Gabriel Le Mar

Gabriel Le Mar was born in Germany in 1966, the son of Greek parents, and grew up in Berlin, Germany. Around 1984, he gets his first stage experience as a professional club dj and bassman of a band experimenting with electronic sounds. In 1987, Gabriel studied at the HdK, Berlin (University of Fine Arts) and got a diploma in Society and Economy Communication. Shortly after, he started to work as an art director for various agencies. Through his co-student, George DIN, he gets in contact with the art pop project Bamboo Industry, in which he gets involved as guest musician and later as an official band member. 1991 sees the release of a 12 inch and a longplayer on a major label plus an extensive German tour with appearances at big festivals. Besides Bamboo Industry, Gabriel is also part of the Berlin based experimental electronic project, Cosmic Trigger, which includes George DIN and Mike V.A.M.P. from the Märtini Brös.

In 1992, Gabriel moved to Frankfurt and became founder of the electronic project Saafi Brothers, at first a loosely connected live conglomerate of different Frankfurt based musicians and producers. From 1993 on, he was also a member of the successful local club concept Dub Mix Convention, which included Dubble and Reverend. Inspired by the mix techniques of Jamaican dub music, Gabriel provided live overdubs to records from Jamaica and the UK played by the two selectors.

Soon, Gabriel followed this concept not only at the monthly dub nights in Frankfurt, but also at other events, including DJs more influenced by techno and electronic sounds. In early 1994, he met Alex Azary, co-founder of the famous Techno Club at the Frankfurt Airport and mastermind of the XS-Club in the center of the city, at this time one of the leading venues for ambient and chill out sounds in Europe. Together, they formed the Aural Float project, held a residency in the XS Club, and appeared on the stages of many other clubs and events all over Europe (Montreux Jazz Festival /CH). In the same year, Aural Float released their first track on a various artists compilation put out by a major label. The Frankfurt based producer and DJ Pascal F.E.O.S. became a member of the project and the trio delivered a well acclaimed remix for Sven Väth.

By the end of 1994, producers Jammin´ Unit (Air Liquide), Tricky Cris, Reverend, and Gabriel himself were part of the crossroad project Serious Dropout, which was born during a series of club nights of the same name. The unique connection of dub reggae, electronics, ambient and techno sounds featured musicians and producers from Jamaica, the UK, and Germany.

In early 1995, the first Aural Float album Introspectives was released on the Elektrolux label co-owned by Alex Azary and Pascal F.E.O.S. Besides doing a full time job in the studio and on stage, Gabriel joined UK designer Neville Brody in creating the corporate design of Elektrolux. His creativity was inspired from trips to Asia and his many live appearances all over the world (festivals like Mayday, Rave City, Universe, and Euphoria, as well as clubs in Zürich, Leeds, and Frankfurt).

Together with Frankfurt based producer Michael Kohlbecker (Eternal Basement), Gabriel did a remix for the German number one hit "Sie ist weg“ by the hip hop group Die Fantastischen Vier. In the following time, he activated the Saafi Brothers and recorded the first tracks for a planned album together with Michael Kohlbecker and Alex Azary.

During 1995, Gabriel was also involved in the first studio sessions for Dub Mix Convention and Serious Dropout. November saw the release of the various artists compilation "Serious Dropout Chapter One: Futuristic Dub Foundation“, the first dub album produced in Germany to be released on a major label. Next, Gabriel took part in a Serious Dropout tour throughout Germany alongside artists like Jammin´ Unit, Tricky Cris, Reverend, Markie J., and Mikey Romeo.

In 1996, Aural Float created the soundtrack for the TV series "SpaceNight“ broadcast by German station BR every night. Besides the soundtrack compilation, "Space Night Vol.II“ (with various artists including Saafi-Brothers and Aural Float) on EastWest Records, a video incorporating special overdubs by Gabriel was released.

Alongside the Space Night activities and the ongoing work for the first Saafi-Brothers album, he was also busy finishing the second dub compilation "Serious Dropout Round Two: At The Control Tower“, which was released in October. Highlights from the year include live appearances with different acts at the first Cocoon events of Sven Väth in Frankfurt, Munich, and Copenhagen, and at festivals like Vision (CH) and Shiva Moon (Germany). Gabriel also played in clubs like the Colosseum (London), Fuse (Brussels), Orbit (Leeds), Sensor (Zürich), and Nataraj-Tempel (Munich).

After almost two years of production time, 1997 marked the release of the first Saafi Brothers album Mystic Cigarettes (with Michael Kohlbecker and Alex Azary) on the UK-based label BlueRoomReleased. The brothers go on tour and play live at festivals like Tribal Gathering (UK), Roskilde (Denmark), Sunflower (Germany), and Totally Eclipsed (France). Autumn of that year saw the release of the third and last Serious Dropout compilation "Step Three: Wake The Town And Dub The People“ and again Gabriel was involved as a producer joining artists like The Rootsman (UK) and many more.

