Max Graham

Beginning his career behind the decks in 1986 at the age of fifteen, Canadian DJ Max Graham initially specialized in cut-and-scratch technique before shifting focus to trance and progressive house during the genre’s resurgence. Exposure to the productions of BT and Underworld around 1992, at the dawn of progressive house, combined with the influence of selectors such as Paul Oakenfold and Sasha, led him to champion that sound across Canada. While trance had already taken hold throughout Europe, only a handful of local DJs were programming it at home; over time Graham’s persistence established him as one of the country’s most active progressive talents. Kinetic Records subsequently invited him to oversee the fourth volume of its Tranceport series, issued in May 2001. In the months leading up to the compilation’s release he had begun producing tracks in a compact studio, three of which reached dance charts in the U.K. and Europe. He inaugurated a monthly broadcast on the online-only Proton Radio in 2003, then issued the mix-CD Shine on System the following year.