Adrian Zagoritis

Last updated

Adrian Zagoritis
Birth nameAdrian Dimitri Andrew Zagoritis
Also known asAdrian Zag
Born (1968-09-27) 27 September 1968 (age 54)
Nairobi, Kenya
GenresPop, Electro, Progressive house
Occupation(s)Songwriter, producer
Instrument(s) Drums, Keyboards, Vocals
Years active2000 – present
Labels EMI, Universal, Sony BMG, Ministry of Sound, Mercury, Kontor, Zooland, Avex (as songwriter)

Adrian Dimitri Andrew Zagoritis [1] (born 27 September 1968) is a British songwriter and record producer, whose songs are published by Universal UK and EMI Germany. Primarily a pop dance writer working often with award-winning German electronica act York, he has also had success with Pop Idol and The X Factor winners and pop artists in Germany, Holland, Belgium, Spain, France, and Japan.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Adrian Zagoritis started life in Nairobi. Music took a back seat to sport at school in UK where he captained the Eton cricket 1st XI [2] and represented the Independent Schools Football Association (ISFA) XI as a goalkeeper against Arsenal, QPR and Chelsea youth sides in 1986.[ citation needed ]

Career

Travelling from Kenya to the UK he worked with artists Sybil, Mel Gaynor from Simple Minds and Maxi Priest. Although writing and arranging several tracks for Mel Gaynor's band 'The Fusion Project' in 1997, the album was never released as Gaynor rejoined Simple Minds for a world tour instead. [3]

Songwriting and production – 2000 to 2007

Zagoritis settled in the UK in the new millennium fully committed to a musical career. Collaborations with writers Geoffrey Williams, Rob Harris and Matt Johnson, both of Jamiroquai saw releases spawned with South African Popstars winners Jamali and Greek Popstars winners Hi-5. Hi-5 turned two Zagoritis singles 'M’ena Fili' and 'Gennithika Ksana' into Top 10 hits, the latter peaking at No. 5. Both albums achieved platinum status and Gennithika Ksana was nominated for an Arion award.

In 2004 Zagoritis began working with Torsten Stenzel, one half of the electronica act York whose second single, "On The Beach", which sampled Chris Rea's song of the same name, reached No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart in June 2000.

One of the first of many releases of this partnership was the club hit "Iceflowers" which was supported by Judge Jules and Paul van Dyk. Zagoritis and Stenzel wrote several tracks for the EMI-released York album Peace which also contained their often-remixed song "Mercury Rising".

In 2005, Dutch singer EliZe released his song "Automatic" which charted in the Top 10 in several countries. He also co-wrote a song following Liverpool F.C.'s penalty shootout win in the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League final, performed by The Trophy Boyz. [4]

Mainstream pop releases followed in 2006 with Holland's EMI act ROOOM charting with a Zagoritis/Geoffrey Williams single named "First Thing", reaching No. 33.

In 2007 Germany's Popstars winners No Angels, and DSDS (Germany's X-factor equivalent) runner-up Linda Teodosiu (Sony), also chose his songs: "The Rhythm Of My Heart" was included on the former's album called Destiny which reached No. 4 in the UK Albums Chart. [5]

2007 – 2010

Nightwish ex-lead singer Tarja Turunen included several Zag songs for her debut solo album My Winter Storm . Turunen had split acrimoniously from her band and her album contained many veiled references to these experiences, as well as a brooding darkness. Zagoritis's "Damned And Divine", "The Reign" and "Sunset" reflect this mood and demonstrated further ability away from mainstream pop or dance music. My Winter Storm took the No. 1 spot on the Finnish charts, and went platinum in Finland and double platinum in Russia, as well as reaching gold status in Germany, Hungary, and Switzerland. It reached No. 3 in Germany. In late 2007, Turunen was nominated for an Echo as best newcomer and an Emma for best Finnish artist.

On Turunen's next album, What Lies Beneath , a title track composed by Zagoritis, Stenzel and Heldmann, he contributed "Naiad" [6] which he also wrote with Tarja. The album reached No. 4 in Germany and charted in eight other countries.

