Globe-trotting, headlining DJ known for his euphoric club anthems, British producer Gareth Emery injects his EDM hits with shimmering, 1990s-synths and bouncy, unifying choruses to become a master at re-shaping classic trance music formulas for a new generation.
Growing up in Southampton, Emery took classical piano lessons as a child and played guitar in a punk band in his teenage years but, after studying politics at Warwick University, he became increasingly involved in the local electro scene. From making tracks in his bedroom and DJ-ing at small bars, Emery came to wider attention in 2002 when his white label bootleg remix of 'Nervous Breakdown' by The Shrink was championed on BBC Radio 1 by DJ Dave Pearce and became an underground club favourite. Things really took off when follow-up track 'Mistral' was released under the name GTR and was played out by Tiësto and Armin Van Buuren, and his mix albums 'The Five AM Session' in 2005 and 'The Sound of Garuda' in 2009 captured the fluid, heaven-bursting sets that had made him one of the most popular young trance DJs on the scene.
His debut album of original material 'Northern Lights' featured his sister Roxanne Emery and vocalists Emma Hewitt and Lucy Sanders. His reputation spread with his floor-filling, European dance hit 'Sanctuary' and his crossover, sun-kissed collaboration single 'On a Good Day' with producers Above & Beyond. Between 2006 and 2014 he also hosted a podcast on SiriusXM and his albums 'Drive' and '100 Reasons to Live' continued to mix Euro-pop hedonism with throbbing, hard house beats and traditional songwriting hooks and melodies. In more recent times Emery launched his Electric for Life brand, teamed up with Ashley Wallbridge to form satirical side project CVNT5 and set up the distribution platform Choon, with his 2017 track 'Saving Light' named Tune of the Year by Armin Van Buuren's influential Trance for Life radio show.
