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Grant and Siljamäki were college buddies at the University of Westminster and formed the label Ajunabeats in the summer of 1999. The label produced music under the names “Dirt Devils,” “Free State,” and the label name “Ajunabeats.” The first single under Ajunabeats called “Volume One” garnered the attention of Warner Music Group’s Tony McGuiness. Together with Grant and Siljamäki, McGuiness decided to collaborate on a remix of Chakra’s song “Home.” Thus, Above and Beyond was born.
The group was fundamentally known to produce remixes of hit songs, notably “What It Feels Like For a Girl” by Madonna in 2001. At the time, they also worked with artists Adamski, Fragma, Delerium, and Japanese artist Ayumi Hamaski.
Following the collab with Hamaski, Above and Beyond was introduced to a huge audience in Tokyo in 2002 and their popularity expanded soon thereafter. Madonna commissioned the trio to remix another song “Nobody Knows Me.”
It was not until 2006 that the trio decided to release an album of original songs entitled “Tri-State” which shook up the EDM and trance music industry. They received much love and attention in the UK and from ULTRA festival site, Miami, FL. The single “Air For Life” was concluded to be Tune of the Year in 2005 by the radio show “State of Trance.” The following year “Good for Me” featuring Zoë Johnston was declared Tune of the Year for 2006. The song “Alone Tonight” with Richard Bedford won the best trance track of 2006 at the 22nd International Dance Music Awards in Miami.
On 6 June 2011 Above and Beyond’s sophomore album “Group Therapy” was released with vocals by Richard Bedford and Zoë Johnston. It reached #1on the iTunes Dance Album chart. The album contains both fast-paced trance and mellower rhythms. The hits “Thing Called Love” and “Sun and Moon” both featuring Bedford became favorites on the airwaves in the UK.
Above and Beyond hosts a weekly radio show called Group Therapy Radio, and celebrated their 100th episode in October 2014 at Madison Square Garden in New York, U.S. The name Above and Beyond comes from a poster by American motivational trainer Jono Grant’s motto “Above and Beyond.”
With an artist father, a violinist mother and a singer sister, there was absolutely no way Matan Zohar was going to have a normal job. After being gifted a guitar by his father at age 8, Mat began to develop an interest in music and when he returned back to England as an eleven year old after a ten year stint in America, he added the drums and bass to his repertoire as he joined several bands.
Around this time though he began to take an interest in electronic music due to the influence of popular acts at the time such as Daft Punk and The Chemical Brothers and before long he began shifting his talents towards producing and Djing. He started grinding in his city, putting in work on the DJ circuit and furiously producing in his bedroom until he was picked up by Anjunabeats, the Trance label founded by legendary UK dance act Above & Beyond.
With the perfect home for his talents, Mat Zo’s productions began to pick up substantial critical acclaim. His collaboration with Porter Robinson hit number one on Beatport and paved the way for the release of his 2013 debut album, ‘Damage Control’. Featuring the talents of Chuck D and many more, the album was considered a sterling first effort, building his profile and allowing him to begin to tour prolifically. He has also released productions under the Moniker MRSA, a name which he uses to showcase more Drum and Bass leaning productions.
Tony McGuinness, Paavo Siljamaki, and Jono Grant are three incredible human beings who have the talent to take music and turn it into an emotionally profound state of mind, a sense of everything beautiful, Above & Beyond leave their fans, their listeners, and their audience, a feeling of something way Beyond one I can begin to describe.
Above & Beyond does not create what you would think to be as just "electronic music", the group took their talents and their intelligence with instruments, singing, and their interests in electronic music to form something that really is Above & Beyond. The lyrics and melodies formed in a song promote one thing more than anything, love, pure love, the kind of love that stays with you over time. The group has the upmost capability, through what they do best, to completely transform ones outlook on life and the things around them.
Being given the chance to see them in March of 2013 was one of the best things that has ever happened to me. They did one thing that not all musicians do, they made a connection with the crowd before they started playing, a bond with the crowd as if we were their closest and dearest friends. As the show began and I felt the vibrations of the sounds, and the energy of nothing but happiness, I thought to myself, we are some incredibly lucky people to be able to be here right now. I never thought there was so much you could learn from a group of musicians, they make music but most importantly they leave an impact on hundreds of thousands around the world. As Tony McGuinness said in the midst of their experience doing "Above & Beyond Acoustic" (look up on youtube!), "we don't tend to just stick a bit of vocals over a track, that's not the way that we work" those words can give you an idea of the complexity and brilliance behind the group that really goes Above & Beyond.
vElectronic music is an increasingly difficult genre to break into professionally, as it becomes more and more popular. However, for Grum, his emergence into the industry was relatively smooth in comparison with many struggling artists. After the release Heartbeats, his debut album, he began being compared to the likes of Daft Punk with his progressive house sound.
After the release of Human Touch, I saw that he was playing relatively near me, so I thought I’d get a ticket. I’ve always been into his music, but I wasn’t expecting the atmosphere and talent to be as epic as It was. The lighting was fabulous, in true house music and trance style, and Grum’s playing off the mixing desk with his synths and tracks to work with was awesome. Watching a DJ work you really get an insight to how intense it must be, constantly altering levels, adding new sounds, and transitioning from one track to the next.
Throughout the show, he was encouraging everyone to dance, which wasn’t too difficult, as everyone appeared to be absolutely loving the show, and getting involved without any need for encouragement. The show went on for well over 2 hours, and it was nonstop with great music and dancing start to finish. I’ll definitely be going back!
The best fucking 2 hour set I've ever heard! It was one epic track after the next. I don't think I've ever been this pumped up. I'm still sore from that night.
KILL THE ZO. All I can say was that these two packed some serious punch together. When tag teaming those Pioneers the true magic begins to show. Kill the Noise and Mat Zo both had separate sets which gave a little taste of both the artists style and preference. At about 12 they both got on and it was all a blur from then on transitions were on point and gave a lot of unique sound to make this a memorable night for everyone there
Trance music isn’t something that I usually go to see performed live, but I’m a huge fan of Oliver Smith’s mixes and original work, and heard that he plays great sets, so had to go and check him out. His energy was sky high for the entire performance, and had his intimate audience dancing form start to finish. I’ve never been to a DJ set with a small-ish audience before, and I was worried that it wouldn’t have the same buzz and high energy, but if anything, it heightened everything and had everyone appreciating what they were seeing even more.
He played a great set of remixes and original tracks, and had everyone dancing along and singing to the vocal samples that he used in his music. He was great at shouting out to the audience and getting us hyped for the drop and then the next track. He’s got a long way to go before he’ll be playing arenas, but his foundations and basic skills are absolutely fantastic, and he deserves all the recognition he can get.