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 and iTunes -- was born in Washington, DC, in 1980, to a father from India and a mother from Ecuador. He grew up surrounded by music from different cultures and played piano for seven years, but never expected he'd engage with music in any capacity except as a listener. Then in 2007 he saw a Tiesto music video while exercising at the gym and loved it. He began discovering more trance and then showing his favorite tracks he loved to friends. But he was settled into his career as an macroeconomist, successfully publishing papers and doing research; it made no sense to start working on music. Then came the 2009 Paul van Dyk concert in DC. After it, four evangelical college girls approached him to very oddly ask for a blessing. Turned out they were visiting from 900 miles away and had no way to g...