Paul St. Hilaire

Born in Grand Bay in the parish of Saint Patrick in Dominica, Paul St. Hilaire grew up in the island’s reggae and dub environment before moving to Germany in the early 1990s, first to Hanover and then to Berlin. Initially active as a guitarist and singer in several bands, including Radication Squad and Livin’ Spirits, he later broadened his scope toward electronic music. Under the name Tikiman until 2003 he contributed to several notable recordings by Moritz von Oswald and Mark Ernestus, particularly within Rhythm & Sound, where his deep, supple, stripped-down voice blends with minimal, slow, and profound dub-techno structures. That period includes the tracks compiled on Showcase in 1998 and collaborations on the Round Three, Round Four and Round Five projects, straddling dub, house and spoken word. In parallel Paul St. Hilaire developed his own catalogue on the False Tuned label, founded in 2000, releasing the albums Unspecified (2003) and Adsom – A Divine State Of Mind (2006). Over the years he has also worked with Deadbeat, Rhauder, Scion, The Bug, Tarwater and Modeselektor, in a register where vocal reggae, dub and the most pared-back electronic forms remain closely linked.