Robert Miles (born Roberto Concina, November 3, 1969 - 09.05.2017) was an Swiss-born Italian record producer, composer, musician and DJ in electronica and alternative music. Robert Miles was born to Italian immigrants Antonietta Lauro and Albino Concina in Fleurier, Switzerland.
Miles became proficient at playing the piano during his youth in Friuli, Italy, in the small town of Fagagna, where his family moved when he was still a young boy, and has been in the music scene since 1984. He worked as a DJ in some Italian clubs and private radio networks and in 1990, he used his savings to establish his own recording studio and a pirate radio station.
In 1994, Miles wrote a house/chill-out piece based on acoustic guitar chords and soft synthesizer effects, "Children", which was later developed into a dream trance track featuring a piano theme on top. The single picked up sales slowly, but within two weeks of its official release in 1995, it had sold more than 350,000 copies all over Europe and topped the charts in many countries. After occupying the Euro Top 100 chart number 1 spot for thirteen consecutive weeks, by 1997, "Children" had sold more than 5 million copies worldwide. It earned Miles platinum records in many countries, a Brit Award (Robert Miles is, to date, the only Italian artist who has received the award) as Best International Male Newcomer 1997, a World Music Award as World's Best Selling Male Newcomer and various other awards.
Miles' next single was "Fable". Part of this song was used in the theatrical trailer for the U.S. movie Ever After starring Drew Barrymore and Dougray Scott. His debut album Dreamland was released on June 7, 1996 in Europe, and released in the United States about a month later, with a new track, "One and One". This new track became very popular (it reached number 1 in the Euro Top 100 Singles Chart during the Christmas period and remained in the top spot for six consecutive weeks) and was later released as a single in Europe and the U.S.
In November 1997, Miles released another track, "Freedom", which was one of the key tracks on his second album 23am featuring vocals provided by Kathy Sledge of Sister Sledge. Containing a different feel from the previously more club-oriented Dreamland, 23am incorporated more lyrics-driven songs than its predecessor while maintaining Miles' trademark piano sound from the first album.
After splitting from BMG/Deconstruction and his former management in London, he set up his own independent record label S:alt Records (with S:alt being short for suitably:alternative) in 2001 and released his third album, Organik, featuring the new single "Paths" with vocals provided by Nina Miranda of Smoke City. Guests on the album included Trilok Gurtu, Bill Laswell and Nitin Sawhney. Music from Organik was used on various movie soundtracks such as The Bourne Identity, Derrida, and City of Ghosts. In 2002, an album containing mainly remixes of songs found on Organik was released. The album, appropriately entitled Organik Remixes, contained remixes by the winners of the remixing contest held on Robert Miles' website, as well as remixes from well known artists such as The Future Sound of London, Riton, and Alexkid amongst others. The album also had one new track, "Bhairav", which featured the vocals of Amelia Cuni.
In 2004, Miles released Miles_Gurtu, his fourth album which was a collaboration with percussionist Trilok Gurtu and included jazz and electronica elements. Also guesting on the album were Nitin Sawhney, Jon Thorne, Mike Patto and Paul Falloon.
His fifth album entitled Th1rt3en was released worldwide on S:alt Records in February 2011, and featured guests such as Robert Fripp, Dave Okumu, Jon Thorne, Mike Patto and Davide Giovannini. For this album, Miles produced a blend of alternative and progressive rock with ambient and electronic soundscapes.
Miles has just finished to work on the soundtrack for the forthcoming movie documentary The Turn of This Century, directed by Peter Beyak and featuring the photography of Life Magazine and he is setting up a new alternative multimedia centre in Ibiza.
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