Richard Mowatt, commonly known by his stage name Solarstone (formerly spelled Solar Stone), is an Irish trance DJ and producer based in Wales. The music project Solarstone was founded in 1997 as a trio, and also used the pseudonyms Young Parisians, Liquid State and Z2. Over the years, Solarstone has developed a reputation for keeping to the original and classic trance sound. He is considered to be a veteran by fans in the trance music scene. Since 2012, Solarstone has been pushing forward a Pure Trance movement through tours where he aims to keep the trance genre true to its roots.[1]

Solarstone
Birth nameRichard John Mowatt
Also known asLiquid State, Z2, 2nd Element
Born (1972-10-20) 20 October 1972 (age 52)
OriginRathfarnham, Ireland
GenresTrance
Occupation(s)DJ, producer, remixer
Years active1989–present
LabelsTouchstone Recordings, Molecule, Pure Trance Recordings, Electronic Architecture Records
Past members
  • Andy Bury (1996-2006)
  • Sam Tierney (1996-1997)
Websitewww.solarstone.co.uk

Biography

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The music project Solar Stone was founded in Dudley in 1997 by Richard Mowatt, Andy Bury and Sam Tierney. Since 1994, the trio had been known as the Space Kittens. Sam Tierney left the group in 1997 owing to musical differences, and in 2006 Andy Bury also left, leaving Mowatt as the sole member.

Solarstone has had three major hit singles in the UK. The most successful was Seven Cities, which reached number 39 in 1999.[2] The song was one of the earliest and most famous examples of the Balearic trance genre, and has been re-released three times. The song has sold over 500,000 copies.[3]

In 2003 and 2004, Solarstone collaborated with Scott Bond, releasing the three singles "3rd Earth", "Naked Angel" and "Red Line Highway". The group's debut album, AnthologyOne, was released in 2006. In 2008, their second studio album, Rain Stars Eternal, was released.

Solarstone has also produced several remixes and collaborated with renowned trance artists such as Paul Oakenfold.

In 2014, Solarstone and Giuseppe Ottaviani began a collaboration project known as PureNRG. PureNRG have since released a number of singles, and perform live on stage regularly.

Radio shows

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The Deep Blue Radioshow was produced by Rich Mowatt, the first episode of which was released on 19 May 2005.[4] The first show featured a 30minute Woody van Eyden Guestmix and was nearly 2hrs long. The final episode of Deep Blue Radio Show was 116 DJd by Robbie Nelson and was released on 10 July 2008.[5]

Rich Mowatt and Robbie Nelson later produced the Solaris International Radio Show, beginning in 2004, which was distributed through various online channels. In the early years, the programme appeared irregularly and was a mix of interviews and new music. From December 2006 (Episode 33) it appeared as a weekly, two-hour podcast. The show was reduced to a 1hr show in episode 294. Solaris International was hosted on alternate weeks by Nelson and Mowatt and included new tracks and remixes, a half-hour guest DJ mix, and at least one classic trance track from the late 1990s or early 2000s. The final episode was number 465 which was released on 18 August 2015.

On 2 September 2015, Solarstone launched the first episode of his new radio show Pure Trance Radio. Episode 100 was broadcast on 9 August 2017, live from the A State of Trance Studio in Amsterdam. The show is released on various platforms. All episodes of the show are presented by Solarstone.

Solarstone launched The Morning Show on 2 November 2020, streamed live on weekdays on his Twitch channel; features include the Coffee Break and the subscriber-requested Kickstarter.

Discography

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Studio albums

Year Name Release Date Notes
2006 Anthology One
2008 Rain Stars Eternal
2009 RSEmix
2010 Touchstone 08-2011
2012 Touchstone Remixed 01-2012
2012 Pure 21-05-2012
2017 .---- 14-04-2017
2018 ..--- 04-05-2018
2019 ...--[6] 01-11-2019
2019 One[7] 01-11-2019
2020 Island[8] 18-09-2020

Compilation albums[9][10]

