Rob Paine

Rob Paine’s passion for music runs deep. From the moment he fell in love with music as a youth, he knew what his life’s journey would be, to bring people together through music. That passion has provided the foundation for a diverse and eclectic musical immersion ever since. He has been on a rapid rise from bedroom mix tapes to underground events to DJing internationally since he started out in 1993. He, along with his Circle Production crew (Kevin Gimble, Keith Landis, and Sean Thomas), created and curated some of the most epic raves & club nights in Philadelphia throughout the 90’s. In parallel, he began to flex his music theory education from Temple University and production expertise by creating a broad range of songs across a myriad of genres such as house, techno, reggae, broken beat, dub, and down-tempo. Rob formed WORSHIP RECORDINGS in 1998 alongside partners Dan Thompson and Zack Eberz, focusing on the dub aspect of house & techno and weaving in the techniques used by King Tubby & Lee ’Scratch’ Perry into modern dance music. During that time, he and Zack began using the SOLOMONIC SOUND name for their productions and as a vehicle for releasing their dub-influenced house and techno tracks on Worship, as well as running a traditional reggae sound system under the same moniker. (Please see Solomonic Sound’s full bio for all if his work with in the reggae community) Worship Recordings has had the pleasure of releasing music by a heap of talented & successful top-billed producers from likes of Garth & Eric James, King Britt, Håkan Lidbo, Jay Tripwire, Pete Moss, Grant Dell, Universal Agents, Adam Tenenbaum (Nectar, Succulent aliases), Joey Youngman aka Wolfgang Gartner (Frequent Flyer alias), Gary Beck, Hipp-e, Rithma, Seinan, Rootz Underground, Army Of One & Rick Preston. Rob also released as a solo artist and collaborated with Wamdue Kids’ Chris Udoh for early Worship releases. Now, with his passion reinforced by the labels’ success and critical industry acclaim, Rob’s unique sounds were soon being released on labels such as Large, Tango, Shaboom, and Grayhound to underground and commercial success. In addition, his productions were also licensed to labels such as Bedrock, Fabric, and NRK as part of compilations. During this time, another canvas was unveiled as a tapestry to showcase the Worship Recordings productions and artists: the SHAKEDOWN parties. Rob, Willyum (Will Putney), and Zack Eberz launched the monthly Shakedown event in October of 2001 and they are still going strong today 23 years later. Evidence that music – done right - is enduring. Rob’s events always feature incredible sound via the “Solomonic Sound System” that he and his crew developed and have fine-tuned to audiophile quality for discerning DJs and dancers. That same uniqueness and quality is evident in his custom-designed studio, which is instantly apparent when you hear Rob’s production and remix work. The world has been the recipient of Rob’s talents through his performances all across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, Japan and London in iconic clubs/parties such as Fabric, PS1, Wicked and Deep Space. Rob has also held down residencies in New York, Washington D.C., San Francisco, and Miami, and has played at festivals such as the massive Shambhala & Soundwave festivals in British Columbia. In 2012, Rob and Francisco Collazo established ‘goodie’… a series of special monthly underground events highlighting the facets of house & techno while hosting local and international talent. Collaborations, productions, remixes, and releases continue to abound for Rob on labels such as Worship Recordings, LeftRoom, I Recordings, Om Recordings, Hallucienda, Yoruba, Doin’ Work, Dubwise, ZamZam Sounds, Kaato and on compilations like one done by Maceo Plex in 2013. He has done remixes for Miguel Migs featuring Capleton, Fort Knox Five, Razoof and Mike Steva just to name a few. Releases under the CIRCLE moniker with partner Keith Landis, a RISE 8 collaboration with Gerhardt Koerner, and through his HEIGHTS & WORSHIP (with Ras Heights) and RMP (with Matpat) aliases… are making chart waves worldwide. Rob has also worked extensively & consistently with legendary vocalist, fellow Philadelphian and most of all ‘sister for life’ Lady Alma over the past 25 years. On productions like “This Is The Life” & “Love Right Now” with Joey Crawford on Worship or “All The Way Far Away” with David Marston on BBE. He has also been her ‘go to’ engineer for most of her songs for hits like “It’s House Music” for Osunlade, “A Time & A Place” for Ralf Gum, “Make You Move” for Low Steppa & Terry Hunter, “Call Him” for Phil Asher and “Merry Christmas Baby” with Jordan Mailata for the Philadelphia Eagles album ‘A Philly Special Christmas’. Other honorable collaboration mentions are with Rich Medina on “Philadelphia”, Hipp-e on “Dem A Come” on Worship & “New Beginnings” on Large Recordings, Hollis P. Monroe with "Feeling Good” & Sean O’Neil (rip)’aka Someone Else’ on “Blazin” & “High Grade Roll featuring El Feco B”. You can currently find Rob every second Saturday for the Shakedown, at goodie & Solomonic Sound events, plus random one off events at various venues through out Philadelphia and abroad. He slowed his touring down after his third child was born to stay closer to his family, but you can still catch him on the road once or twice a month. With his musical roots, proven success as a label owner / producer / DJ / event creator, and with his innovative approach to melding electronic dance music, Rob Paine is one of the music icons in the City of Brotherly & Sisterly Love and across the world. His commitment to the city and the world’s music lovers is unwavering, and his unique and diverse vision will ensure his success and our enjoyment far into the future.