| DJ Sets ::Above & Beyond
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Above & Beyond is a British trance
music group formed in 2000 by Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness,
and Paavo Siljamäki. The trio are popular in the trance
scene for their uplifting trance productions and collaborations
with several 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. On 28 October
2009 DJ Magazine announced the results of their annual Top
100 DJ Poll, with Above & Beyond placed at #4, for the
second year in a row.
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.
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. 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
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 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 at the time, would go on to gain its own notoriety
due to its theme. In it, Madonna is a fugitive from the law
and at one point threatens two policemen with a gun which,
however, turns out to be a squirt gun. Later, Above &
Beyond 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.
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.
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.
Above & Beyond were ranked #4 in the DJ Mag top 100 poll
from 2008 and 2009, having entered at #39 in 2004.
Discography
Above & Beyond's first artist album Tri-State was released
in March '06, along with the single "Alone Tonight".
The album features collaborations with the likes of Zoë
Johnston, Richard Bedford and Andy Moor, known for his work
with Tilt and as half of Leama & Moor. The first single
from the album, "Air for Life", was released in
July '05. In July '08 Above & Beyond released the album
Sirens of the Sea under the artist name OceanLab, one of Above
& Beyond's side projects. Then in July '09 they released
"Sirens Of The Sea Remixed", a remix album for the
OceanLab album Sirens of the Sea. Currently, Above & Beyond
are working on a 2nd artist album projected with the release
date tba. The first single from the album, "Anjunabeach"
was released in October 2009.
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