Taken from Above and Beyond’s TATW set.
Great tune by Nitrous Oxide. Get in the mood mateys!
Above and Beyond
On April - 27 - 2009
Above & Beyond is a trance music group formed in 2000 by Jonathan “Jono” Grant, Tony McGuinness, and Paavo Siljamäki. The trio are popular in the trance scene for their uplifting trance productions and collaborations with many vocalists. They also host their own weekly radio show, Trance Around the World. The group’s tracks are regularly played by well-known DJs, such as Tiësto, Armin van Buuren, Ferry Corsten, ATB, Judge Jules and Paul van Dyk.
Formation
Jono Grant and Paavo Siljamäki met at the University of Westminster and they set up the Anjunabeats label in the summer of 1999 with the release of the ‘Anjunabeats Volume 1′. Anjunabeats Volume 1 was the very first track recorded by Jono and Paavo. This ‘Original Mix’ packaged with their ‘Tease Dub Mix’ received immediate attention in various dance clubs, and quickly gained support from Pete Tong, Paul Oakenfold, Judge Jules and Paul van Dyk. Above & Beyond came together in 2000 when producer Tony McGuinness called in Grant and Siljamäki to help him complete a remix of Chakra’s “Home” track while at the Warner Music Group.[1]
The inspiration for the name Above & Beyond came from a web page belonging to an American motivational trainer coincidentally named Jono Grant. Jono had the poster stuck to his wall. The slogan used by the motivational trainer was “Above & Beyond”, and when the group was searching for a name to use for their Chakra remix, the slogan stuck out from the poster.[2] Although the group was relatively unknown at the time, their remix of Chakra’s Home was picked over remixes by Rob Searle and Tilt to be the A side mix, and after plays by Pete Tong, reached number one in the UK club charts.
Early Productions
Interest in Above & Beyond soon emerged from established trance labels and new remixes were requested: the trio remixed Aurora’s “Ordinary World”, Fragma’s “Everytime You Need Me”, Perpetuous Dreamer’s “The Sound of Goodbye” and Adamski’s “In the City”. These tracks served as the foundation for Above & Beyond’s reputation[citation needed] as one of the UK’s leading vocal trance remixers.
Above & Beyond’s most famous remix was for Madonna’s single “What It Feels Like for a Girl”. Madonna was so impressed[citation needed] by the remix that the music video for her song was shot to the Above & Beyond remix instead of the album version. The video, directed by Guy Ritchie, Madonna’s husband, would go on to gain its own notoriety.[citation needed] Most recently[when?], Above & Beyond has made remixes for Delerium, Three Drives and J-pop artist Ayumi Hamasaki.
Above & Beyond soon began collaborating with other artists, giving birth to a new production project named OceanLab (Above & Beyond with Justine Suissa) as well as collaborations with Andy Moor and vocalists Carrie Skipper, Ashley Tomberlin, Zoë Johnston and Richard Bedford.
Late in 2003 they remixed Tomcraft’s “Loneliness”, Motorcycle’s “As the Rush Comes”, as well as being asked back by Madonna to remix “Nobody Knows Me”. Other remixes included Britney Spears’s single “Everytime”, Dido’s song “Sand In My Shoes” and Delerium’s “Silence”.
Later Productions
Above & Beyond’s single “No One On Earth”, featuring the vocals of Faithless member Zoe Johnston, followed. It was voted Tune of the year 2004 in Armin van Buuren’s trance radio show A State of Trance.[citation needed]
Early in 2006 the band released their debut artist album, “Tri-State”. UK Dance magazine DJ Mag gave the album a 5 Star review, saying “A blend of sleek electronic rhythms, lush filmic textures and old-fashioned song writing. ‘Tri-State’ is the fulfillment of any dance act’s ultimate album aspiration: a padding-free, skilled, diverse long-player. In a word, ‘Brilliant’.”
Singles from the album include “Air For Life” (with Andy Moor) which won “Best Underground Dance Track” at the 2006 Miami Winter Music Conference and was Tune of the Year for 2005, as voted by the listeners of Armin Van Buurens radio show A State of Trance. Alone Tonight (featuring Richard Bedford) was nominated for best progressive house/trance track at the 22nd International Dance Music Awards held at the 2007 Miami WMC, reaching number 4 in the Finland National Singles chart and number 5 in the UK Dance Chart. Above & Beyond performed Alone Tonight at Global Gathering 2005 broadcast live on Radio One in the UK. Their single “Can’t Sleep” was included on A State of Trance in episode 280, which featured at number 3 on the best 20 tracks of 2006 according to the fans that voted in its polls. Above & Beyond “Good For Me” (featuring Zoe Johnstone) was voted Tune of the Year in 2006 on Armin Van Buuren’s A State of Trance Radio show. In 2008, Above & Beyond won Best Underground Dance Track at IDMA Awards at the Winter Music Conference with their single ‘Home’.