In November, he appeared on stage as part of the second Serious Dropout tour, with festival highlights including Kickzone (Germany), and with club gigs in Kristiania/Copenhagen (Denmark) and at the Dub Club (Berlin). The multinational line up for the series of shows included UK dub innovators like The Rootsman and The Disciples as well as Jammin1 Unit, Tricky Cris, Reverend, and the MC´s/singers Jah Meek andd Markie J.

In early 1998, Gabriel and his Saafi-Brothers partner, Michael Kohlbecker, put out the techno influenced Def=Lim album from their side project, Montauk P., which is also signed to BlueRoomReleased/UK. In London, he was in recording-sessions with Mike Maguire (Juno Reactor) and the legendary Band Amampondo (South Africa) for the Saafi Brothers. In the same year, Elektrolux Records released a Dub Mix Convention longplayer, which included all productions and dubplates of the project from 1996 to 1998. Besides producers Marcus Darius, Reverend, and Gabriel Le Mar, the album features guests like singers Jah Meek (Jamaica) and Tolga (Germany).

During 1998, Gabriel returned to the club turntables and delivered DJ sets as part of acts like The Saafi-Bros., Montauk P., Aural Float, and Serious Dropout, playing in various places from Tokyo to Paris, Copenhagen, and Zurich. One of the highlights of the year marked the Serious Dropout Dub Showcase at the Summer Jam Festival in Cologne, the biggest reggae and dub event in Europe. After a couple of solo gigs and the completion of his own studio, Gabriel began to record his first solo album in the second half of the year.

Gab´s Lab was released in 1999 on Spirit Zone and represented a journey through Gabriel’s musical influences from dub and electronics to techno and trance. For the first time, he played in the USA, doing shows in New York and San Francisco. More international dates followed in places like Vienna, Copenhagen, Zurich and Tokyo.

Also in 1999, Gabriel started two new projects with Dub_Connected and Banned-X, which included different guest artists and combined the whole spectrum of electronic music with dub and reggae elements. Early in 2000, the first Dub_Connected longplayer "Vol.1: Mind The Gab“ is released on Liquid Audio Soundz/Nova Tekk. The album presented a mixture of dub, techno, and trance produced in cooperation with The Rootsman (Bradford/UK), 10 Cars (Berlin), Carson Plug (Hamburg), and Ronda Ray.

The following Banned_X debut album, "Songs An´ Trax“, featured Gabriel´s production alongside guest MC`s like Jah Meek, Markie J. and George DIN and finally appeared in 2000 on the Frankfurt-based label multiColor, delivering a combination of electronics with dub/reggae sounds and song structures.

Shortly after, Gabriel released his second solo album Gab´s Gift on Spirit Zone, which widened the concept of its predecessor with even more musical components. Gab´s Gift was named as album of the month in important German music mags like Keyboards and Raveline.

Also on stage, 2000 proved to be a very busy year for Gabriel, as he did shows at German festivals like Lovefield, Excalibur, Liberty One, Moonflight, and Love Parade, as well as in European clubs like Nostru (Helsinki), Gaskessel (Bern/CH), and Matrix (Zurich).

By the end of the year, Gabriel entered the studio alongside Alex Azary and Pascal F. E.O.S. to record tracks for the long awaited second Aural Float album, which was released on Elektrolux in spring 2001. It featured guests like Anthony Rother, George DIN, and Patricia Onyewenjo, showing a musical spectrum including ambient, downbeat, and electronic sounds.

Together with Tokyo/Japan based producer Tobynation, Gabriel started the project. The album, Skydiverz (Superstition Records), was released by the end of May 2001 and combined techno and electronic sounds with far East vibes.

Only one month later, the second Dub_Connected album "Electronic Music“ appeared on Liquid Audio Soundz/NovaTekk, this time the guest list included 10Cars, George DIN, and Nikos M.

In 2002, Gabriel Le Mar introduced “Hear and Now“ - his 3rd solo album on SpiritZone Rec. (also heavy rotation at Raveline mag).

In 2003, Gabriel Le Mar and George Din released “Studio India“, a sample CD (on www.bestservice.de), and also produced “Short Stories“ – his 4th album on SpiritZone Records, which became album of the month in Raveline magazine.

2003 also saw the third album of Saafi Brothers, “Liquid Beach“ on Saafi Rec./EFA – it also received good reviews (heavy rotation in Raveline) and became No. 1 at offical German chill out album charts DCOC.