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Above & Beyond (Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness and Paavo Siljamaki) came together in 2000 originally to complete a remix of Chakra's club classic "Home" for WEA.
Jono Grant and Paavo Siljamaki had met at Westminster University and kicked off the Anjunabeats label in summer 1999 with ‘Anjunabeats Volume 1’, a massive club track which gained support from Pete Tong, Oakie and P.V.D.
Alerted to the pair by his brother Liam, producer Tony McGuinness called in Jono and Paavo to help him complete the Chakra remix while he was still working at Warners. They plucked the name Above & Beyond from a web page belonging to an American motivational trainer called Jono Grant which was stuck on the wall of the studio. Although they were unknown at the time, the Above & Beyond remix of Chakra ‘Home’ was picked over remixes by Rob Searle and Tilt to be the A side mix, and after plays on Pete Tong reached number one in the UK club charts.
Soon the trio had many of the world’s leading labels knocking at their door, offering some interesting remix opportunities. Aurora "Ordinary World", Fragma "Everytime", Armin's Perpetuous Dreamer "The Sound Of Goodbye" and Adamski "In The City" quickly followed and began to build a reputation for the team as the UK's leading vocal trance remixers.
Their most famous remix was for Madonna, who's single ‘What It Feels Like For A Girl’ was originally given the Above & Beyond treatment on spec, but the result so impressed Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie that they decided to make the video for the track to the A&B mix.
As Above & Beyond’s profile as artists grew, so did the Anjunabeats label. It provided an outlet for their numerous production projects – Oceanlab (Above & Beyond plus Justine Suissa), Tranquillity Base, Tongue of God and Rollerball (Above & Beyond in disguise) plus side projects like Aalto, Freestate, Nitromethane and POS. Every release was warmly received by elite DJ’s and club-goers across the globe.
After conquering the remix world and spawning a number of pseudonyms, the first Above & Beyond single "Far From In Love" was released in 2002 to widespread critical acclaim. Featuring the vocals of trance legend Kate Cameron (who'd provided many vocals for the Chakra team, including "Home") this sad song became a club anthem.
In 2002 the boys began their DJ career in earnest, making their debut in Japan in front of 8,000 crazy Tokyo clubbers, on a bill featuring Ferry Corsten and DJ Tlesto. Pretty soon Above & Beyond were DJ'ing all over the globe, with residency at UK club Passion, dates for Gatecrasher in the UK and abroad, appearances at Godskitchen and tours of Canada, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Russia and the USA.
Late in 2003 the boys flexed their remix muscles again, breathing new life into club classics "Loneliness" (Tomcraft) and "When The Rush Comes" (Motorcycle), as well as being asked back by the Queen of pop Madonna to give a bit of edge to "Nobody Knows Me". Future remixes include the new Britney Spears single "Everytime" and Delerium's club classic "Silence".
Above & Beyond made their live debut at Passion in 2004 and are planning more live dates later in the year. They have also started a radio show on Ministry Of Sound Radio called Trance Around The World. The show has been so succesful for MOS that they have moved it to a weekly slot and Above & Beyond now own Tuesday evenings the way Armin owns Thursdays.
Meanwhile, the new Above & Beyond single "No One On Earth", featuring the vocals of Faithless star Zoe Johnston, has become an anthem off the back of just four CDR's (the other three given to Armin, PVD and guest remixers Gabriel & Dresden) the track was the first track ever to be made Record Of The Week for two weeks in a row on ASOT.
“I can’t remember my last set that didn’t have an Above & Beyond production in it. They sound great on the radio and rock any dancefloor. I think all the Anjunabeats tunes are in my box at the moment.” – Armin van Buuren
“They are a great team and have released some fantastic tunes.” - Paul van Dyk.