With the arrival of his long-awaited debut disc GET WILD, on Ultra Records, revered electronic music trendsetter SHARAM makes his boldest studio statement yet. Counting superstar collaborations with everyone from Kid Cudi and Tommy Lee to Diddy and Daniel Bedingfield, SHARAM’s ability to draw such a vast talent pool is as impressive as his longstanding reputation for mesmerizing club crowds from Miami to Ibiza. “I always believe in moving forward,” says SHARAM, known to many as one-half of the now-on-hiatus Grammy Award winning duo DEEP DISH. “Whether it’s the way I DJ or remix songs to the way I produce, there has to be a constant forward motion. This album was no different. That philosophy--to do something different without losing sight of what I’m known for--is what makes Get Wild what it is. People are always looking for something new from me and I pride myself on pushing the boundaries of dance music and taking my fans on an entertaining musical ride” The 22 solely produced tracks on Get Wild span the full spectrum of dance music. Take the disc’s landmark “She Came Along,” which meshes elements of Patsy Cline’s legendary country song “Strange” with vocals by hip-hop sensation Kid Cudi, recently heard on Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreak. The end result is a masterpiece already being hailed as one of the most uniquely infectious songs of 2009. “I’ve always been a huge, huge Patsy Cline fan,” the Washington D.C.-based SHARAM says of the single. “She’s one of a kind. I had the idea to sample her for three years but I was looking to find someone who could match her. After trying different artists Cudi just nailed it, putting a really cool and interesting twist on it. He’s an unusually diverse and talented artist, because he’s very much a hip-hop fixture, but he understands dance music and is willing to try different things, plus he has an amazing voice. It’s a great contrast with Patsy Cline. His singing style and delivery was just perfect.” Elsewhere there’s the equally memorable dancefloor opus “Sweat” which incorporates Tommy Lee’s piano wizardry. “A lot of people don’t realize he’s a full-on musician. He’s more than just this hard-partying drummer,” says SHARAM. “Tommy’s an amazing talent who has been unfairly pigeonholed and his work on that track is nothing short of beautiful.” The same should be said of SHARAM’s uplifting work with longtime associate Anousheh Khalil, a veteran of several Deep Dish classics who takes two breathtaking vocal turns on Get Wild with “Don’t Say A Word” and “Be The Change.” “She’s one of the most talented singer/songwriters in existence,” SHARAM explains. “Her vocal parts always transcend whatever I’m creating, making her a natural choice.” SHARAM says the same of his work with Morel who contributes to “I Love The Way (That You’re Breaking My Heart”). “He’s probably one of the best songwriters of all time,” the producer/artist says simply. “I feel like I can express myself better with him around.” Of course let’s not forget that SHARAM is at the core of all that bears his name and his broad creative scope has earned him a number of international Top 20 hits, like “PATT (Party All The Time)” which was in the UK Top 10 for three straight weeks, the Top 20 for eight weeks and the Top 40 for a total of 16 weeks, followed with “The One”--featuring U.K. pop fixture Daniel Bedingfield--that went on to capture the Top 20 spot in many European markets. “I get inspired by my environment and I always get hung up on songs and hooks,” SHARAM reveals. “I don’t look at things as cross-over or underground. I don’t play that closed-minded game. I come with an idea and see it through, where it lands is totally up to the DJs and the fans.” Sometimes those ideas become underground hits like “Texi” and “Crazi.” taking Ibiza clubs by storm, and sometimes they become international chart toppers like “PATT” and “The One.” Add to this already strong resume his three Top 20 hits with Deep Dish from their George Is On album and you have one of the only DJ/Producers in the world that can navigate seamlessly between the nocturnal world of the underground dance floors and the cross-over radio hits. Most dream of achieving one, SHARAM continues to nail both. “My goal is to make dance music as relevant as any other format of music on a broader scale. As of now dance music is the bastard child of the music industry that gets no love in the national forum, while all the top hip-hop and rock producers are drawing inspiration and ideas from it. I intend to play a big part in changing that.” Always unpredictable, SHARAM will never conform to anything other than his own high standards. One can’t help but to wonder what he is going to come up with next, like adding the vocal wares of the iconic superstar Diddy to his smash hit “PATT” exclusively for the Get Wild album. “He’s a big dance music enthusiast,” adds SHARAM about the collaboration. “‘PATT’ was blowing up and he really wanted to update it with his lyrics. He went into the studio and did his thing. I kept the lid on his vocal and saved it for the album. I’m glad the album is out now, because I couldn’t handle people asking me for it anymore.” If it isn’t apparent on a track by track basis, Get Wild as a whole is underpinned by a Western theme. From the atmospheric bookends of “The Wild Theme” and “Once Upon A Time In The West” to the aforementioned “She Came Along,” to the extraordinary artwork--which finds the multi-faceted SHARAM fiercely dressed in outlaw cowboy gear and clutching a smoking pistol--the project has a keen presence “That’s taken at the Melody Ranch in L.A.,” SHARAM says of the cover art. “It’s a set for a lot of Western Movies and recently “Deadwood”. The whole concept of Get Wild was a take on Spaghetti Westerns, especially those pioneered by Sergio Leone, where everything is super dramatic, sometimes very slow, over the top and extremely cool. I grew up on those movies so the song titles and the photo shoot and the videos for the title track and “She Came Along” have that Western theme. I’ll be incorporating the videos and western themed visuals into my live shows. It’s really fun because I was really fond of those movies in my childhood and now I get to have fun with them in my shows.” If Get Wild’s visual imagery is extremely distinct, it’s a perfect match for SHARAM, who always aspires to evolve creatively and strengthen dance music’s reputation. “I don’t play the trendy game,” he insists. “I don’t care about what’s cool or hot today versus what was the thing to like yesterday. I look for quality. First and foremost I’m a music fan and not one genre. The people I’ve chosen to work with on this album all represent quality in their own right, and they’re all innovators in their own worlds. I wanted to align myself with people like that.” “I feel like dance music as a whole can be so close-minded and so stagnant at times that it’s dying for new things,” he continues. “I’m not afraid to look to pop, hip-hop, country and beyond for inspiration and collaborations. I’ve done the underground thing and I still do the underground thing, but I wanted to do more. I love to do different things, to challenge myself and to continue to try and change.” It is only fitting that SHARAM’s collaboration with Anousheh Khlaili, which was inspired and written for a long time friend Anousheh Ansari--the first female private space explorer--is called “Be The Change.” “Her mantra and inspiration was Ghandi’s famous quote, ‘You must be the change you want to see in the world,’ so I made the theme song and named it ‘Be The Change.’ Later on I turned it into a full on song. It was an honor to be a part of her journey by doing the soundtrack for it and it’s helped me to do my part and be the change in my world.” SHARAM’s Get Wild was released April 7, 2009 on Ultra Records. Look for the album to be available internationally June 2009.