Alexander Perls Rousmaniere (born May 11, 1976) is an American musician, entrepreneur, and record producer. His songs are known for their mix of
electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
,
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
religiously themed lyrics and are entirely written, performed, and produced by Perls;
notable projects include 009 Sound System and Aalborg Soundtracks.
Early life and education
Though born in
Gas, Kansas, he grew up in
Boston, Massachusetts, culminating in an education at
Concord Academy
Concord Academy (also known as CA), established in 1922, is a coeducational, independent college preparatory school for boarding and day students in grades 9-12. The school is situated in Concord, Massachusetts. In 1971, Concord Academy became t ...
. While studying at
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
in 1997, Perls worked with the post-rock collective
Piano Magic
Piano Magic was a musical collective formed in the summer of 1996 by Glen Johnson, Dominic Chennell, and Dick Rance in London, England. Their sound has been described as ambient pop, post-rock, indietronica, dark wave, "arty baroque pop" and " ...
.
Following Perls' graduation from
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...
in 1998, he began working for the
Barbara Gladstone
Barbara Gladstone ( Levitt) is an American art dealer and film producer. She is owner of Gladstone Gallery, a contemporary art gallery with locations in New York and Brussels.
Gladstone Gallery History
In 1980, Gladstone gave up teaching art hist ...
Gallery,
a leading contemporary art dealership in New York. The following year he co-founded NATOarts, which (according to its charter) sought to "promote global security and stability through the exhibition of works of conceptual art." The government support for the organization was terminated in the early days of the
George W. Bush administration
George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas, took office following a narrow victory over Democratic ...
, ultimately leading to a decision to focus on a career as a songwriter.
Music career
Between 2000 and 2008, Perls primarily composed music for European dance music artists, including
David Guetta
Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...
,
Paul van Dyk
Matthias Paul (; born 16 December 1971), known professionally as Paul van Dyk () is a German DJ, record producer and musician. One of the first true renowned DJs, van Dyk was the first artist to receive a Grammy Award nomination in the newly a ...
,
Ian Carey
Ian Harshman (September 13, 1975 – August 19, 2021), better known by his stage name Ian Carey, was an American house DJ, musician, and record producer based in Miami, Florida.
Biography
Carey grew up in Hancock, Maryland, graduating from Han ...
,
ATB
André Tanneberger (; born 26 February 1973), better known by his stage name ATB, is a German DJ, musician, and producer of trance music. According to the official world DJ rankings governed by ''DJ Magazine'', ATB was ranked No. 11 in 2009 and ...
, and Robert M.
He also provided vocals for
Cosmic Gate
Cosmic Gate is a German DJ duo consisting of trance music producers Claus Terhoeven (born 1972) and Stefan Bossems (born 1967). Both hail from Krefeld, Germany.
On October 28, 2009, ''DJ Magazine'' announced the results of their annual Top 100 ...
on their album
Earth Mover
Heavy equipment or heavy machinery refers to heavy-duty vehicles specially designed to execute construction tasks, most frequently involving earthwork operations or other large construction tasks. ''Heavy equipment'' usually comprises five e ...
.
first in New York City, and after 2006, in Los Angeles. From 2000 to 2003 he was one of the members of the electronic music duo
CIRC
Circ or CIRC may refer to:
* Čirč, a village and municipality in northern Slovakia
* Circ (company), a German scooter-sharing company acquired by Bird
* Circ (duo), an American music duo
* China Insurance Regulatory Commission
* Climate Impact ...
, which released one album,
Love Electric
Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the lov ...
, and several singles and remixes.
Between 2002 and 2004, Perls' music publishing catalog was represented by
Bug Music. Beginning in 2004, his catalog was represented outside the United States by the
Independent Music Group, and since 2011 has been represented internationally by
Kobalt Music Group
Kobalt Music Group is an independent Performing rights, rights management and music publishing company. Founded in 2000 by CEO Willard Ahdritz, Kobalt acts primarily as an administrative publishing company, not owning any copyrights. Also offer ...
.
In 2011, Track One Recordings opened a remix competition for Perls' productions "Dreamscape" and "Born to Be Wasted".
Perls' song "Wings" was commissioned to be the theme song for the "Wings Flying Hoodie," a sweatshirt with a built in inflatable travel pillow and eye mask.
YouTube
As a consequence of
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
introducing a system called AudioSwap on February 22, 2007, which replaces the audio of copyrighted soundtracks with a different,
Creative Commons licensed song, several songs from 009 Sound System, particularly "Dreamscape," "With a Spirit," "Space and Time," "Born To Be Wasted," "Holy Ghost," and "Trinity," became widely prominent on many YouTube videos. Because the artists were alphabetically sorted, 009 Sound System songs were placed at the top of the AudioSwap list,
leading them to be chosen by a majority of users.
Personal life
Perls is married to Los Angeles jewelry designer Sonia Boyajian.
Perls is CEO of the Los Angeles software company Ezvid. Its eponymous flagship product, a freeware video maker for Windows, includes several of Perls' songs under the artist names "009 Sound System" and "Aalborg Soundtracks" as free soundtracks for users' projects.
Discography
*
Movies
* ''
Sky Fighters
''Les Chevaliers du ciel'' (''Sky Fighters'') is a 2005 French film directed by Gérard Pirès about two air force pilots preventing a terrorist attack on the Bastille Day celebrations in Paris. It is based on ''Tanguy et Laverdure'', a comics ...
'' (2005) ' (original title)
* ''Return2Sender'' (2005) - composer
* ''
Suicide Room'' (2011) ' (original title) - soundtrack lyricist
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perls, Alexander
Living people
1976 births
American electronic musicians
American people of German descent
Concord Academy alumni
Oberlin College alumni
People from Allen County, Kansas
Musicians from Boston
Record producers from Massachusetts