Steve Roach is a leading American pioneer in the evolution of ambient/electronic music, helping shape it into what it is today. Grammy nominated in 2018 and 2019 consecutively, his career spans four decades and nearly 150 releases. His massive catalog of landmark recordings includes Structures from Silence, Dreamtime Return and Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces (part 1-4). Drawing from a vast, unique and deeply personal authenticity, his albums are fueled by the momentum of a lifetime dedicated to the soundcurrent. Roach is an artist operating at the pinnacle of his artform, driven by a passion and unbroken focus enhancing the emotive, soul-stirring depth of his music.

From the expansive, time-suspending spaces reflecting his spiritual home in Arizona to the fire breathing, sequencer-driven rhythmic-tribal expressions woven from all things electric and organic, this innovative world of sound has been nourished by years of transcendent concerts worldwide. Always reaching towards what’s next on the horizon, Roach refuses to be tied down to any one stylistic direction. Capturing peak moments as they occur in his Timeroom studio, he creates a sonic experience that breathes emotion and vital life energy that connects to an ever-growing worldwide audience.

Roach started creating his music during the late 70’s golden age of analog synthesizers, a time when the digital variety was only visible as a thought on the horizon and the birth of portable somewhat affordable analog instruments were just starting to emerge. Born 1955 in La Mesa, California, Steve Roach self-released his first solo album NOW in 1982. His early music was part of a wider progressive ambient movement that rose concurrently with new age music on America’s West Coast during the 1970’s and peaked in the late 80’s. Although it often intermingled easily with the best of the early new age genre, Roach’s music has always been created completely on its own terms, essentially defining his own genre. He drew upon his unique perspective, deeply rooted in a connection to the starkly beautiful landscapes and open spaces of the southwestern desert in which he grew up, to pioneer the inherently expansive breathing quality of his early releases.

Today, with a passionately prolific drive, Roach stands among the giants of modern ambient and is one of the most respected electronic musicians in the world. His discography is enormous with well over 200 releases. All of it is “ambient” in a way, but is better understood by singling out three major strands in his sound.

First, there is the deep inspiration Roach draws from the German and European electronic space music tradition. You can certainly hear the legacy running throughout his work from Now (1982), Empetus (1986), Skeleton Keys (2015) and more recently Into the Majestic (2021). There’s a through-line in these releases, where patterned, analog sequencer-driven music activates the consciousness with an invigorating sense of heightened perception; emotional and mind-expanding spiraling mandalas of sound are made from interwoven tapestries of melody, rhythm, tone and musical space.

A second strand present in Roach’s releases is floating ambience inspired by a sense of environmental space, time-expansion and silence. These diaphanous chords and suspended harmonics were first heard on his meditative masterpiece Structures From Silence (1984). Here and elsewhere in Roach’s rich oeuvre are outstanding examples of the evolving “breathing chords” central to his ongoing quest to humanize the music and release his machines from their mechanical moorings. This extraordinary sense of natural breath is an organic quality not easily realized with synthesizers. His obsession in creating ultra immersive rapturous soundworlds defines the this sub genre of true ambient music. Diverse examples can be heard on  the 3-CD Quiet Music (1986), long form classic The Dream Circle (1994)  the 4-CD opus Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces (2003), Atmosphere for Dreaming (2018) The on going Immersion Series and A Soul Ascends (2020).

Third, there is an intoxicating ethno-tribal ambient strand that runs deep in Roach’s music. On these recordings starting in the 90’s he pioneered this sub-genre, a dark electro-acoustic hybrid that today commands a devoted underground following. It all started with the epic Australia-inspired double-LP Dreamtime Return (1988) forged with tribal percussion, warm washes of synthesizer and location recordings of indigenous music and instrument samples. This release is considered an essential benchmark for the genre. Later on came a number of benchmark collaborations with the shamanic Mexican musician Jorge Reyes, such as Earth Island (1994), and his work with percussionist Byron Metcalf on eight releases including The Serpent’s Lair (2000) and Monuments of Ecstasy (2015), it’s dark-edged global exotica enveloped in Roach’s widescreen soundscapes. This sound continued to evolve to a high point of hybrid blending on mesmerizing Trance Archeology (2019)

At a Steve Roach live experience, you might be fortunate enough to hear all these strands in a single show. Roach is an artist in his element on stage. From the very beginning of his career, he has presented live electronic music in venues around the world, bringing this sound to life in the present moment with all its complexity, emotion and visionary nature. Roach invites the listener’s adventurous spirit to surrender to the dynamic journey that unwinds with power and grace. Whether it’s large scale cathedral events in cities like NYC, San Francisco or Los Angeles, or more intimate performances in his hometown of Tucson and beyond, Roach’s creates a remarkable immersive soundworld performed in real time. There is something deeply elemental about it; a sounding of the earth and the cosmos that’s been rendered into tones, visuals, and emotions that can be felt viscerally.

Always reaching toward what’s next on the horizon, Roach refuses to be tied down in any one stylistic direction. His worldwide audience continues to grow, and his innovations continue to inspire new and long-time listeners, artists and musicians alike. Listening to Steve Roach’s music, you’re hearing the momentum of a lifetime dedicated to the sound current, an artist operating at the pinnacle of his artform, with dedication, passion and an unbroken focus on creating a personal sonic vision born from the center of stillness and ascending to the summits that life itself provides as his infinite source of inspiration.