ELECTRONIC ARTS

Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Traz Damji worked at Electronic Arts as one of their in-house composers, producing music in a wide range of styles, contributing to many multi-platinum titles and eventually becoming the audio lead and principal composer for the best-selling basketball series, NBA Live. He formed what became known as “The NBA Live Orchestra”, which blended soul, funk, jazz, and hip hop. This music became synonymous with video hoops action during the early years of the NBA Live franchise. For NBA Live 2000 and NBA Live 2001, he also collaborated with vocalists Rahzel on Shak’n the Floor and Montell Jordan on Unstoppable. The additional mainstream songs heard in both games were also selected by Traz, who also served as the music supervisor for both products. Electronic Arts awarded Traz three “Awards of Excellence” during his career at the company.

THE HUMBLE BROTHERS AND SCAREMEISTER

Traz’s collaborations with Ken “hiwatt” Marshall under the moniker “The Humble Brothers” have been widely recognized. The electronic duo remixed and collaborated with many multi-platinum music artists including Linkin Park, Deftones, Skinny Puppy, Anastasia, Filter and Static-X which can be heard on albums and video games. The duo's remix of Crash from Static-X/Mephisto Odyssey appeared on the soundtrack of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, and their contribution to Linkin Park's Reanimation album earned them a platinum award.

Scaremeister is a project and partnership with two of Traz’s best friends and long-term collaborators, Ken “hiwatt” Marshall and cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy. Scaremeister’s debut album, 31 Spirits, was produced by Ken “hiwatt” Marshall, consisting of 31 unique ‘mini scores’ designed specifically for horror film trailer cues. The tracks have been placed in many film trailers, including Inglourious Basterds, Transformers II, My Bloody Valentine, Book of Eli, and Halloween 2, to name a few. Following the continued success of Volume One within the film industry, the album was released to the public, allowing them to be heard beyond the context of cinemas. Additionally, Traz and cEvin Key recently collaborated on a track called Tomahawk which appears on cEvin’s new album Resonance.

EARLY LIFE

Traz was born in Tanzania and spent most of his early childhood in Munich, Germany before moving to Canada. As a youngster, Traz was influenced by family members with deep musical roots. His father, a renowned vocalist, inspired him to play percussion instruments in many of his bands, performing Indian and African music. His mother, also encouraging, was a first cousin to Farrokh Bulsara (aka Freddie Mercury of Queen). As a result of his musically inclined family, Traz developed an intrinsic appreciation for music that is the foundation of his entire life.

PRESENTLY

Traz Damji works from Vancouver and also from his studio on Gabriola Island, British Columbia, where he devotes himself to music composition and music technology. He continues to work behind the scenes with video game industry giants: composing, mixing, editing and collaborating on a wide range of audio projects and genres, including Electro-Industrial, Alternative/Indie, Rock/Metal, Funk, Hip Hop, Southern Gothic, Americana, World Beat, Ambient and Orchestral.

Read less about Traz