Rob Paine
Rob Paine’s passion for music runs deep. From the moment he fell in love with music as a youth, he knew what his life’s journey would be, to bring people together through music. That passion has provided the foundation for a diverse and eclectic musical immersion ever since. He has been on a rapid rise from bedroom mix tapes to underground events to DJing internationally since he started out in 1993. He, along with his Circle Production crew (Kevin Gimble, Keith Landis, and Sean Thomas), created and curated some of the most epic raves & club nights in Philadelphia throughout the 90’s. In parallel, he began to flex his music theory education from Temple University and production expertise by creating a broad range of songs across a myriad of genres such as house, techno, reggae, broken beat, dub, and down-tempo.
Rob formed WORSHIP RECORDINGS in 1998 alongside partners Dan Thompson and Zack Eberz, focusing on the dub aspect of house & techno and weaving in the techniques used by King Tubby & Lee ’Scratch’ Perry into modern dance music. During that time, he and Zack began using the SOLOMONIC SOUND name for their productions and as a vehicle for releasing their dub-influenced house and techno tracks on Worship, as well as running a traditional reggae sound system under the same moniker. (Please see Solomonic Sound’s full bio for all if his work with in the reggae community.)
Worship Recordings has had the pleasure of releasing music by a heap of talented & successful top-billed producers from likes of Garth & Eric James, King Britt, Håkan Lidbo, Jay Tripwire, Pete Moss, Grant Dell, Universal Agents, Adam Tenenbaum (Nectar, Succulent aliases), Joey Youngman aka Wolfgang Gartner (Frequent Flyer alias), Gary Beck, Hipp-e, Rithma, Seinan, Rootz Underground, Army Of One & Rick Preston.
Rob also released as a solo artist and collaborated with Wamdue Kids’ Chris Udoh for early Worship releases. Now, with his passion reinforced by the labels’ success and critical industry acclaim, Rob’s unique sounds were soon being released on labels such as Large, Tango, Shaboom, and Grayhound to underground and commercial success. In addition, his productions were also licensed to labels such as Bedrock, Fabric, and NRK as part of compilations.
During this time, another canvas was unveiled as a tapestry to showcase the Worship Recordings productions and artists: the SHAKEDOWN parties. Rob, Willyum (Will Putney), and Zack Eberz launched the monthly Shakedown event in October of 2001 and they are still going strong today 23 years later. Evidence that music – done right - is enduring. Rob’s events always feature incredible sound via the “Solomonic Sound System” that he and his crew developed and have fine-tuned to audiophile quality for discerning DJs and dancers. That same uniqueness and quality is evident in his custom-designed studio, which is instantly apparent when you hear Rob’s production and remix work.
The world has been the recipient of Rob’s talents through his performances all across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, Japan and London in iconic clubs/parties such as Fabric, PS1, Wicked and Deep Space. Rob has also held down residencies in New York, Washington D.C., San Francisco, and Miami, and has played at festivals such as the massive Shambhala & Soundwave festivals in British Columbia. In 2012, Rob and Francisco Collazo established ‘goodie’… a series of special monthly underground events highlighting the facets of house & techno while hosting local and international talent.
Collaborations, productions, remixes, and releases continue to abound for Rob on labels such as Worship Recordings, LeftRoom, I Recordings, Om Recordings, Hallucienda, Yoruba, Doin’ Work, Dubwise, ZamZam Sounds, Kaato and on compilations like one done by Maceo Plex in 2013. He has done remixes for Miguel Migs featuring Capleton, Fort Knox Five, Razoof and Mike Steva just to name a few. Releases under the CIRCLE moniker with partner Keith Landis, a RISE 8 collaboration with Gerhardt Koerner, and through his HEIGHTS & WORSHIP (with Ras Heights) and RMP (with Matpat) aliases… are making chart waves worldwide.
Rob has also worked extensively & consistently with legendary vocalist, fellow Philadelphian and most of all ‘sister for life’ Lady Alma over the past 25 years. On productions like “This Is The Life” & “Love Right Now” with Joey Crawford on Worship or “All The Way Far Away” with David Marston on BBE. He has also been her ‘go to’ engineer for most of her songs for hits like “It’s House Music” for Osunlade, “A Time & A Place” for Ralf Gum, “Make You Move” for Low Steppa & Terry Hunter, “Call Him” for Phil Asher and “Merry Christmas Baby” with Jordan Mailata for the Philadelphia Eagles album ‘A Philly Special Christmas’. Other honorable collaboration mentions are with Rich Medina on “Philadelphia”, Hipp-e on “Dem A Come” on Worship & “New Beginnings” on Large Recordings, Hollis P. Monroe with "Feeling Good” & Sean O’Neil (rip)’aka Someone Else’ on “Blazin” & “High Grade Roll featuring El Feco B”.
Rob is currently holding down a weekly Wednesday night residency at Philly’s newest upscale club, Vinyl, which has been going strong for the past year, bringing in weekly guest DJ’s from Philly, NYC & other surrounding cities every week. You can also find him every second Saturday for the Shakedown event, every 4th Saturday for goodie plus random one off events at various venues through out Philadelphia. He slowed his touring down after his third child was born to stay closer to his family, but you can still catch him on the road once or twice a month.
With his musical roots, proven success as a label owner / producer / DJ / event creator, and with his innovative approach to melding electronic dance music, Rob Paine is one of the music icons in the City of Brotherly & Sisterly Love and across the world. His commitment to the city and the world’s music lovers is unwavering, and his unique and diverse vision will ensure his success and our enjoyment far into the future.