As a melodician and lyricist his style naturally gravitates to pop music and so a return to such projects followed with several releases for Natalia, Idol star in Belgium. The Zagoritis song "Soul Divided" written with Madonna writer Greg Fitzgerald was released along with two other of his tunes on Natalia's 2009 album, Wise Girl . which reached No. 1 [7] for two weeks. The album achieved platinum status.

"Soul Divided" was also covered in Japanese by Avex-signed artist Mihiro in 2010, renamed "Weekend". [8]

Universal Germany artist Mihalis took eight Zagoritis lyrics for his album recorded in 2009, simply named Mihalis . Seven of the songs were translations of his past Greek hits. One original song, "Favourite Mistake", was written by Zagoritis and Grammy and Ivor Novello award-winner Rob Davis.

Progressive house projects continued in 2009 tracks with "Tears on My Skin", [9] also written with Davis and released on several albums including top-seller Dream Dance, and Free The Night signed by renowned A+R Eddie O' Loughlin to his Next Plateau label, distributed by Universal. Free The Night was well received[ by whom? ] but failed to chart.

Edurne the Spanish pop singer released "Tan Artificial" written by Zagoritis on Nueva Piel, a Sony BMG album that reached No. 16 [10] in March 2010.

Current

Kate Ryan, Robbins Entertainment World Music Award winner releases her album, Electroshock in March 2012, the title track written by Zagoritis. It also contains his song "Walk to the Beat" penned with Jukka Immonen.

Zagoritis and Stenzel still work on songs for the latter's act York. "If Only I" was another collaboration which will also include featured vocals from Danish songstress Tanja Thulau from Danish electronica act Luke.

Armada Music, record label of DJ Armin van Buuren released Zag's co-written singles "Top of the Universe" and "Breaking The Rules" in 2013. Also in 2013 in the mainstream pop world Baptiste Giabiconi had a No.1 hit in France with the song "One Night In Paradise", co-written by Zagoritis and others. Giabiconi is a male model who had been discovered by Karl Lagerfeld.

In 2015, "Million Miles" co-written by Zagoritis and Funkstar De Luxe was released in January by Lifted House/CO2 Records and reached No. 8 in the British Dance Chart in April, spending 10 consecutive weeks in the Top 20. The song features vocals by Geoffrey Williams who wrote Michael Jackson's "Whatever Happens". Funkstar De Luxe is renowned for his hit single "'Sun Is Shining' (Bob Marley vs Funkstar De Luxe)" which reached No. 3 in the UK and No. 1 in the U.S Billboard chart.

In 2017, Zagoritis and Funkstar formed a new group 'Mr. Anderson', a retro 1980s funk/RnB act featuring Xantoné Blacq, keyboardist and vocalist from Amy Winehouse. The debut Mr. Anderson single "Cinderella" was released in early 2018.

Film and television work

His songs have appeared in several films, including the 2009 film Fire starring Gary Dourdan, South Park the 2010 movie Burning Palms directed by Christopher Landon starring Rosamunde Pike, and in the film Electric. His song "Sleepwalking" appears in the 2014 US-released movie The Right Kind of Wrong and "Unbreakable", co-written with Geoffrey Williams features in a pivotal scene of the 2016 film Showing Roots, starring Elizabeth McGovern.

Discography (selected)

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008 Naughty – AfricanTwins (EMI/Offshore)

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

Charts and awards

Releases shown with chart position/territory/certification (where applicable)

YearTitleChart PositionsCertification
GER AUT SWI GR NL FI PL FR JP RU HU CZE BE IT NO UK ES
2003Hi-5 – M'ena Fili12Gold (GR)
2003Hi-5 – A Night Like This3Gold (GR)
2004Hi-5 – Born Again5Gold (GR)
2005EliZe – Automatic63711156718
2005Martina Balogova – Gonna Give You Something1
2006ROOOM – First Thing33
2007Cassis – Love Automatic51
2007Tarja Turunen – My Winter Storm3111511836Gold (GER, SWI, CZE, HU) Platinum (FI, RU)
2007No Angels – Destiny41422
2008Room 2012 – First Thing102022
2009Natalia – Wise Girl1Platinum (BE)
2010Edurne – Tan Artificial16
2010Tarja Turunen – What Lies Beneath412111471461
2012Kate Ryan – Electroshock6
2012Baptiste – One Night in Paradise1Platinum (FR)
2013Sweetbox – So I'm Beautiful4
2015Funkstar Deluxe – Million Miles11298
2016York – Moving In The Shadows2
2017Funkstar Deluxe – Super Disco5

