Montreal producer Miguel Graça (pronounced “grass-a”) has been turning heads for years with his unique production and Djing style. But Miguel Graça is no overnight success…
As a choirboy in his native Portugal, Miguel discovered his musical talent at an early age and explored it by studying the guitar and developing his vocal skills. His passion for music has turned into a lifelong pursuit. Whether producing, remixing, DJing or selling records, Miguel has been involved with the recording industry for over a decade.
After playing in a band in the 80s Miguel began producing his own material. In 1991, he produced his first club hit: “There 4 U” by M.G. Feat. Stephenson. It was awarded the supreme sign of recognition from the scene at the time by being bootlegged in New York City. “There 4 U” charted heavily in the U.K., played on regular rotation on Kiss 100 FM.
Over the next 6 years Graça and legendary DJ/Producer Robert Ouimet, his production partner, shared a studio and ran Front Productions. They released many internationally acclaimed house tracks together and developed a solid following for their Red Light moniker. Highlights of their prolific discography include “Who Needs Enemies", “The Dance”, “Keep it Open” and “Thankful” Feat. David Gordon, all on Hi-Bias Records. “Thankful” went on to win the 1994 JUNO Award (the Canadian national music award) for best original dance recording.
Miguel recorded under several other aliases before releasing his first track under his own name, “Up to the Sky” on Ferox in 1997. He also remixed “Voices in my Mind” by Masters at Work and Jestofunk’s classic “Can We Live”. Recently, Miguel has remixed tracks such as Solders of Twilight “Take you there”, Rise Ashen “Second Wind”, Bet.e and Steph ”Day by Day”, Brandy “The way you move” Cuidade Feliz “Airport” Llorca’s “Indigo Blues” for the respected label F-Com and his remix of KemeticJust’s “See the Light” (Bombay) was a deep hit at the 2001 WMC in Miami. As well, his spooky-dub remix of Roy Davis Jr.’s “Watch Them Come” made heads all over the world say, “What the?”…And turn up the volume. Many of his tracks have been licensed around the world, including “Rollin’” to a Radio Nova compilation, “Realize” to Amalgamations of Sound, and “Latin Soul” (Guidance) to a variety of compilations.
Miguel’s first full-length album with Bombay, “Shining Stars” (released summer 2000) was a collaboration with various Montreal musicians and vocalists. A garage/house classic from start to finish, three 12-inch singles were released from the album on Bombay, including the international club hits “Pineapple” and “Speak My Mind,” which features a Johnny Fiasco remix. A video for “Speak My Mind” was produced, shot in 35mm at Montreal’s infamous Stereo after-hours, and the track found a home on dance floors and charts around the world. His 2nd “Monkey Mass” album was a gathering of old and new songs of the last 8 years released in 2002, the latest album released on Trigger recording in October 2004 is Cravo e Canela – Free Radical (Miguel Graça & Trevor Walker) an exploration in to dance and world music and the first to be released on “iTunes” autumn 2005. In 2006 Miguel releases his 2nd release on iTunes “A part of us” featuring various collaborations on previously released pieces that are more in the tech house side of things.
Miguel has toured as a DJ in North America and Europe - he played for Respect is Burning at various European venues, a Radio Nova showcase in Paris, and other club dates. In April 2002 he embarked on his first tour of Australia and New Zealand, followed by North America and Europe in support of “Monkey Mass.” In the summer of 2002 Miguel was featured in two of the top electronic music magazines in the world, XLR8R from the U.S. and Trax from France, both of which included some of his music on their cover-mount CDs.
Somehow, Miguel finds time to maintain a grueling studio schedule, he has just finished his new solo album “A New Dawn” on Trigger, has put a band together to support the project and is working on various projects for diffrent labels and holding two residencies in Montreal, while gigging around the world at clubs such as Twilo (N.Y.), Mad Bar (Chicago), OstGut (Berlin), Pulp (Bruseles), BateauFare (Paris), Garage (Lisbon) and many more.
Bookings and press inquiries are available through Shane Carson at: 514.229.8872 / parliamententertainment@gmail.com