Rados - ambient dance, trance, ambience, chillout, downtempo, electronica, world music

RADOS (UK)

electronica ambient dance chillout world music The Rados Project is a tale in two halves: ‘When Paul Riordan met Eve Ellis’ followed by ‘When Paul Riordan met Ivan Rados’. Walthamstow Village, in London’s East End, is home to numerous musicians and music industry types. They gather and meet in the trendy and quaint central heartland of Walthamstow. These meetings often lead to collaborations on various music projects. Rados is a perfect example. Paul Riordan knew of vocalist Eve Ellis through the various studio session work she had done for numerous 5-star and up-and-coming producers. Eve had heard about various projects that Paul had produced. It was only matter of time before the two of them were introduced. While Paul didn’t have any immediate productions in mind for Eve when they first met, he didn’t forget her vocal talents or her experience. It was only when Paul was introduced to the Bosnian Croat artist-in-exile, Ivan Rados, that he had a project where he could involve Eve. Paul met Artist Ivan Rados through a mutual friend, Graham Williams, owner of Telstar Records. Paul was brought on board to initially create background music for Ivan’s performance art and exhibitions in the UK. As Paul said; “Ivan gave me a couple of his treasured cassette tapes of traditional Yugoslavian folk music and chants. I was immediately struck by the beauty of the sounds. We created a system of musical loops, with a sound system that would never play the same loop twice.” This was the genesis of the album project. During the course of Ivan’s exhibitions, where the initial Rados tracks were played, there was an overwhelming request for copies of the music. This inspired Paul to produce a complete album, with the services of percussionist and sound engineer Kent Davies and vocalist Eve Ellis (who also assisted in the production) – Rados ’The Transparent Man’ was made. It was an immediate success within the ‘ambient dance’ and Dance/Trance remix worlds. ‘My soul is at the end of the Universe’ was included on many of the Euphoria dance compilations, both as ambient chill-out and full-on trance mix. The remixes quickly became favourites at the Whirly Gig’s famous end of the night ‘Parachute set’. Long-time friend of Eve Ellis, Aardvark’s Head of Dance Music, Alex di Savoia, had always loved Rados. Upon the demise of Telstar, Alex knew that his label would be the perfect home for a project that he had always found special. ------------------------------------- IVAN RADOS On April 1992, Ivan Rados left his home in Bosnia after being threatened by paramilitaries who promised to bomb an art gallery exhibiting his work. He fled to northern Serbia, never to see his paintings again. In August 1992, although still officially in hiding, he was invited to contribute to an International Performance art festival in NoviSad. He created a storm through his actions. Ivan (widely known to be a Bosnian Croat) undertook rituals, including the burning of the Red star, while having his naked body painted in the colors of the Serbian flag. There was an instant uproar: a live television broadcast was stopped instantly and Ivan found his life in real danger. The artist had no option but to leave his home country. Ivan arrived in England in 1993 with a few rescued paintings, a suitcase and some tape cassettes. Ivan was invited to join a community of artists by Sir Ernest Hall where he continued his development as an original and individualistic artist. He started painting large canvases, several of which were bought by record company owner Graham Williams (Telstar Records). Ivan Rados in now resident in Vancouver where he produces short films and Animations. ------------------------------------- PAUL RIORDAN Paul started his musical career playing bass guitar in the now cult 60's psychedelic band 'Mandrake Paddle Steamer' with EMI. After Mandrake, Paul worked as a session musician for Pye records and EG management - touring as a support act with major bands and artists: Kings Crimson, Roxy Music, Randy Newman and many others. In the 80’s he worked for the Britannia Row Organization (Pink Floyd’s Studio) learning his craft in the studio and touring with the Pink Floyd as Guitar Tec on the Wall tour. Paul started his own studio in the early 90's and gradually became involved in recording and composing music for television, and music production. In the early days he worked with Rick Smith of Underworld. It was Rick who introduced Paul to dance music. Paul achieved UK chart success under the alias of 'Bravado' with the International hit single 'Harmonica Man' which reached top 30 in the UK charts and number 1 in the 'Kiss FM' dance charts. More Recently Paul has been working with Kent Davies on remixes for artists such as Matt Darey, Digital Blonde and Weekend Players. Paul and Kent have also composed many television ‘idents’ which can currently be heard on satellite TV channels. They have been commissioned to create the music for the ‘New Look’ Viasat TV3 broadcast in Scandinvia and Germany. ------------------------------------- EVE ELLIS Not to be confused with the glamour model who shares the same name, this Eve Ellis comes from a popular and well-known Irish musical family. Her father is a formidable and respected musician while her mother remains a top rated vocalist. Her family home was the haunt of many a famous Irish musician and performer. It was the best of possible scenarios for her to learn the crafts of musicianship and singing. She had a natural talent for both instruments and singing. Eve came to the attention of EMI at the age of 16 and was offered a recording deal on the spot. She turned the deal down as, in her own words, she was “still developing her craft as an artist and didn’t want to be pigeonholed.” Eve came into her own as a respected session singer where she handled a variety of genres with ease; Soul, R&B, Funk, Rock and Pop. Her career saw her in studios with artists such as TC (Shi Lites) and George Williams plus producers like Tony Banks (After the Fire). She has also worked with numerous production studios in the UK, Germany and Japan. Eve recently won rare praise for her cover of the classic R&B track "I Can’t Stand The Rain". Ann Peebles, the original vocalist, went on record to say that this version was the best cover version of the song she’d ever heard. As a vocalist, her reputation rests upon an impressive foundation: an ability to deliver a perfect vocal performance with no more than two takes needed, pitch perfect delivery and a voice filled with nuance and colour across an incredible vocal range suited to a variety of genres and styles. Like a model, her ‘look’ is easily alterable: one moment the soul diva, in another she’s pure rock chick and yet another a cool and detached dance princess. Eve’s vocal and production talents continue to be in demand. ------------------------------------- KENT DAVIES Kent has been playing drums since the age of six and started his career in the theatre performing with some of the greats of showbiz and TV. The 80’s found him on the London session scene, playing with alternative country band The Company, funksters Wise Up, indie rockers The Wallflowers and soul diva Jhelisa Anderson amongst others. Around this time he also started producing and mixing for other artists and appeared on TOTP with Chad Jackson performing the top 3 hit “Hear the drummer get wicked”. The next few years saw Kent touring the world as a Jazz drummer, performing alongside some of the US Jazz greats, including Louie Bellson and Nat Adderley. He returned in 1990 to find a UK transformed by house music and joined up with techno pioneers London Synth Orchestra where he met Paul Riordan who had just started work on the Rados project. Kent is currently mixing a Bhangra album and has just finished working on the soundtrack to a feature film.