SHARAM ANNOUNCES NEW WEEKLY SIRIUS SHOW, "Sharam Yoshitoshi Radio"
For all North American Sharam fans, you can now tune in to "Sharam Yoshitoshi Radio" on Sirius XM. The show will air on the Area channel every Friday night at 1am EST and rebroadcast Wednesdays 10pm EST. Nice!
SHAKIRA WAKA WAKA REMIXED BY SHARAM
Dance music icon Sharam has remixed Shakira’s Official FIFA World Cup song, ‘Waka Waka‘. The Grammy-winning DJ has applied his unique touch to Shakira’s original, transforming it into a dance floor anthem worthy of a World Cup winner, complete with his signature sound and African-style drums. Shakira said, “Sharam has brought a unique spin to his interpretation of “Waka Waka”.
He has brought the song to the dancefloor. This is one of those artistic collaborations that makes perfect sense.” The FIFA World Cup is easily the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world, exceeding the Olympics which put the “Waka Waka” remixes on a world stage. The song is already in the hands of the world’s top DJs and will be released later this month:
With the arrival of his long-awaited debut disc GET WILD, in North America (Album is scheduled to launch worldwide this summer), revered electronic music trendsetter SHARAM makes his boldest studio statement yet. Counting superstar collaborations with everyone from Kid Cudi and Tommy Lee to Diddy and Daniel Bedingfield, SHARAM’sability to draw such a vast talent pool is as impressive as hislongstanding reputation for mesmerizing club crowds from Miami toIbiza.
“I always believe in moving forward,” says SHARAM, known to many asone-half of the now-on-hiatus Grammy Award winning duo DEEP DISH.“Whether it’s the way I DJ or remix songs to the way I produce, therehas to be a constant forward motion. This album was no different. Thatphilosophy--to do something different without losing sight of what I’mknown for--is what makes Get Wild what it is. People are always lookingfor something new from me and I pride myself on pushing the boundariesof dance music and taking my fans on an entertaining musical ride”
The 22 solely produced tracks on Get Wild span the full spectrum ofdance music. Take the disc’s landmark “She Came Along,” which mesheselements of Patsy Cline’s legendary country song “Strange” with vocalsby hip-hop sensation Kid Cudi, “This is really, really innovative. Ihaven’t heard anything like it: the Patsy Cline sample and how heblended it together and made it hip-hop too” says Kid Cudi. The endresult is a masterpiece already being hailed as one of the mostuniquely infectious genre bending songs of 2009 from Mixmag, Vibemagazine and slew of other publications to many of the upper echelon ofproducers including Kanye West.
“I’ve always been a huge, huge Patsy Cline fan,” the WashingtonD.C.-based SHARAM says of the single. “She’s one of a kind. I had theidea to sample her for three years but I was looking to find someonewho could match her. After trying different artists Cudi just nailedit, putting a really cool and interesting twist on it. He’s anunusually diverse and talented artist, because he’s very much a hip-hopfixture, but he understands dance music and is willing to try differentthings, plus he has an amazing voice. It’s a great contrast with PatsyCline. His singing style and delivery was just perfect.”
SHARAM’s broad creative scope has earned him a number ofinternational Top 20 hits, like “PATT (Party All The Time)” which wasin the UK Top 10 for three straight weeks, the Top 20 for eight weeksand the Top 40 for a total of 16 weeks, followed with “TheOne”--featuring U.K. pop fixture Daniel Bedingfield--that went on tocapture the Top 20 spot in many European markets.
“I get inspired by my environment and I always get hung up on songsand hooks,” SHARAM reveals. “I don’t look at things as cross-over orunderground. I don’t play that closed-minded game. I come with an ideaand see it through, where it lands is totally up to the DJs and thefans.” Sometimes those ideas become underground hits like “Texi” and“Crazi.” taking Ibiza clubs by storm, and sometimes they becomeinternational chart toppers like “PATT” and “The One.”
If it isn’t apparent on a track by track basis, Get Wild as a wholeis underpinned by a Western theme. From the atmospheric bookends of“The Wild Theme” and “Once Upon A Time In The West” to theaforementioned “She Came Along,” to the extraordinary artwork--whichfinds the multi-faceted SHARAM fiercely dressed in outlaw cowboy gearand clutching a smoking pistol--the project has a keen presence.
“That’s taken at the Melody Ranch in L.A.,” SHARAM says of the coverart. “It’s a set for a lot of Western Movies and recently “Deadwood”.The whole concept of Get Wild was a take on Spaghetti Westerns,especially those pioneered by Sergio Leone, where everything is superdramatic, sometimes very slow, over the top and extremely cool. I grewup on those movies so the song titles and the photo shoot and thevideos for the title track and “She Came Along” have that Westerntheme. I’ll be incorporating the videos and western themed visuals intomy live shows. It’s really fun because I was really fond of thosemovies in my childhood and now I get to have fun with them in myshows.”
If Get Wild’s visual imagery is extremely distinct, it’s a perfectmatch for SHARAM, who always aspires to evolve creatively andstrengthen dance music’s reputation. “I don’t play the trendy game,” heinsists. “I don’t care about what’s cool or hot today versus what wasthe thing to like yesterday. I look for quality. First and foremost I’ma music fan and not one genre. The people I’ve chosen to work with onthis album all represent quality in their own right, and they’re allinnovators in their own worlds. I wanted to align myself with peoplelike that.”
