Astro Raph was 12 when he began producing and DJing in 1993 in Fairfield, Iowa. Astro was inspired by a small, local electronic DJ scene that lasted about 2 years before local authorities decided to stamp it out.
Astro ran away from home to Boulder Colorado in 1996 at age 15 and landed himself hooked up with local DJ crews Mother Earth Sound System and Humble Souls. He DJ’d raves, night clubs and house parties in Boulder and Denver. Astro appeared on a compilation in 1998, Freakie People presents “Awake In The Lap Of A Dream” (going under the name ‘Yacob’). While in Boulder he also did a weekly 3 hour show on Amino internet radio, which later became Gogaga. While in Boulder, Astro had the chance to open for Mix Master Morris (aka The Irresistible Force).
In 2001 Astro moved back to Fairfield, taught electronic music production, DJ’d many events and threw parties. He also DJ’d clubs in Iowa City for a couple of years.
In 2005 Astro moved to Hawaii and hooked up with local DJ crew ‘ChillTown Maui’. Over the course of seven years of island life, Astro DJ’d every club on the island.
In 2007 Astro got signed to Black Bridge Records appearing on a compilation with Bassnectar titled “Natural Selection”. He did two more releases with them before getting signed with Cold Busted Records, his first release being a remix of Gramatik’s “Tearin’ It Up”. He held down several residencies while on Maui, some for 3-5 years, including Saturday nights at Spats (along with DJBlast), Friday Nights at Ambrosia Martini Lounge and Wednesday nights at South Shore Tiki Lounge with DJ Decka as ‘ThE A.d.D. tWinS”. He also got the chance to open for DJ Cheb I Sabah and for DJ Daniel J. 2011 saw Astro voted best DJ of the year in island newspaper ‘Maui Times Weekly’.
In August 2012 Astro Raph moved to LA, to work with his brother, Aaron Shier (Futr3, Els Boyz Electro). Astro met Andrey Surkov (Audio Diplomats) at a party and they became instant friends. Astro and Andrey later decided to start a few groups together, those being; ‘Master Bassers’ (now obsolete), ‘Sour Blues’ (now signed with ColdBusted) and ‘Business Hours’ (now signed with Dangerous Electric). 2013 also saw Astro Raph getting signed to Gravitas Records with a release in April of 2014 titled “Eternal Spirit”. It includes collaborations with Audio Diplomats and Keen Klaws, and features remixes by Wolf-e-Wolf and Soulular.
Astro Raph’s single ‘We Believe’ was released on Cold Busted’s Bust Free Compilation in July of 2013 and made it to beatports chillout charts remaining there until the beginning of November, peeking at number 16 for about two weeks. Other songs of Astro Raph’s that have charted in the past and made it to the teens, include ‘2 People’, ‘Krystian Shek - Wet Dreams (Astro Raph Remix)’ and ‘Golden Spindle’.
Astro is currently back in Iowa, assisting his mom take care of his dad who suffers multiple sclerosis. He produces for the labels at home and DJ’s every Saturday night at Gabe’s in Iowa City. Astro also runs a comical youtube show, has several interesting music videos, as well as a daily music review on this website’s blog.
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