Seven Lions

Jeff Montalvo (born March 31, 1987), known professionally as Seven Lions, is an American DJ, record producer, instrumentalist and remixer from Santa Barbara, California.

Jeff Montalvo was born on March 31, 1987, in Santa Barbara, California.

His interest in music production began at the age of 7, when his father came home with a Macintosh and keyboard.

He also grew up playing bass and guitar, and after playing drums for several metal and punk-inclined bands, he eventually segued into electronic music production.

Montalvo explains that accessibility was his initial reason for the shift, "because I got tired of waiting for my band all the time - I wanted to just start making music so I started composing electronic music by myself."

After a friend gave him the Fruity Loops digital audio workstation, he started learning production.

In college, he developed an interest in the genre of trance after being handed an old Tiësto CD.

At age twenty, he attended his first rave in 2007, which inspired him to focus on producing trance himself.

Active musically since 2010, his music combines styles as diverse as trance, melodic dubstep, drum and bass, glitch hop, and electro house.

He has released eight EPs, multiple singles, and official remixes for record labels such as Casablanca Records, Owsla, Viper Recordings, Anjunabeats, Republic Records and Monstercat.

Around 2010, he began releasing music under the moniker Seven Lions, mixing industrial drum beats with multiple genres.

The name Seven Lions comes from a fantasy book called Latro in the Mist by Gene Wolfe, who he names as his favorite author.

Seven Lions is a character in the book.

One of his first releases was an unofficial remix of "Cosmic Love" by Florence and the Machine in March 2010.

His remix was then included as part of the official single package for "Cosmic Love" by Moshi Moshi Records on July 5, 2010.

Also in 2011, he released a remix of the song "Satellite" by Oceanlab.

On a whim, Seven Lions entered the Above & Beyond official remix competition on Beatport in 2011, remixing their track "You Got To Go."

The track sat at #2 on Beatport's Dubstep chart for over 6 weeks, largely underneath Skrillex’s remix of Avicii's "Levels."

The track also won the remix competition, which led to Seven Lions becoming officially involved with Above and Beyond.

The remix was officially released on their Anjunabeats label on December 21, 2011.

His second EP Days to Come was mentioned by Vibe Magazine as one of their Top Electronic Albums of 2012, and it peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart.

He tours regularly in the United States, and since 2012 has performed at festivals such as SXSW, Ultra Music Festival, Electric Daisy Carnival, Electric Zoo, and Camp Bisco.

Seven Lions' first major tour started in March 2012, when he hit the UKF Tour with dubstep DJs Gemini and Koan Sound.

During the tour, Seven Lions also supported Bassex.

He also remixed the Above & Beyond track "On My Way To Heaven" in 2012.

According to Mixmag, "His take on 'On My Way To Heaven' retained the original's euphoric opening before plunging into a maelstrom of super-sized beats and gurgling bass."

His first EP Polarize was released on April 23, 2012, on the British drum and bass label Viper Recordings.

The EP includes six tracks, which incorporate a blend of genres such as dubstep, drum and bass, and house.

Shaz Sparks is a guest vocalist on three of the tracks.

The EP was largely well-received, and his song, "Below Us" was featured as Zane Lowe’s ‘Hottest Record In The World,’ with Lowe writing about the song, "fresh sounding production marries an ethereal vocal with some clean tear out riffs."

After releasing Polarize, Seven Lions had several Beatport #1s (four in the dubstep chart) in 2012, with remixes for artists such as Above & Beyond, Matrix & Futurebound, Paul Van Dyk and Delerium.

After Seven Lions' management passed some of his demos to the DJ Skrillex, Seven Lions was signed to release an EP on Skrillex's personal Owsla imprint.

In October 2012, Seven Lions' released his Days to Come EP, with four tracks included.

The title track features the vocals of Australian singer Fiora, and is the only dubstep song on the EP.

Earmilk wrote that the song "pulls you in with the exquisite vocals and then hits you with that deep melodic bass."

In contrast, the EP's song "The Truth" is progressive house, while "Fractals" incorporates electro house.

The final track, "She Was," can be defined as glitch hop and features the band Birds of Paradise.

His next EP, Worlds Apart, charted at No. 76 on The Billboard 200, and the EP's track "Don't Leave" with Ellie Goulding entered the UK Singles Chart in 2014.

He was nominated for America's Best DJ, a competition held by DJ Times, in 2014.

In 2018, Seven Lions founded Ophelia Records, an independent record label that releases various electronic dance music, including dubstep, psytrance, drum & bass, and melodic bass.