Motiv8 is the alias of Steve Rodway, one of the most successful remix and production names of the 1990s. The Motiv8 discography includes early work by Xenomania's Brian Higgins and Matt Gray.
Steve Rodway was born in Cambridgeshire and then moved to Kent. In 1990, he established his own record label FX Records in order to release his own material under different guises. A track called "Mission", released as Motiv8, sold more than any of the others and so he stuck with the name. He set up Nuff Respect Records and released the single "Rockin' For Myself", which became a major club hit across Europe and achieved platinum status in Australia.
As a dance act, Motiv8 has released other big club anthems such as "Break The Chain" and the Bond-inspired "Searching For The Golden Eye". He also enjoyed success with remixes for The Doobie Brothers, St.Etienne, Spice Girls, Pulp and many others. The mix he did for Pulp's 1995 single "Common People" launched Steve Rodway into the top division of UK remixers. Radio 1 replaced the song's original mix on its daytime playlist with the Motiv8 remix.
Steve Rodway produced Gina G's song "Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit", which was selected as the United Kingdom's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996. His collaboration with Gina G would however end with a contractual dispute.
By the mid-Nineties, Brian Higgins established himself as a session musician with Motiv8.
Higgins and Matt Gray were part of Steve Rodway's FX Music until they went their own way and became Xenomania. A number of their remixes sound similar to Steve Rodway's Motiv8 works. One of Xenomania's sonic trademarks, the reverse-cymbal sound, harks back to one of Rodway's 'Ear Candy' tricks (applied to keep listeners' interest). On some of Motiv8's mixes, Rodway used reversed samples in breaks taking the place of drum fills.
Motiv 8 remixes are usually focused on songwriting and composition, generally keeping the full vocal track — an approach that Rodway attributes to coming from a background of songwriting, as opposed to DJing. Often all the backing tracks are discarded in favor of an entirely new set built from the vocals alone. Other characteristics of Motiv8 remixes include arpeggios running through the verses (with a stereo delay).