Related Research Articles

<i>Over the Hills and Far Away</i> (EP) 2001 EP by Nightwish

Over the Hills and Far Away is the first EP by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released on 25 June 2001 through Spinefarm Records in Finland, and Drakkar Records in the rest of Europe. It was also released by Toy's Factory in Japan and Century Media Records in the US. Bassist Sami Vänskä left the band after its recording, due to musical differences between him and Tuomas Holopainen. He was replaced by the bassist and male vocalist, Marko Hietala.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tarja Turunen</span> Finnish singer

Tarja Soile Susanna Turunen-Cabuli, known professionally as Tarja Turunen or simply Tarja, is a Finnish heavy metal singer, best known as the former lead vocalist of Nightwish. She is a soprano with a three and a half octave range.

Funkstar De Luxe is a Danish house producer and remixer. He is best known for his million-selling reworking of Bob Marley's "Sun Is Shining".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sun Is Shining (Bob Marley and the Wailers song)</span> 1971 song by Bob Marley and the Wailers

"Sun Is Shining" is a song by Jamaican reggae band Bob Marley & the Wailers, first appearing on the Lee Perry-produced album Soul Revolution Part II in 1971, and then on African Herbsman in 1973. Marley later re-recorded the song for his 1978 album Kaya. In 1999, a remix by "Bob Marley vs. Funkstar De Luxe" reached number one on the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart and number three on the UK Singles Chart.

Hi-5 was a Greek pop girl group formed in Athens in 2003 through the Greek version of the reality TV show Popstars. The group consisted of Marlain Angelides, Frosso Papacharalambous, Nancy Stergiopoulou, Irini Psixrami and Shaya. The band had a large fanbase in Greece and Cyprus. They disbanded in March 2005.

York is a German electronic music duo, founded in 1997 by musicians and brothers Torsten and Jörg Stenzel. Producing ambient, downtempo, chillout, house and trance, their productions are known for catchy guitar hooks, atmospheric soundscapes and delicate dance textures.

<i>Henkäys ikuisuudesta</i> 2006 studio album by Tarja

Henkäys Ikuisuudesta is the first solo album by Finnish singer Tarja Turunen, and focuses on the Christmas holiday season. On November 26, 2010, Nuclear Blast released a re-mastered version of the CD, bringing a new artwork and a semi-new track list, with "Heinillä Härkien" replacing "Happy New Year" and "Maa On Niin Kaunis" replacing "Happy Christmas "; the new edition also contains the previously unpublished track "Arkihuolesi Kaikki Heitä", which replaced "The Eyes of a Child".

<i>My Winter Storm</i> 2007 studio album by Tarja Turunen

My Winter Storm is the second solo album by Finnish singer Tarja Turunen, and the first to consist mainly of new and original songs specifically written by or for Turunen. The album was released by Universal Music on 19 November 2007 in Finland, on 2 January 2008 in South America and on February 26 in North America and in the United Kingdom was also released a special version limited in 300 copies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Walk Alone (Tarja song)</span> 2007 single by Tarja

"I Walk Alone" is the first single from the album My Winter Storm by Finnish vocalist Tarja. The single was released on October 26, 2007 through Universal Music label.