Year Name Release Date Notes
2001 Chilled Out Euphoria
2005 Destinations vol.1
2009 Electronic Architecture
2011 Electronic Architecture 2 04-2011
2011 EA2 - The Ambient Edition 08-2011
2012 Solarstone Presents Pure Trance Volume 1 19-11-2012 Mixed with Orkidea
2013 Solarstone Presents Pure Trance Volume 2 28-10-2013 Mixed with Giuseppe Ottaviani
2014 Electronic Architecture 3 27-07-2014
2014 Solarstone Presents Pure Trance Volume 3 27-10-2014 Mixed with Bryan Kearney
2015 Solarstone Presents Pure Trance Volume 4 20-11-2015 Mixed with Gai Barone
2016 Solarstone Presents Pure Trance Volume 5 28-10-2016 Mixed with Forerunners and Sneijder
2017 Solarstone Presents Pure Trance Volume 6 27-10-2017 Mixed with Robert Nickson and Factor B
2018 Solarstone Presents Pure Trance Volume 7 09-11-2018 Mixed with Kristina Sky and Lostly
2019 Solarstone Presents Pure Trance Volume 8 29-11-2019 Mixed with Activa
2021 Electronic Architecture 4 14-05-2021
2021 Solarstone Presents Pure Trance Volume 9 11-12-2021 Mixed with Stoneface & Terminal
2021 Solarstone Presents Pure Trance Volume 10 03-11-2024

Singles

Year Name Release Date Notes
1997 The Calling
1998 The Impressions (EP)
1999 Seven Cities
2001 Speak in Sympathy featuring Elizabeth Fields
2002 Solarcoaster/Greenlight
2003 Third Earth with Scott Bond
Release/Destination
2004 Jump The Next Train as Young Parisians featuring Ben Lost
Naked Angel with Scott Bond
2005 Red Line Highway with Scott Bond
2006 Eastern Sea
Like a Waterfall featuring JES
2007 Late Summer Fields with Alucard
The Calling 2007
2008 4Ever
Hold My Breath with Mr. Sam and Andy Duguid
Spectrum
Rain Stars Eternal
2009 Later Summer Fields
Part of Me featuring Elizabeth Fields
Lunar Rings featuring Essence
2010 Slowmotion with Orkidea
Electric Love featuring Bill McGruddy
Touchstone
Is There Anyone Out There? 01-2011 featuring Bill McGruddy
2011 Big Wheel 04-2011 Samples 'Buffy Sainte-Marie - Little Wheel Spin and Spin'
Zeitgeist 08-2011 with Orkidea
Breakaway (Remixes) 10-2011 featuring Alex Karweit
2012 The Spell 16-04-2012 featuring Clare Stagg
Pure 28-05-2012
Fireisland 16-07-2012 with Aly & Fila
Falcons 10-09-2012 with Giuseppe Ottaviani
2013 Jewel 28-01-2013 featuring Clare Stagg
Please 15-04-2013
Love Theme from Blade Runner 23-09-2013
Slowmotion II 30-09-2013 with Orkidea
Lovers 09-12-2013 featuring Lemon
Slowmotion III 23-06-2013 with Orkidea
2014 4Ever (Retouch) 15-09-2014
2015 Nothing But Chemistry Here 02-02-2015 includes vocal sample from Breaking Bad
Shield Pt.1 27-04-2015
Once 22-06-2015 featuring Iko
Fata Morgana 23-11-2015 with Gai Barone
2016 Lost Hearts 25-04-2016
Falling (Peter Steele Mantra Mix) 20-06-2016 featuring Marcella Woods
Herald 05-09-2016
Lifeline 14-11-2016 with Ferry Tayle
2017 A State of Mind 03-03-2017
I Found You 28-04-2017 featuring Meredith Call
Leap of Faith 12-06-2017
Slowmotion IV 17-07-2017 with Orkidea
Hemispheres 18-09-2017 with John 00 Fleming
Choosing His Angels 24-11-2017 featuring Alex Karweit
Querencia 11-12-2017 with Indecent Noise
2018 Untitled Love 07-04-2018 featuring Rabbii
Thank You 27-04-2018
I Want You Here 03-08-2018 featuring Thea Riley
Motif 05-10-2018
2019 Shield Pt. I&II[11] 01-02-2018
Landmark[12] 21-06-2019 with Lostly
Sky[13] 04-10-2019
Spirit[14] 06-12-2019 with Activa
Indestructible[15] 20-12-2019 with Betsie Larkin
2020 Voyager II[16] 10-01-2020 with Robert Nickson
Slowmotion V[17] 07-02-2020 with Orkidea
Monkey Mia[18] 12-06-2020 with Future Disciple
Rust[19] 03-08-2020 with Ian Urbina
Summer Fills the Sky[20] 12-10-2020
island 16-11-2020
2021 S3000 29-01-2021
Restless 4AM
Slowmotion VI With Orkidea
When I Dream
Rediscover As 'Young Parisians'. With Katherine Amy
Ganzfeld As Solarstone Presents Ganzfeld
Equilibrium With Dreams of Wires
2022 Sovereign
Mist on the Hill With Stoneface & Terminal
Hope
2023 Vision
Felt As '892NOW' with Obie Fernandez
2024 The One With Stine Grove
A Long Way from Home With Darren Tate, Feat Julie Scott
Velvet Tread With Farius
Revelation With Evan Henzi
Evensong With Obie Fernandez
Aurora Borealis
Thinking of You
Barton Springs With Farius