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RELEASES
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rob paine ‘let it ring’ – vurt audio 1998
rob paine ‘christian street princess ep’ – worship 1998
solomonic sound ‘beating heart’ – worship 1999
kidz on christian street ‘hooked on satisfaction’ – worship 1999
rob paine ‘never can say goodbye’ – grayhound 1999
solomonic sound ‘night life’ – worship 1999
rob paine presents ‘divine conception’ – worship 2000
solomonic sound ‘come fi mash it’ – worship 2000
solomonic sound ‘remember garnett’ – tango 2001
stick & move ‘the sound’ – fiji 2001
solomonic sound ‘children of israel’ – worship/shaboom 2002
rob paine ‘blessed jah’ – sunday best-UK & white 2002
rob paine + willyum feat lady alma ‘no reply at all’ white 2002
rob paine + hollis p. monroe ‘feelin good’ – white 2002
rob paine ‘excerpts from the past’ – deep explorer 2004
trinity all-star’s ‘dem a come ep’ – worship 2004
hippe + rob paine ‘new beginnings’ – large 2005
rob paine ‘rock it’ – jah love 2005
rob paine feat don abi ‘a little bit of faith’ – suna bar 2007
rob paine feat lady alma ‘this is the life’ – worship 2007
rob paine + willyum feat bohiti ‘time’ – worship 2007
rob paine + someone else ‘blazin’ – worship 2011
rob paine + charles lazarus ‘ho’s & bro’s’ – worship 2012
rob paine + charles lazarus feat rootz underground ‘enlighten me’ – worship 2012
circle ‘deep breathe’ – worship 2012
rob paine + neil kurland ‘foundation’ – worship 2012
circle ‘music & emotion’ – worship 2012
circle feat rise 8 ‘what you see/control’ – leftroom limited 2013
heights + worship ‘teach den’ – zamzam sounds 2014
circle ‘dark waves ep’ – worship 2014
rmp ‘shashamane’ – i records 2014
heights + worship ‘teach dem’ – worship 2015
circle feat rise 8 ‘gone too deep’ – worship 2015
heights + worship ‘crucify me’ – zamzam sounds 2015
rob paine + someone else feat el feco 'high grade roll' – worship 2016
rob paine, alex burkat 'herbman' – worship 2017
tanner ross, rob paine 'number one' – worship 2018
rob paine, heights 'in the dub tonight' – worship 2019
lady alma, david marston, rob paine 'all the way far away' – bbe. 2020
rob paine, keith landis 'worship dubplate' – worship 2021
ben arsenal + rob paine 'police in the streets' – worship 2022
rob paine, heights 'selasie's song' – worship. 2022
rich medina, rob paine, heights 'philadelphia' – worship 2022
lady alma, joey crawford, rob paine 'love right now' – worship 2023
3three3 'psalms' – worship 2024
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REMIXES
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dj decent ‘where you at (rob paine remix)’ – stickmen 1998
rocket ‘standyby (solomonic remix)’ – worship 1999
håkan lidbo ‘trinity (solomonic remix)’ – worship 2000
nectar ‘bloodgrass (divine conception remix)’ – worship 2001
universal agents ‘lemon pie (solomonic agents remix)’ – worship 2001
succulent ‘freshly (solomonic remix)’ – worship 2002
tigerhook vs solomonic ‘third eye (solomonic i remix)’ – worship 2002
trey smith ‘freaks of space (rob paine remix)’ primal 2002
flowchart ‘broken and blue (rob paine remix)’ – warmth 2003
systemwide ‘people of the book (rob paine remix)’ – BSI 2003
jeff bennett ‘nudging the dub (solomonic remix)’ – worship 2003
army of one ‘solomonic’s revelation’ – worship 2004
michael devellis ‘funkalicious (rob paine remix)’ – citrona 2005
moqito ‘it comes to me (rob paine + willyum full up remix)’ – shakedown 2006
razoof feat lady alma ‘i just want to thank god (rob paine remix)’ – world club music 2007
fort knox five ‘not gonna take it (rob paine remix)’ – fort knox 2009
miguel migs feat capleton ‘the system (rob paine remix)’ – om 2012
empresarios ‘volume (rob paine remix)’ – fort knox 2012
dub campaign ‘live for today (solomonic/rob paine remix)’ – dub campaign 2013
prowler ‘automagically (rob paine + someone else remix)’ – natural rhythm 2013
alexander aural ‘the brother’s (someone else + rob paine remix)’ – frequenza 2013
razoof feat lutan fyah ‘you say this (heights + worship remix)’ – poets club 2014
thomas blondet ‘savo vado (heights + worship remix)’ – rhythm & culture 2014
someone else 'one more situation (rob paine's shituation remix)' -- kaato music 2017
mike steva 'freedom (rob paine remix)' -- yoruba 2017
andrey slam, miss n, timur 'what you want (rob paine & willyum's shakedown remix)' -- leftroom 2019
i yahn i arkestra 'dreadlocks tree (rob paine remix) -- worship 2019
jon delerious 'sound box (hipp-e + rob paine remix)' -- worship 2023
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LP’s / MIXED COMPILATIONS
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wor.cd.01 mixed by rob paine – worship 2002
solomonic sound ‘neva dead, the dj collection’ – worship 2009
ROB PAINE RELEASES