

2011–2012: ''Thirteen''

Miles' fifth album, entitled ''

Thirteen Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

,'' was released worldwide on Salt Records in February 2011. For this album, Miles produced a blend of alternative and

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. I ...

with ambient and electronic soundscapes. In 2012 Miles finished working on the soundtrack for the movie documentary ''The Turn of THIS Century'', directed by Peter Beyak and featuring the photography of

Life Magazine ''Life'' was an American magazine published weekly from 1883 to 1972, as an intermittent "special" until 1978, and as a monthly from 1978 until 2000. During its golden age from 1936 to 1972, ''Life'' was a wide-ranging weekly general-interest ma ...

. He founded a new FM and online alternative radio station, ''Open Lab'', broadcasting from

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its la ...

, a project bringing together culture, arts, media, technology and innovation.

Death

Miles died from cancer in Ibiza, Spain, on 9 May 2017 at the age of 47. Miles’ Open Lab station was taken off-air shortly afterwards, pending discussions on the future of the station. After receiving many messages from people expressing dismay at the station's suspension, it was announced that the station would be returning soon in 2019, starting with a live radio stream in January 2019 and followed by a reboot to radio on 106.4 FM in Ibiza in April 2019.

Discography

Studio albums * '' Dreamland'' (1996) * '' 23am'' (1997) * '' Organik'' (2001) * ''

Miles_Gurtu ''Miles_Gurtu'' is the fourth studio album by Robert Miles, the second he independently recorded and produced. The record was released on 10 February 2004. Robert Miles and Indian jazz percussionist Trilok Gurtu met while recording Miles's last ...

'' (with Trilok Gurtu) (2004) * ''

'' (2011)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Miles, Robert 1969 births 2017 deaths People from Neuchâtel Italian trance musicians Italian dance musicians Arista Records artists Narada Productions artists Brit Award winners Italian DJs People from Fagagna People of Friulian descent Deaths from cancer in Spain Swiss emigrants to Italy Italian expatriates in Spain Electronic dance music DJs Bertelsmann Music Group artists Virgin Records artists EMI Records artists