Raja Ram – 10 Essential Tracks

Raja Ram – 10 Essential Tracks

Raja Ram is Ronald Rothfield, born in 1941 and originating from Melbourne (Australia). In the early 50’s , he and his family were en route to begin the ongoing hippie trail. Soon after, Raja returned back in his hometown to study flute at the Melbourne Conservatory of Music, and then moved in New York to study Jazz. In 1969, he was one of the founding members of “Quintessence”, a jazz-fusion Indian rock band that went on great success with 5 albums and over 400 live performances. Due to personal reasons, he retired from the band and started working as a salesman in the early ’70’s.

However, with the advent of synthesizers and electronic music in the ’80’s, he felt the need to return in the musical scene. After coming back from a trip in Goa in 1988, he discovered the world of psychedelic music which was a turning point in his life. In 1989, he formed “The Infinity Project” along with Graham Wood.

Raja Ram is considered as one of the pioneers of the Psy-trance genre and after more than 20 years, he’s still constantly touring, DJ’ing, performing live and recording in the studio, remaining one of the most in demand artists on the scene today.

Over the next few years “The Infinity Project” started releasing their first material on labels such as Fabulous and Dragonfly Records. Then in 1994, Raja Ram and Graham Wood, along with Ian St. Paul & Richard Bloor, formed the legendary Goa Trance label TIP Records. It became Tip World in 1998 and was a partnership just between Raja and Richard. Tip have been true pioneers in the Psy-Trance scene, putting on some legendary parties and releasing many classics of the genre.

Raja is also known for his numerous participations in various projects throughout his long career. In 1996 “Shpongle” was formed together with Simon Posford, who are both considered as the creators of the psybient genre. “The Mystery of The Yeti” is an album project collaboratively produced by Raja Ram and Graham Wood of “The Infinity Project” & Stéphane Holweck, Loïc Van Poucke, and Serge Souque (the founding members of “Total Eclipse”), and finally Simon Posford. In 1999, “1200 Micrograms” was formed along with Riktam, Bansi (G.M.S) and Chicago. He also has collaborated in 2 other bands called “The Zap!” and “Cyberbabas” with Benji Vaughan (Prometheus).
Raja Ram is considered as one of the pioneers of the Psy-trance genre, having collaborated with almost every major psy-trance artist during the last 20 years, and still constantly touring, DJ’ing, performing live and recording in the studio, remaining one of the most in demand artists on the scene today.
Trancentral has prepared for you 10 essential Raja Ram tracks, covering a wide spectrum of projects and collaborations throughout his career.
We chose not to include many 1200 Micrograms tracks or any Shpongle track as they deserve, and will get their own articles shortly.