Steve Roach (born February 16, 1955) is an American composer and performer of ambient and

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

, whose recordings are informed by his impressions of environment, perception, flow and

space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...

. His work has been influential in the

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

new-age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...

genres. Roach has received two

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

nominations for New Age Album of the Year: His 2017 album ''Spiral Revelation'' for the

60th Annual Grammy Awards The 60th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 28, 2018. The CBS network broadcast the show live from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The show was moved to January to avoid coinciding with the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongc ...

., and 2018's ''Molecules Of Motion'' for the

61st Annual Grammy Awards The 61st Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 10, 2019, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Singer-songwriter Alicia Keys hosted. During her opening monologue, Keys brought out Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Lopez, and fo ...

. Roach's work has also been listed on "1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die."

Overview

Steve Roach performing at SoundQuest 2010 (wide crop)

Originally a Motocross racer, at the age of 20 Roach taught himself to play the

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

after being inspired by such influential synthesizer artists and groups as

Tangerine Dream Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese having been the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup ...

Klaus Schulze Klaus Schulze (4 August 1947 – 26 April 2022) was a German electronic music pioneer, composer and musician. He also used the alias Richard Wahnfried and was a member of the Krautrock bands Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, and The Cosmic Jokers ...

, and

Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou ( el, Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; el, Βαγγέλης, links=no ), was a Greek composer and arranger of ...

. His debut album ''Now'' appeared in 1982, followed by '' Structures from Silence'' in 1984. In 1986 he released his acclaimed ''Quiet Music'' series. In 1988, he released what has been described by critics as his masterpiece, the double-album '' Dreamtime Return''. As Roach's approach to ambient music has matured, his compositions have typically"Stretch out and enjoy the soundscape" by Gemma Tarlach,

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently o ...

, April 21, 2000. been

beat Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery (c ...

less. His rhythmic and trance-based groove and tribal-ambient releases, however, are nearly as numerous as his more atmospheric releases. Some recordings are strictly synthesizer-based, whereas others include ambient

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

experiments. Other pieces, however, cross over with more ethnic and folk influences. Roach learned to play the

digeridoo The didgeridoo (; also spelt didjeridu, among other variants) is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo was developed by ...

during his extended trips to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in the 1980s, and he became an early proponent"Instrument owner lauds soothing effects,"

The Advocate (Baton Rouge) ''The Advocate'' is Louisiana's largest daily newspaper. Based in Baton Rouge, it serves the southern portion of the state. Separate editions for New Orleans, '' The Times-Picayune The New Orleans Advocate'', and for Acadiana, ''The Acadiana ...

June 7, 1998. of its use in ambient music. His work with Mexican musician Jorge Reyes introduced Roach to

Prehispanic In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...

musical elements, which he has also included in his music. These fusions established Roach as one of the founders of the tribal-ambient sound. Roach is married to author and equine teacher

Linda Kohanov Linda Kohanov is an author, speaker, riding instructor, and horse trainer. Kohanov is best known in the field called "equine facilitated psychotherapy" (closely related to therapeutic horseback riding), and as the author of five books, ''The Tao ...

(who provided vocals on some of his albums). They live in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilations

Collaboration albums

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roach, Steve 1955 births 21st-century American composers 21st-century American male musicians Ambient musicians American electronic musicians American male composers Living people Projekt Records artists Soleilmoon artists