Biography

BIOGRAPHY

From performing at top clubs to producing hit remixes and original tracks, Ean Sugarman’s upbeat dance music has reached millions of people around the world. The Melbourne, Australia native began his music career nearly three decades ago and has since spun his high-energy hits in some of the hottest clubs in Australia and the United States.

Sugarman is one of 150 DJs in the United States whose votes determine which songs make the weekly Billboard Dance/Electronic Chart, and he is among a select group of music industry elites that elects artists to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

The award-winning artist has remixed tracks for pop-chart-toppers, such as Mariah Carey, Nelly Furtado, Missy Elliot, Enrique Iglesias, Kevin Lyttle and the Hitch movie soundtrack, earning multi-platinum, platinum and gold records from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Sugarman also is credited for writing, producing and remixing several Top 10 hits in Australia and for discovering the former dance/pop group Euphoria, which helped bring Australia's emerging dance music scene to the forefront in the early 1990s.

As a young boy in Melbourne, Sugarman always knew he was destined for a career in the music business. He recalls spinning vinyl records at home for his made-up radio station “Radio 34” (aptly named for his house number), while his sisters washed the dishes following mealtime.

Sugarman’s first professional gig came at age 18 when he was asked to fill in for a DJ who was unable to arrive for the beginning of his shift at the Burvale Hotel in Springvale, Victoria. What began as an hour-long opening session turned into the main event when the resident DJ failed to turn up that evening. Receiving rave reviews from club patrons, the shift resulted in a full-time gig and springboarded Sugarman’s successful career as a dance-music DJ, allowing him to work at some of Melbourne’s hottest clubs, including Chevron, The Underground and JOOCE.

Although Sugarman was quickly making a name for himself as one Australia’s biggest DJs, he believed something was missing. As he played contemporary mixes he felt many of the songs could use improvement. “I’d listen to records all the time and think that if they had only done something a little bit differently the track would have been so much better.”

Following a trip to Chicago in 1986, where he helped write lyrics for and assisted in the production of “Feel the Fire” (DJ International 1987) with producers Chip E and Frankie Rodriguez, Sugarman returned to Melbourne, where he completed a course in audio engineering at Victorian Audio Education Centre.

Sugarman went on to produce remixes for chart-topping superstar Tina Arena as well as popular Australian groups, such as The Chantoozies and Wa Wa Nee. Later, he formed ESP Records, signing dance group Euphoria and joining forces with fellow producer Andrew Klippel to write and produce two national No. 1 tracks and three Top 10 singles. Under Sugarman and Klippel’s direction, the group also achieved records for the most sales of an Australian 1990s single and for the longest time a song appeared on the national pop music chart.

Sugarman continued to utilize his songwriting and production talents for MCA Australia and later partnered with Chris Murphy, former manager of INXS, to form ESP/MMA Songs Ltd., where the duo produced singles for artists including Melissa James, Dara and Cleva Cleva, under the umbrella of LaDigue Records and Warner Brothers.

Meanwhile, Sugarman stayed true to his other passion as a DJ, and in 1989, co-founded the Melbourne Metropolitan Disk Jockey Association, an organization consisting of the area’s most prominent DJs, which focused on both raising the profiles of and benefits to its members.

After achieving professional success in Australia, Sugarman moved to Canada in 1997, where he spent a year working for the Discovery Channel and Attack Records before taking his career to new heights in the United States.

In New York, Sugarman worked for various clubs as an audio engineer as well as Westrax Studios, helping the company market for and develop a niche in recording scores for Broadway and off-Broadway productions, like The Skin of Our Teeth, Kiss of the Spider and Forever Plaid.

Sugarman’s DJing career took him to the top of the world in 2001 – literally – when he was hired to spin at Windows on the World/Greatest Bar on Earth on the 107th floor of the World Trade Center. Unaware at the time, Sugarman played his last gig at the highest dance floor in the world on September 7, 2001, days before the Twin Towers fell.

Soon after, Sugarman moved to the Magic City of Miami, securing gigs at some of the area’s hottest clubs, like Nikki Beach, Pearl and Nikki Marina. He later teamed up with fellow music producer Vincent di Pasquale to form SugarDip Productions, which remixed hit songs for artists, such as Destiny’s Child, Brandy, Janet Jackson, Maria Carey, Kevin Lyttle, Nelly Furtado and Britney Spears, earning several RIAA gold, platinum and multi-platinum records.

Today, Sugarman continues using his “in your face” music style to produce original tracks and remix top singles under the name ESP Records, most recently completing the club remix for Enrique Iglesias’ “Tired Of Being Sorry.” Sugarman can be seen playing for his fans at Gryphon and Nikki Marina, where he was named 2007 Readers Choice “Best Club DJ” by Palm Beach/Broward New Times.

Sugarman’s mission is to bring happiness to as many people as he can through music. “I’ve done my job if I can make their souls smile,” he says.