From the desert heat of his country of origin to
the winter rigours of Canada, Sultan has travelled a road quite out of
the ordinary. After living in Kuwait, Cyprus and Egypt, Sultan moved to
Montreal, Canada in 1996 to pursue an education in Mechanical
Engineering and Business. Inspired by the vitality of the nightlife and
his passion for music, he quickly immersed himself into the house scene
of his adoptive city. Little by little, his interest for structures
irrepressibly shifted from engineering to music.
In 2000, his reputation took root in solid ground when Montreal’s Mix
96 radio station assigned him the 12-3 a.m. slot every Sunday night.
And In July that same year, Sultan became the weekly Level resident at
club Living, opening and playing alongside such DJs as Deep Dish,
Sander Kleinenberg, Danny Howells, Saeed and Palash, Max Graham, Nick
Warren, Lee Burridge and many more.
Following his graduation from university in the summer of 2001, and in
the wake of his DJ success as resident at the internationally renowned
Stereo and Sona after hours, Sultan created his own studio in order to
unleash his talent as a producer. Once again, the results were
tremendous. His first-ever production, "Primal Instinct” was signed to
Chug Records that same year and garnered much appraise. The door had
opened and with great enthusiasm Sultan quickly establishes himself as
one of the most innovative and respectable producers in the
house/progressive scene. With releases on various labels including Deep
Dish’s Yoshitoshi label and John Digweed's Bedrock Breaks Label, Sultan
now has more than 70 titles under his belt with releases under the
aliases of Soul Tan and Jiva (Sultan and Ned Shepard), as well as
numerous collaborations with Tone Depth (The Greek), TommyBoy, DJ
Tarkan and Ned Shepard.
In 2003, international recognition became imminent whereas four of
Sultan’s productions (including a remix) were featured on “Global
Underground 25: Toronto” mixed by Deep Dish, which made its way to
number one on the Billboard Dance Album Charts. In 2004 Sultan began to
make his mark on the international music scene playing over thirty
international tour dates across North America, Europe, Asia and Africa
while maintaining a solid consistency in his productions and remixes.
2005 and 2006 have seen Sultan rise to the next level with more
compilation appearances including Tiesto’s “In Search of Sunrise 4”,
Dave Seaman’s “Renaissance-Masters Series Vol. 7”, Deep Dish’s “George
Is On” which features “Deep Dish vs Dire Straits – Flashing for
Money”(Sultan Club/Radio Mix), hailed as being the worlds first ever
legally cleared mash up/remix garnering praise from the electronic
dance scene as well as rock legends Dire Straits. And most recently
“Global Underground 29: Dubai” mixed by Sharam which features three of
his productions including Sultan & Ned Shepard’s latest releases
“Connected” and “Together We Rise” on Shinichi Records.
In September of 2006 Sultan joined world class DJ agency, Bullitt
Bookings. With tour dates in cities across the World, Sultan has proven
to be one of the most exciting and technically sound performers in the
DJ scene today.
In early 2007, Sultan began working closely with good friend Nadia Ali
(Former singer of IIO). The two, alongside Ned Shepard, spent the month
of January co-writing and co-producing songs for Nadia Ali’s
forthcoming solo Album to be released later this year. Recently both
Sultan and Ned Shepard have joined Nadia on tour with Sultan playing
guitars and Ned playing keyboards for her Live Show.
Keep an eye out for Sultan’s monthly radio show “Connected Live” the
last Monday of every month on DI.FM and check out Sultan’s schedule as
he embarks on a world tour to promote his first solo compilation
“Yoshitoshi: Montreal”, the latest volume in a popular CD series to
come from legendary dance music label Yoshitoshi Recordings.
