Troy Harley

Early life

Troy Harley, earlier known as Roman Arkhipov, was born in Nizhny Novgorod, in Russia. When he was seven years old, he and his family moved to Moscow. As Roman, he gained significant popularity in his native country by competing in the Russian Star Academy (Фабрика Звёзд - Fabrika Zvezd) with his band Челси. By doing so, he amassed big popularity there. Troy’s career in Russia began when he, along with Denis Pietrow (Денис Петров), Alexey Karzin (Алексей Корзин), and Arseny Borodin (Арсений Бородин) formed a band called Челси (Chelsea), during the project Star Academy (Fabrika Zvezd) sixth edition. Roman has been awarded the Golden Gramophone Award an impressive three times. He's been named “Most Talked-About Person in Music” by MTV Russia, performed over 400 shows in 300-plus cities across Russia, Eastern & Western Europe, the U.S, and China, composed music for television shows as well as feature films, hosted awards shows, and released two albums with his band, Chelsea. His solo career began in Los Angeles, where he started his collaboration with JK Music Group.

Career

American Idol judge, Randy Jackson signed him to his indie record label Friendship Collective, following which he became Troy Harley.

Troy's first commercially released song was “End of Summer.” The song was produced by Randy Jackson and it was recorded in the Henson Studios (formally A&M Studios), where Bon Jovi, Metallica, U2, John Lennon, The Doors, Joe Cocker, and Pink Floyd had recorded previously songs. The song was released worldwide in July 2012.“End of Summer” was originally performed by Theory of a Deadman, which was written by Zac Maloy, who is responsible for writing and producing songs for artists Carrie Underwood, Our Lady Peace, Hanson, and Chris Daughtry.

During the summer of 2012, Troy took part in the Warped Tour with a multi-national band (Russian, American and Australian players). The tour took place throughout the East Coast, South, Midwest, and Canada. The band’s experiences can be seen in the official video for “End of Summer,” shot in Chicago, Detroit and Minneapolis.

After the return to Los Angeles, along with Eric Scullin (keys and guitar), Mike Avenaim (drums), Derek Frank (bass), and Sasha Afanasov (guitar), he began writing new tracks for upcoming tour dates and an album release, planned for spring 2013. Lyrics from that album are to show how universal life experiences can be, and the topics to be covered are varied, from issues between parents and children to relationships between men and women (“The First Day” and “From This Live”).

In October 2012, on a trip to his homeland Russia, he debuted with his band during shows in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as in Belarus, supporting Nickelback.

On November 6, 2012, Troy’s first official single “Someone Like Me” became available for purchase at online retailers. The song was recorded at Henson Studios and was co-written by Zac Maloy and Rune Goldberg, who was responsible for co-producing songs for artists such as Adam Lambert, Chris Daughtry, and Kris Allen.

In 2014 he performed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi with the Russian conductor, violinist, and violist Yuri Bashmet

He formed a new band called "ROMAN" in Los Angeles while teaming up with Grammy songwriter-producer Tommy Marolda (Imagine Dragons, Richie Sambora, Cher) to record his American debut and begin a summer world tour. The pair have crafted six hook laden, melodic powerhouse songs. Raspy-voiced Roman and Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi guitarist) teamed up for the anthem “We’re Not Giving Up” which is the first single from the untitled six song EP. Roman came to the attention of Marolda after recording tunes with Randy Jackson (American Idol) and immediately entered Songgram Music studios in Las Vegas and Los Angeles to begin recording their summer slated release

Musical influences

He first fell in love with rock music when he heard "Machine Head" by Deep Purple. In the very same moment that he listened to the song, the youngster started dreaming of crafting a similar sound for the Russian music scene. Before other kids his age could even dream of what they wanted to be when they grew up, Roman was already plotting a career in music. Dedicated to the school of rock, he notes Nickelback, Aerosmith, Nazareth, ACDC, Def Leppard, Gotthard, Linkin Park, and Whitesnake as some of his musical influences. While there are many things that set Roman apart from the rest, one standout factor is his powerful voice, which evokes a contagious sense of energy mixed with an endearing romanticism. His uniqueness has garnered comparisons to the likes of a young Jon Bon Jovi and a distinctive onstage presence similar to that of Steven Tyler.

As Roman perfected his talent, people started to take notice. He was invited on top rated reality talent show, Star Factory (a singing competition similar to American Idol and X-Factor). During his tenure on the show Roman had the pleasure of singing duets with some of the greatest rock bands of all time including the Scorpions, Gorky Park, and Gotthard, the latter of which would later help him record his new music. After finishing up season six of Star Factory, Roman's distinctive onstage performance continued to impress the public. He gained national notoriety as he and his band, Chelsea, continued to rock stages all over Russia. By early 2011, Roman and his band went back for another round of Star Factory where they defeated some of the show's most successful contestants to take home second-place trophy.

Listening to the kid inside of him, he turned his back on his homeland celebrity and moved to a place where he could start fresh by forming and fronting his own rock band: Los Angeles.