It was sometime in the Fall of 1998 that producer/DJ Rob Paine and friend Dan McGehean were having, um…tea, one afternoon in Philadelphia when the concept of Worship Recordings came into being.  The pair soon added Rob’s long-time friend and musical partner Zach Eberz and the label solidified, concentrating on the ‘dub’ factor of House music.

Whether it’s deep and bubbling or jackin’ and rolling, Worship pushes dub music to it furthest ends weaving dub consciousness with house spiritualism. In just a couple years these three brothers in sound have forged one of America’s up-and-coming independent electronic music imprints by fusing their deep dub and reggae influences with their passion for House music and dance culture.  Featuring releases from the likes of prolific Swede Hakan Lidbo, Perry Farrell collaborators Rocket, ex-Wamdue Kid Chris Udoh, and in-house dubmeisters Solomonic Sound, Worship has found favor with the likes of such international talents as NY house legend Tony Humphries, Body & Soul cornerstone Joe Clausell, Ben Watt (Everything But The Girl, Lazy Dog), Inland Knights (Drop Music/20-20 Vision), Colin Dale (Groovetech.com’s Abstrakt Dance), Garth (Grayhound Records/Wicked, SF), Silicone Soul (Soma), and Halo Varga (H-Foundation, Soma, Bluem).

Comprised of the label’s first ten releases, Worship founder Rob Paine compiles some of the label’s finest sides and continually mixes them together on two turntables for a true dubwise session of chunky beats, dub textures and conscious messages in sound.

About the artists

Rocket – Aka DJ Garth and Eric James, these two San Francisco house pioneers evoke the spirit of King Tubby and tribal drums through a sinsemilla sparked filter with their productions on Garth’s Grayhound label, Worship, and remixes for the likes of Faithless and Perry Farrell.

Hakan Lidbo – Sweden’s Hakan Lidbo emerged in the late '90s as one of the most prolific tech-house producers on the planet. Lidbo has mastered a wide variety of house styles - uplifting vocals, deep, late-night moods, mind-bending minimalism, refined classic house and skanked up dubby tracks. On an even more experimental note, Lidbo recently wrote the score to a 19th century ballet for the Copenhagen Radio Symphonic Orchestra.

Solomonic Sound – Rob Paine and fellow Worship partner Zach Eberz comprise the live act Solomonic Sound. Leaning more true to their Rasta influences, Solomonic Sound tracks like ‘Children of Israel’ embodies the pure spirit of what Worship Recordings is all about. The pair often open for such talents as Linton Kwesi Johnson and others of the like when they tour through Philadelphia.  Zach and Rob have recently returned from Jamaica where they collaborated on exclusive studio sessions on source material which will become the debut Solomonic Sound album, due to be released in 2002.

Kidz On Christian Street – Named after a street in South Philadelphia, this one-off project between Rob and former Wamdue Kid Chris Udoh, melds Rob’s dub sensibility with Udoh’s chugging dancefloor vision.

Nectar – Aka LA based multi-instrumentalist Adam Tenenbaum; Nectar’s heavy, hypnotic dub textures have graced the decks of such top DJ’s as Garth, Mr. C, and Terry Francis. 

(e)Motion Detectors – One of the more housey releases on Worship, this release by Chris Udoh and June Lopez still retains a very latiny dubby flavor.

Divine Conception – An alias for Rob Paine’s more housey material, this 12” is perhaps one of the sleepers in the Worship catalog.

About Rob Paine 

Although Rob Paine is only just now being recognized for his production - his career and commitment to music has been life long. Music is his driving force - he picked up and started playing the saxophone when he was only in fourth grade, playing and recording with various bands from the age of 15, and in college as he majored in Jazz Studies/saxophone performance at Temple University.

However, Rob's discovery of house music and its culture opened doors to what turned into a way of life. Influenced by the reggae, hip hop, jazz and punk rock that he grew up on in the 80's, but as soon as the 90's came into the picture, it was bands like the Stone Roses and Orbital that made everything start to unfold into what style of house he is now committed to.

He was soon addicted to the sound, and it wasn't long before he was addicted to the tables. His career began as a DJ in 1993 playing at house and outlaw parties throughout the Philadelphia area, Rob soon became heavily involved in the club and rave scene and has logged his share of miles traveling the club and rave circuit all over the U.S. and Canada and producing many mix tapes over the past seven years.

It was during the earlier part of this time that he met and began to work with Keith Landis (Dj O'keef) and Kevin Gimble. As a collective called Special K, they played a major part in the early development of the underground dance movement in Philadelphia. Over the years Special K (later known as Circle) brought many underground music greats to the Philadelphia area for the first time. 

Since founding his own label in 1998, Rob has catapulted himself into a place alongside many of the American dance music scene’s finest up-and-coming producer/DJ’s – San Diego’s H-Foundation, New York’s 6400 Crew, San Francisco’s Rocket, to name a few.  Building upon the dubby foundations and percussive house sensibilities that make up what many perceive to be the ‘West Coast US house sound’, Rob and Worship inject an authentic Rasta heartbeat and a little of that inherent Philly soul into their records, making them stand out a little further than their contemporaries.

Release Date: April 2, 2002

 

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For more information please contact Peter Wohelski at Green Galactic, 718-923-9020 or peter@greengalactic.com.