Remixes

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  • 1997: Energy 52Café Del Mar
  • 1997: Chakra – Home
  • 1998: Dominion – 11 hours
  • 1999: Matt Darey – From Russia With Love
  • 2000: Moonman – Galaxia
  • 2000: Planet Perfecto – Bullet in the Gun 2000
  • 2000: Cygnus X – Orange Theme
  • 2001: Junk Project – Composure
  • 2001: Jan Johnston – Silent Words
  • 2002: Paul Oakenfold – Southern Sun
  • 2002: Conjure One - Sleep
  • 2003: Conjure One - Center of the Sun
  • 2004: Filo and Peri presents Whirlpool – Under the Sun
  • 2004: Sarah McLachlan – World on Fire
  • 2008: Radiohead – House of Cards
  • 2009: Ferry Corsten – Gabriellas Sky
  • 2012: Delerium featuring Michael Logen - Days Turn Into Nights
  • 2013: Armin Van Buuren featuring Emma Hewitt - Forever Is Ours
  • 2013: Vangelis - Love Theme from Blade Runner
  • 2015: Gai Barone - Mr. Slade
  • 2016: Markus Schulz - Facedown
  • 2016: Gai Barone - Lost in Music
  • 2017: Raz Nitzan and Moya Brennan - Find The Sun (Solarstone Remix)
  • 2017: Eco - The Lonely Soldier (Solarstone Pure Remix)
  • 2017: Future Disciple - Jinka Blue (Solarstone Pure Remix)
  • 2018: Pink Bomb - Indica (Solarstone Pure Mix)[21]
  • 2019: Duncan Laurence - Arcade[22]
  • 2020: Markus Schulz and Adina Butar - In Search of Sunrise (Solarstone Pure Mix)[23]
  • 2020: Hybrid – Nails
  • 2022: Sunscreem – Love U More
  • 2022: Sawyer, Stubbs & Ledge - Reverie
  • 2023: Emma Hewitt - Children
  • 2023: Super-Frog Saves Tokyo - Reactivate

References

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  1. ^ "Keeping It Pure: An Interview with Solarstone". Audiblechem.com. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  2. ^ Official charts, 1999-11-06
  3. ^ "About Solarstone". Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  4. ^ "Rohypnol: Lesson Plan: ACSAP - Rohypnol - 05/05/2005". 2005. doi:10.1037/e643402011-001. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. ^ "Solaris International - CueNation". Cuenation.com. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  6. ^ ". . . - - by Solarstone on Apple Music". iTunes Store. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  7. ^ "One by Solarstone on Apple Music". iTunes Store. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  8. ^ Varvel, Cassey (18 September 2020). "Solarstone takes us to his favorite Island with surprise album". EDM Identity. Archived from the original on 3 October 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  9. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 November 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. ^ "Pure Trance Albums". Pure Trance. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  11. ^ "Shield I & II - Single by Solarstone on Apple Music". iTunes Store. February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  12. ^ "Landmark - Single by Solarstone & Lostly on Apple Music". iTunes Store. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  13. ^ "Sky - Single by Solarstone on Apple Music". iTunes Store. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  14. ^ Bhanawat, Akshay (8 December 2019). "Solarstone teams up with 'Pure Trance Vol. 8's co-mixer – Activa, for 'Spirit'". The Music Essentials. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  15. ^ "Indestructible - Single by Solarstone on Apple Music". iTunes Store. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  16. ^ "Voyager II - EP by Solarstone on Apple Music". iTunes Store. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  17. ^ "Slowmotion V - Single by Solarstone on Apple Music". iTunes Store. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  18. ^ "Monkey Mia - EP by Solarstone & Future Disciple on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  19. ^ "Rust - Single by Solarstone &; Ian Urbina on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  20. ^ "Summer Fills the Sky - Single by Solarstone on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  21. ^ "Indica (Solarstone Pure Mix) by Pink Bomb on Beatport". Beatport. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  22. ^ Ramirez, Miguel (17 May 2019). "Solarstone has just dropped a remix of Duncan Laurence's emotive Eurovision entry 'Arcade'". The Trance Project. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  23. ^ "In Search of Sunrise (Solarstone Pure Mix) - Single by Markus Schulz & Adina Butar on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 1 September 2020.