Anjunabeats

Anjunabeats is Jono Grant and Paavo Siljamaki. They were later joined by Tony to become Above & Beyond. Anjunabeats was formed when Jono Grant and Paavo Siljamaki met at Westminster University and discovered a mutual love of electronic music. The pair kicked off the label in 2000 with ‘Anjunabeats Volume 1’, a massive club success which instantly ear-pricked the likes of Pete Tong, Paul Oakenfold and Paul van Dyk. The bomb had dropped and the Anjunabeats name was firmly on the map.

Anjunabeats is Jono Grant and Paavo Siljamaki. They were later joined by Tony to become Above & Beyond. Anjunabeats was formed when Jono Grant and Paavo Siljamaki met at Westminster University and discovered a mutual love of electronic music. The pair kicked off the label in 2000 with ‘Anjunabeats Volume 1’, a massive club success which instantly ear-pricked the likes of Pete Tong, Paul Oakenfold and Paul van Dyk. The bomb had dropped and the Anjunabeats name was firmly on the map. Soon afterwards Jono and Paavo became friends with fellow producer Tony McGuinness and together the three went on to form Above & Beyond.

When the Above & Beyond remix of Chakra ‘Home’ reached number one in the UK club charts, the trio had many of the world’s leading labels knocking at their door, offering some interesting remix opportunities. The most exciting came from Madonna, who invited the boys to give ‘What It Feels Like For A Girl’ the Above & Beyond treatment. As Above & Beyond’s profile as artists grew, so did the Anjunabeats label. It provided the perfect outlet for their numerous production projects – Oceanlab, Aalto, Freestate, Nitromethane, POS, Rollerball and Tranquillity Base – and every release was warmly received by elite DJ’s and club-goers across the globe. In late 2002 James Grant joined the Anjunabeats management team and the label began to expand its output, signing a series of fresh artists. The first external track to be released was Rusch and Murray’s much talked about ‘Epic’ – a track made entirely across Internet forums by two producers who’ve never met –, with subsequent signings including Finnish trance maestro Super8 (who later joined forces with DJ Tab), talented UK duo Smith & Pledger and Dutch Deep Tech Genius, Stephen J.Kroos. Since then, the roster has expanded to over 30 artists and Anjunabeats has earned a reputation as one the most consistent dance labels in the world, with its releases proving to be essential tools for many of the world's top DJs.

In February 2008, the label achieved the rare milestone of 100 vinyl releases and celebrated with a series of Anjunabeach parties, including a return to the label's roots in Goa. These days Anjunabeats also has a younger sibling in the form of Anjunadeep, a melodic house offshoot whose regular fans include the likes of Sasha, Desyn Masiello and James Zabiela. More than just a record label, Anjunabeats has become a global community for like-minded fans of electronic music, and now ranks as one of the most influential forces in dance music today. “Above & Beyond's Anjunabeats label is one of the most innovative dance music imprints around… they have brought through a raft of hot electronic talent, shattering listeners’ pre-conceptions of what trance can be” - DJ Magazine “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 “The UK's new dance superstars” – Pete Tong, Radio 1 “One of the top trance labels out there” – Ferry Corsten “They are a great team and have released some fantastic tunes” Paul Van Dyk User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL..