The core members of Shpongle are Simon Posford and Raja Ram from the United Kingdom, along with many collaborators and guest musicians. Ott is also credited on all albums. Their sound is a mix of mainly eastern ethnic samples and western contemporary psychedelic synth music. Posford is responsible for the synth and studio work while Raja Ram contributes with flute arrangements. They are both responsible for the visionary input. According to one interview, they commonly visualize the music together before and during the creation process. Shpongle's first tune, Vapour Rumours, was released on TIP Records' Infinite Excursions compilation in 1996. Their debut album, Are You Shpongled?, was released 1998 on Twisted Records. The high sound quality, successful mix of samples, instruments and synths along with the story and progress of the music through the album made it one of the most cutting edge releases of that time. Are You Shpongled? and Twisted Records' first downtempo compilation, Eclipse, made a huge impact on the psychedelic trance scene in 1998. Simon Posford is also known for his solo productions as Hallucinogen and as driving force of the label Twisted Records UK. He is also part of Dub Trees (with Youth and Dubsahara), Celtic Cross (with Youth) and Younger Brother (with Prometheus). Raja Ram is also a member of 1200 Micrograms (with GMS) and The Infinity Project (with Graham Wood, Anjee Sian and other contributors/collaborators). He was also founder of the indo-prog/raga rock group of the '60s/'70s Quintessence. The bands lyrics and samples are often about the entheogen Dimethyltryptamine (DMT). www.shpongle.com http://www.twistedmusic.com/artists/shpongle/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shpongle
