Ideal Lives



There is more than one artist with this name: 1). Sebastian Salbert better known as Rahim (born November 17, 1978 in Katowice[1]) is a Polish rapper, producer and entrepreneur. He is the owner of record company MaxFloRec, the former member of groups such as 3xKlan, MZD, Erka and Paktofonika. Since 2003 He has been the one half of a duo Pokahontaz which he creates with Fokus. He has released several albums under his alter ego Straho. 2). The members of Rahim, Phil Sutton, Michael Friedrich and Eric Staciwo, began playing together in late 1999, under the name Radio Raheem. This early incarnation was a harsher, more aggressive trio than the current line-up. Their early live shows were the stuff of basement show lore and cassette tape demo fable across the suburban sprawl of Long Island, NY. It was not until late 2000 that Eric Staciwo left the band and was replaced by Ryan McCoy. With the addition of Ryan, a new dynamic was brought to the bands already DC-influenced sound. Vocally and rhythmically the band was beginning to carve its own niche out of intertwined guitar/bass lines, dual vocals and drumming that would make fans of both No-Wave and Hip-Hop take note. Thought never losing its edge or artfulness, the band was beginning to craft songs that were both artful and memorable. The Summer of 2001 saw the band record four songs for release on two separate 7” vinyl releases, a 3-song single on Zoo Music and a split 7” with fellow Long Islanders Knox Overstreet on Pony Collision Records. Armed with two 7”’s, the band hit the road in August of 2001 for a brief tour throughout the East Coast, Midwest and South. Upon returning home, both singles were out of print. 2002 was a year of writing and rehearsing, further refining their sound and becoming accomplished musicians. Their playing and songwriting both improved tremendously throughout this year, and the live shows became even more exciting and cohesive. Excited by the success of their local shows and crowd enthusiasm towards their new material, the band hit the road again in the summer of 2003 for a month-long trek through the Eastern half of the country. Once they returned home, they quickly scrambled to throw together a winter tour for 2004, which occurred in January of 2004 with fellow rockers Gospel and Sheryl’s Magnetic Aura (now Meneguar). 2004 has certainly been an exciting year for Rahim, who had their most successful shows to date including shows with Red Light Sting, Year Future, Gogogo Airheart, Party of Helicopters, Decahedron, White Flight and Navies. In December of 2004, the band traveled to College Park Maryland to record a 4 song EP with producer J. Robbins. The fit was perfect and J.’s experience and ear were a huge help in shaping what would be the bands best recording to date…by a landslide. 2008 has seen the release of Laughter Rahim's second record on the Pretty Activity label. Laughter is a far more introspective affair evoking the loss an desolation of modern life. Lyricism takes center stage in this beautiful release. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.