Raul Ramirez
Raul Ramirez was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. after graduating in chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology he packed his drums in his truck and moved to Boston to study at Berklee College of Music. There he graduated in music production and engineering.
In Boston he was the drummer for the Spanish rock band Spanish Flies, replacing Eduardo Paniagua who left the group to join the band Puya. During 1993 and 1994 the Puerto-Rican power trio promoted their CD and video by touring extensively the island of Puerto Rico and the northeastern United States (Boston, New York, Connecticut, etc). They had extensive TV and press coverage and their music was licensed for the soundtrack of the surf video 'La Bruja' which also included tracks by Robi Rosa.
During that time he also played drums and co-produced a CD for the Boston band Chameleon Walks featuring singer-songwriter Deborah Hamm on guitar and vocals, and Rafols Morales (engineer for Paulina Rubio, Ricky Martin, Nestor Torres) on bass.
Meanwhile he was also light designer at the Berklee Performance Center and ran lights for artists like Paco de Lucia, Celine Dion, Ottmar Liebert, and Patti Labelle among others.
In 1995 he co-founded the Spanish rock band Sofia. The band recorded a CD at Ochoa studios in Puerto Rico under the production of Alvaro Riveros (president of Big Sur Records in Chile). They filmed a video for the single 'Tres Palabras' which had medium-to-heavy rotation on MTV Latino and 'The Box' in Miami and Puerto Rico. For the next few years the band toured extensively in Mexico (Cancun, Guadalajara) and the southeastern United States (Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando). They had extensive exposure to TV shows, radio interviews and press coverage in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Mexico.
From 1996 - 1998 he worked at island records in the a&r administration department and worked for artists like u2 and cranberries among others. after leaving island records he went to work for mtv latino as a web designer and site producer and designed webpages for shakira, mana and many others.
In 1999 he produced a latin rock band called signos and recorded a cd at wally sound, a high-end mobile recording studio.
He also played at the cancun jazz festival with the jazz trio josh and the jam band. the festival featured artists like irakere and george benson among many others.
In that same year he also produced his first solo project. in this 6-song demo he wrote all the songs and played all the instruments: vocals, drums, guitars, bass, synth, flute, harmonica, etc. the result is a latin pop rock project reminiscent of artists like sting or miguel bose among others.
In 2000 he was the drummer for outdance, an odd-time signature, experimental world fusion band. the band featured tom korba on stick bass, josh sonntag (from moxi and sofia) on guitar and sean dibble (studio professional) on percussion. the band was known for their long and powerfully musical improvisations. with them he recorded several live albums and toured opening up for acts like tom tom club. they were also featured in the 'harvest music festival' in gainesville, fl which featured artists like medeski-martin-and-wood, the wailers, and p-funk among others.
During 2001 and 2002, he was the bass player for the spanish rock band moxi. he also designed their website and produced the live sequences for the live shows. they had numerous presentations in miami and los angeles and had extensive press and tv coverage including articles in the miami herald, voted best rock band in miami new times, a tv appearance in the telemundo show 'de mananita' in miami and in LATV in los angeles. the band was also chosen for a tv commercial for the mexican beer 'tecate' which was in heavy rotation in the u.s. hispanic market during the 2002 soccer world cup. the music in the commercial was a live performance of 'el reloj', a moxi song written by singer catty tasso and guitarrist josh sonntag and available on the moxi cd.
In 2000 he became the singer and bass player for the hard, progressive rock band ohms, which is now called cinemo. the lyrics are in spanish but the sound is as heavy as any other band in english. heavily influenced by bands like tool and soundgarden, ohms has been referred to in the miami area as the heaviest rock band in the latin market. they are currently recording a cd which is expected to be released by the end of 2003.
In 2002 raul recorded an instrumental cd called ecomusica vol.1 - the chillout sessions. the cd is a mixture of ambient, acid jazz and world music fused together under chillout. the cd is available for purchase online and in exclusive stores in miami beach, san juan, and amsterdam.
In that same year he was baritone voice for the florida philharmonic chorus.
In the summer of 2003, raul toured his hometown of Puerto Rico with his solo electronica show which includes computers, live drums, synths, electronic toys and a visual screen. he got extensive tv and radio exposure and one of his tracks was selected for several radio promos for alfa rock (105.7 FM), the most legendary rock radio station in Puerto Rico. another track was also chosen as the title track of a world music show at radio universidad in Puerto Rico (89.7 FM)
In early 2004 raul was selected resident dj by the womb and did live global webcasts from miami beach once a month. in 2005 he released ‘live @ the womb’, a non-stop, continuous and improvised musical journey performed and recorded entirely live during one of his sets. the womb is a pioneer and legendary website that streams live broadcats of the best dj’s and performers from around the globe.
In 2006, raul released ’ecomusica vol.2: ambient lounge’. the cd has been licensed by record labels in switzerland and germany and has quickly become a favorite among lounges, clubs and shops in miami beach. his music is played in most internet radio stations including I-tunes radio and he has been featured in countless podcasts over the internet.
That same year he performed at events like the winter music festival at the prestigious delano hotel in miami beach and at the heineken transatlantic music festival opening for international acts like chambao among others.
In 2007, two of his tracks (‘bamboo bei’ and ‘travel’) were included in the international compilation ‘pan global electro lounge vol.1’. the compilation is distributed from germany and is gaining widespread popularity among other european countries. those same two tracks were chosen by the prestigious internet radio station ‘smooth lounge’.
his music has been awarded its own station on Pandora (Raul Ramirez Radio) which features his own music as well as other similar artists.
Currently raul continues to compose original music and has begun the recording process for ‘ecomusica vol.3’, which will feature guest artists from around the globe. he is also producing other artists as well and can be seen constantly performing in the area of miami beach and touring his hometown of Puerto Rico.
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