User:Ezekiel 7:19/Seven Lions

Jeff Montalvo, better known by his stage name Seven Lions, is an American electronic dance music producer and musician. He is primarily known for his music which combines elements of both dubstep and trance. Montalvo has also produced music in the electro house, progressive house, and glitch hop genres.

Biography
Montalvo's first experience with music came at age 7 when one day his father had brought home with him a Macintosh computer and a keyboard. He originally grew up with a musical background in metal and punk rock, playing the drum set, guitar, and bass. After playing with several bands throughout his career in middle school and high school, he turned to producing electronic music while in his late teens when he recieved a copy of FL Studio. Montalvo was first exposed to electronic music while in college when a friend introduced him to industrial music. He lists Combichrist, Front Line Assembly, and Haujobb as a few of the first electronic artists he listened to.

After orignially producing industrial music, Montalvo made the move to trance after attending his first rave in 2007. His first exposure to dubstep came while attending the Burning Man in 2009, after which he grew a slight distaste for the genre. He eventually moved away from producing house and trance and reluctantly began producing dubstep. Once he had begun producing dubstep, he grew an appreciation for the genre and decided to continue producing dubstep because he felt it was less limiting than trance and house music.

Montalvo primarily uses LennarDigital Sylenth1, Native Instruments Massive, and Voxengo plugins.

He lists Opeth, Above and Beyond, Porcupine Tree, and Delerium as his largest musical influences.

The name "Seven Lions" is based off of a character with the same name from the novel "Latro In The Mist" by Gene Wolfe.

Music Career
Montalvo's career began in October 2011 when he won the official remix competition for the Above and Beyond track, "You Got To Go". The remix peaked at the number two position on Beatport's Dubstep Charts and remained at that position for 6 weeks.

On April 23, 2012, Montalvo released his debut album "Polarize EP" with Viper Recordings. He originally submitted several tracks to the record company and impressed, the record company agreed to publish the EP. Viper Recordings helped Montalvo finish the rest of the EP and provided vocalist Shaz Sparks.