DJ career
Paavo Siljamäki and Jono Grant during a performance in Miami, 2007.
In 2002 the team began their DJ career in Tokyo in front of 8,000 clubbers, on a bill featuring Ferry Corsten and DJ Tiësto. After a slow start to their DJ career, they are now considered headline acts and make regular appearances at some of the worlds biggest trance festivals and clubs including Creamfields and Godskitchen Global Gathering in the UK and Amnesia in Ibiza. Furthermore, on the 31st of December 2007, Above & Beyond unofficially hosted the largest DJ gig ever on Barra Beach, Rio de Janeiro, where they reportedly played to an estimated 1 million people.[citation needed]
Above & Beyond made their live debut as performers at Passion in 2004 and went on to win the BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix of the year award in the same year.[3]
Above & Beyond were ranked #4 in the DJ Mag top 100 poll from 2008,[4] having entered at #39 in 2004.
::. Article taken from wikipedia.org
Menno De Jong
On April - 1 - 2009
Master of numerous music industry disciplines, Menno de Jong has already carved enough notches on the dance tree for someone twice his age. His production & remix career has seen him record for some of Europe’s biggest trance labels and he’s the owner of lauded Dutch independent Intuition Recordings. A bona-fide Podcast pioneer, he’s produced and presented the much respected and widely-syndicated Intuition Radio show for the last 3 years. As a DJ he’s closed gigs for Tiësto & Paul van Dyk, is currently ranked at No. 48 in DJ Magazine’s Top 100 Chart and has spun in over 25 countries. At just 24 years old, he’s is without question the next challenger to the Dutch trance throne!
Born into a musical family, it took very little time for Menno to start experimenting with the array of synths corralled in his father’s studio. His production career started in auspicious fashion in 2004 when ‘Guanxi’, his debut production was signed to Anjunabeats. The consummate music workaholic, Menno has continued to conjure one magical, melodic feat after another. Double-header ‘Magma’/‘Momentum’ and ‘Sjamaan’ were released on Fundamental (in 2005 & 2007 respectively), while ‘Tundra’ (2005) and ‘Nolthando’/ ‘Solid State’ (2007) appeared on his own Intuition label. Remix-wise, he has re-scripted tracks for The Thrillseekers, Karen Overton & Mark Otten, amongst others and to ever-increasing acclaim.
As with studio production Menno also dabbled in DJing from an early age. At 17 he progressed from school discos & friends parties to a two year residency at an underground club in Eindhoven. Further charged by the reception ‘Guanxi’ received from DJs and still aged just 20 years old he threw himself into music nearly full-time, juggling his busy schedule with his studies at university. In the last three years he has successfully catapulted himself into the upper echelons of the trance DJ hierarchy. Having now spun in over 25 countries, Menno has played at clubs and events that are themselves the virtual synonyms of trance. Godskitchen, Gatecrasher, Creamfields, Trance Energy, Sensation White, Mysteryland, Amnesia Ibiza, Love Parade, Berlin, The Gaudi Arena in Moscow & WMC in Miami have all hosted his pin-point perfect tune selection and sophisticated mixing style. Alongside that he has DJed with some of the biggest names in the scene, including trail-blazers such as Tiësto, Armin van Buuren, The Prodigy, Paul van Dyk, Marco V and Markus Schulz. With his non-stop smile, energetic dancing and ever-present contact with the audience, he continues to share his passion for evocative melodies and dance-floor rocking beats.
Menno’s rise through the deck-spinning ranks has been suitably reflected in DJ Magazine’s annual Top 100 poll. He debuted at 72 in 2006 before rising 10 places to 62 a year later, and a staggering 14 places to 48 in 2008. He is also ranked at No. 11 in Trance Addict’s annual top 100 Trance DJs poll.
Following an inspiring tour of Africa, Menno broke into the compilation market in mid-2007. Mixing the first in a projected series of country-themed albums, Intuition Sessions Vol. 1: South Africa gathered together the cream of the label’s highly recognizable crop.
De Jong was also at the leading-edge of the internet radio and podcasting phenomenon, launching his Intuition Radio show in 2005. The weekly episodes rapidly became required listening for the internet’s trance-hungry hoards, with Menno showcasing the very best in EDM. The show has now gone monthly and progressed onto the airwaves of XM Radio, Dutch national Slam FM & Worldspace with tens of thousands of listeners tuning in each week. The Intuition Podcast is also available as a download via iTunes.
Tim Stark – DJ Magazine
::. Taken from MennoDeJong.com
