Although he identifies as a new age artist, Mars Lasar has also had a discreet impact on the development of electronic music at large, and he has worked on platinum recordings within other genres. Born in Germany and raised in Australia, the Los Angeles-based keyboardist and composer combined formal music training and love for technology, and eventually developed a passion for sequencing and sampling. For several years, he was employed by Fairlight and helped create and demonstrate Page R, the sequencer included in the Fairlight CMI, a synthesizer heard on advanced early-'80s recordings by the likes of Kate Bush, Herbie Hancock, and Peter Gabriel. During this period, Lasar was in a band, I.Q., which released an EP featuring his own work on the CMI. Lasar's reach extended the most during the '90s, when he worked on Seal's debut album (specifically the smash hit "Crazy") and the Jason's Lyric soundtrack (through Sovory's "Love Is Still Enough"). Both albums were certified platinum. The same decade, he collaborated with Hancock on Dis Is da Drum and started issuing his own projects at a prolific rate. The releases began with Olympus, an album that hit Billboard's new age albums chart and was used by the CBS network during its telecast of the 1992 Winter Olympics. Through series such as Baby Escapes and Mindscapes, along with other conceptual releases like Yosemite, Valley of the Giants and AfterWorld, Lasar's productivity didn't let up through the 2010s. While these releases were classified as new age, they were free of stylistic restrictions. Additionally, Lasar's music was regularly used for programs on major network television, ranging from 24 to America's Got Talent. ~ Andy Kellman