Michelle Leonard is a German / British singer and songwriter, now based in Berlin. Leonard has written and co-written multiple songs, both singles and for albums, that have achieved gold and platinum status. Leonard is known internationally for her work with AURORA and Paul van Dyk, as well as for her collaboration with Robin Schulz. As a songwriter, Leonard is currently signed to Budde Music Publishing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chisu</span> Musical artist

Christel Martina Roosberg, known by her stage name Chisu, is a Finnish pop artist, songwriter, and producer. She wrote her first single, "Mun koti ei oo täällä", to the soundtrack of the 2007 film Sooloilua. The song was a hit in Finland in early 2008, peaking at number one on both the Singles Chart and the Downloads Chart and spending seven and nine weeks atop, respectively. She released her second album Vapaa ja yksin in 2009. Her third album, Kun valaistun, was released in 2011 through Warner Music Finland. Another version of the album, Kun valaistun 2.0, was released in 2012. Her fourth album, Polaris, was released in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tarja Turunen discography</span>

The discography of Finnish symphonic metal singer Tarja Turunen, consists of eight studio albums, one compilation album, four extended plays, fifty six singles and forty music videos.

<i>What Lies Beneath</i> (Tarja album) 2010 studio album by Tarja

What Lies Beneath is the third album by the Finnish singer Tarja Turunen, which was released on 1 September 2010 in Finland, on 3 September in Germany, Switzerland and Austria and on 14 September in Latin and North America. It is the first of Tarja's albums in which she is credited for composition on every track. The album was mixed at '62 Studios in Austin Texas by Tim Palmer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Feel Immortal</span> 2010 single by Tarja ft. Jason Hook

"I Feel Immortal" is a song by Finnish singer-songwriter Tarja, featuring Canadian guitarist Jason Hook. It was written by Tarja, Toby Gad, Kerli Kõiv, and Lindy Robbins, and was produced by Tarja and "Mic". It was released as the second single from her second album What Lies Beneath on 27 August 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torsten Stenzel</span> German music producer

Torsten Stenzel is a German music producer and composer. Classically trained from an early age his roots are within the field of Electronic Dance Music. His interest for music first started at age five when he received piano lessons by academic piano teacher Andre Terebesi.

<i>Tubular Beats</i> 2013 remix album by York and Mike Oldfield

Tubular Beats is a remix album containing collaborations between Mike Oldfield and York, that was released on 1 February 2013. Unlike previous club mixes, the album is a true two-sided collaboration between Oldfield and Stenzel, making use of parts from the original multitrack tapes as well as new parts played by Oldfield. Tarja Turunen appears on the track "Never Too Far".

<i>Colours in the Dark</i> (album) 2013 studio album by Tarja Turunen

Colours in the Dark is the fourth studio album released by Finnish vocalist Tarja Turunen. The record was released on 30 August 2013, in Austria, Brazil, Finland, Germany, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland; 2 September in Norway, Poland, and the Czech Republic; 3 September in the United States and Canada; and 4 September in Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the UK. Mixing was done by Tim Palmer in Austin, Texas in the United States. Tarja started the Colours in the Dark World Tour on 17 October 2013, to promote the album. The name of the album, as the cover image, came as a metaphor from the idea that life has a large range of colors and the dark absorbs all of them, containing every color.

<i>The Shadow Self</i> 2016 studio album by Tarja

The Shadow Self is the sixth studio album released by Finnish vocalist Tarja Turunen. The record was released on 5 August 2016. The record produced two singles.

<i>The Brightest Void</i> 2016 EP by Tarja

The Brightest Void is the third EP by Finnish rock and metal soprano vocalist Tarja Turunen. It serves as a prequel to the main album The Shadow Self. It was released on the 3 June 2016 and contains 9 tracks.

<i>From Spirits and Ghosts (Score for a Dark Christmas)</i> 2017 studio album by Tarja

From Spirits and Ghosts (Score for a Dark Christmas) is the second classical and Christmas album, and the seventh studio album released by the Finnish soprano Tarja Turunen.

References

  1. Adrian Zag online biography., Discogs.com
  2. Cricket Archive Eton College v Harrow School.
  3. "Mel Gaynor's Risk + Through Infinity @ Roadmender, Northampton". Eventbrite. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  4. Get down to the Jersey beat on BBC Sport.
  5. Album Destiny by No Angels with chartpositions, M.acharts.us
  6. The Album "What Lies Beneath" by Tarja Turunen on AllMusic
  7. Album "Wise Girl" by Natalia, chartpositions.
  8. Weekend by Mihiro on artists utamap.
  9. "Tears On My Skin" on AllMusic
  10. Tan Artificial by Edurne on acharts