Above & Beyond (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Above & Beyond

---

Img_capt = Paavo Siljamäki (left) and Tony McGuinness (right) performing at the Pacha club in New York City, June 2007
Img_size =
Landscape =
Background = group_or_band
Alias =
Origin = London, United Kingdom
Genre = Uplifting trance
Vocal trance
Years_active = 2000 - present
Label = Anjunabeats, Ultra Records
Associated_acts = OceanLab, Tranquility Base, Dirt Devils, Sad Lovers and Giants
URL = [http://www.aboveandbeyond.nu/ www.aboveandbeyond.nu/]
Current_members = Jonathan "Jono" Grant
Tony McGuinness
Paavo Siljamäki
Past_members =

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. The group's tracks are regularly played by well-known DJs, such as Tiësto, Armin van Buuren, Ferry Corsten, ATB 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 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. [ [http://www.harderfaster.net/text/features/10694 Above & Beyond Interview from 2004] . Retrieved on July 24 2008.]

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. [cite web|url=http://www.gurn.net/interviews/above_and_beyond/04-07-2004|title=www.gurn.net/interviews/above_and_beyond/04-07-2004 ] 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

multi-listen item
filename=Madonna - What It Feels Like For a Girl (Above & Beyond Video Edit).ogg
title="Madonna - What It Feels Like For a Girl (Above & Beyond Video Edit)"
description= Sample of Above & Beyond's video remix of Madonna's "What It Feels Like For A Girl".
format=Ogg

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, would go on to gain its own notoriety. Most recently,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 collobations with Andy Moor and vocalists Carrie Skipper, Ashley Tomberlin, Zoë Johnston and Richard Bedford.

Late in 2003 they remixed club classics such as 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 summer classic "Sand In My Shoes" and Delerium's club classic "Silence".

Later Productions

Above & Beyond's single "No One On Earth", featuring the vocals of Faithless member Zoe Johnston, followed. It was the first track ever to be made Tune of the Week for two weeks in a row on Armin van Buuren's trance radio show A State of Trance.Fact|date=February 2007 It was also voted Tune of the year for 2004 in Armin's show.

Early in 2006 the band released their debut artist album, "Tri-State" to critical acclaim. UK Dance magazine DJ Mag, normally quite hostile to trance acts, gave the album a rare 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

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. [cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/essentialmix/tracklistingarchive.shtml?20041226|title=Essential Mix of the year 2004|accessmonthday=July 24|accessyear=2008] They also broadcast a weekly radio show called Trance Around The World.

Above & Beyond are currently ranked #6 in the DJ Mag top 100 poll from 2007, [cite web|url=http://www.djmag.com/index.php?op=top100dj&top100dj_op=results&results_op=2007&search_op=display&top_100_id=6&limit_num=250&page=1|title=Above & Beyond at DJ Mag Poll|accessmonthday=July 24|accessyear=2008] having entered at #39 in 2004 [cite web|url=http://www.djmag.com/index.php?op=top100dj&top100dj_op=results&year=2004|title=Above & Beyond new entry at DJ Mag Poll|accessmonthday=July 24|accessyear=2008]

Discography

Album

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.

ingles

* 2003 "Far from in Love" (featuring Kate Cameron)
* 2004 "No One on Earth" (featuring Zoë Johnston)
* 2005 "Air for Life" (Above & Beyond featuring Andy Moor)
* 2006 "Alone Tonight" (featuring Richard Bedford)
* 2006 "Can't Sleep" (featuring Ashley Tomberlin)
* 2007 "Good For Me" (featuring Zoë Johnston)
* 2007 "Home" (featuring Hannah Thomas)

Remixes

* Adam Nickey - "Never Gone"
* Adamski - "In the City"
* Aurora - "Ordinary World"
* Ayumi Hamasaki - "M"
* Billie Ray Martin - "Honey"
* Britney Spears - "Everytime"
* Catch - "Walk on Water"
* Chakra - "Home"
* Chakra - "I Am"
* Dario G - "Dream to Me"
* Delerium - "Silence"
* Delerium - "Underwater"
* Dido - "Sand in My Shoes"
* DJ Tomcraft - "Loneliness"
* DT8 - "Destination"
* Every Little Thing - "Face the Change"
* Exile - "Your Eyes Only"
* Ferry Corsten - "Holding On"
* Fragma - "Every Time You Need Me"
* Madonna - "Nobody Knows Me"
* Madonna - "What It Feels Like for a Girl"
* Matt Hardwick vs. Smith & Pledger - "Day One"
* Motorcycle - "As the Rush Comes"
* Mystery - "The Mystery"
* Oceanlab - "Breaking Ties"
* Oceanlab - "Clear Blue Water"
* Oceanlab - "Satellite"
* Oceanlab - "Sirens of the Sea"
* Oceanlab - "Miracle"
* Perpetuous Dreamer - "The Sound of Goodbye"
* Purple Mood - "One Night In Tokyo"
* Rollerball - "Albinoni"
* Rusch & Murray - "Epic"
* Sebatu - "Prayer"
* Three Drives on a Vinyl - "Sunset on Ibiza"
* Tranquility Base - "Razorfish"
* Vivian Green - "Emotional Rollercoaster"

ee also

* Trance Around the World
* Anjunabeats
* Anjunadeep
* OceanLab

References

External links

*
* [http://www.anjunabeats.com Above & Beyond's label]
*
*
*
*
*