Harpaul Alberto Kohli (better known as Ori Uplift) — the owner and CEO of Abora Recordings and host of the weekly Uplifting Only radio podcast on DI.fm, iTunes, & Spotify — was born in Washington, DC, in 1980, to a father from India and a mother from Ecuador. 

In 2010 he started up a trance project called Trance Tehillim to make trance songs with lyrics from the book of Psalms. In part through that he became friends with the then-owner of Abora Recordings, who ended up selling him the entire Abora label in the summer of 2012.

Upon taking over ownership, Ori’s goal was to grow the orchestral/emotional uplifting genre, create another scene for it outside the club world, and bring it to a large and growing audience across the globe. He focused on recruiting talented staff, finding orchestral uplifting artists with much potential, and to have the staff and 'talent coaches' help develop the artists’ skills so that they could become top producers.

Since then, Abora has blossomed into the world's top label for orchestral emotional uplifting trance, and has sprouted successful sublabels in many other trance genres. It was rated the world’s #8 trance label in the Trance Podium 2014 Awards, the world’s #6 trance label in the 2015 Trance Podium Awards, and the world’s #5 trance label in the 2016 Trance Podium Awards, and was listed as one of the 5 best trance labels by Trance for Infinity.

Abora has enjoyed success in the broader EDM music world too: Since the fall of 2012, Abora and its sublabels have won the Future Favorite on Armin van Buuren's A State of Trance 20 times, more than any label except Armin's Armada itself.

Meanwhile, Ori’s weekly Uplifting Only radio podcast, which aims to be the definitive and leading show for the orchestral uplifting genre, has developed a devoted and passionate fan base.

Further, Uplifting Only was rated the #8 "Best Radioshow/Podcast/Cloudcast" in the Trance Podium 2014 Awards, and was ranked one of the top five trance podcasts for working out by Trance Hub (ranking first for yoga and pilates).

Uplifting Only was then rated the #6 “Best Radioshow/Podcast/Cloudcast” in the 2015 Trance Podium Awards, and the #7 best trance show in the 2016 Trance Podium Awards.

Ori’s success has now started extending to live gigs: He has closed for both Aly & Fila and Bryan Kearney, has performed with vocalists Caro Sosa and Erika Faries, and was the main headliner at both the 2015 Trancervatory festival in Ecuador and the 2017 Tranceover festival in Israel.

Ori has also ranked well on the Beatport charts. Three of his mixcompilations based on his Uplifting Only show reached the #1 spot on the Beatport release charts (trance and chillout), and two more have reached #2 on the trance charts. A total of 8 of his mixcomps or mixes have reached the top 5 on the Beatport charts.

It’s no surprise that Trance Hub named him one of six "Artists to watchout for". You'll be seeing more and more of him as he focuses on uplifting the general public with beautiful euphoric uplifting melodies and sounds!

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ORI UPLIFT AWARDS AND HIGHLIGHTS:

Videos of Performances:
-    In Tel Aviv 2016, Short Clip #1: https://www.facebook.com/oriuplift/videos/991802397565037/
-    In Tel Aviv 2016, Short Clip #2: https://www.facebook.com/oriuplift/videos/989597577785519/
-    In Guayaquil, Ecuador, 2015 (one-hour set but low fidelity recording & partially missing images): https://youtu.be/WKGmN3Lvj6Y

Ori Uplift’s Radio Show: Uplifting Only:
-    Rated the #7 "Best Radioshow/Podcast/Cloudcast" in the Trance Podium 2016 Awards.
-    Rated the #6 "Best Radioshow/Podcast/Cloudcast" in the Trance Podium 2015 Awards.
-    Rated the #8 "Best Radioshow/Podcast/Cloudcast" in the Trance Podium 2014 Awards.
-    Airs on about 90 radio stations in over 20 countries on 5 continents.
-    Ranked one of the top five trance podcasts for working out by Trance Hub (ranking first for yoga and pilates).
-    3 UpOnly mixcompilations reached #1 on the Beatport genre charts (Trance & Chillout).
-    8 UpOnly mixcompilations or mixes reached the top 5 on the Beatport genre charts.

Abora Recordings (of which Ori Uplift is owner & CEO):
-    Rated the world’s #5 trance label in the Trance Podium 2016 Awards.
-    Rated the world’s #6 trance label in the Trance Podium 2015 Awards.
-    Rated the world’s #8 trance label in the Trance Podium 2014 Awards.
-    Rated one of the 7 best trance record labels by Trance for Infinity. Was the first out of those seven.
-    Has grown to encompass 23 sublabels/imprints.
-    Has won the Future Favorite on Armin van Buuren's A State of Trance 20 times since 2012, more than any label except Armin's Armada itself.

Ori Uplift DJ-ing Highlights:
-    “Main Headliner” at the 2015 Trancervatory Festival in Ecuador
-    Closed for Aly & Fila (in 2015) and Bryan Kearney (in 2016) in Washington DC
-    Performed with singers Caro Sosa, Melanie Bell, and Erika Faries
-    Named one of 5 “Artists to Watchout For" by Trance Hub.

Sales & Charts:
-    Three of his mixcompilations based on his Uplifting Only show reached the #1 spot on the Beatport release charts (trance and chillout)
-    Two more have reached #2 on the trance charts.
-    A total of 8 of his mixcomps or mixes have reached the top 5 on the Beatport charts.

Contact: harpaul /[at]/ abora-recordings /[dot]/ com.