Above & Beyond is one of the most successful progressive trance groups in the world. Their repertoire is endless as they’ve been making music and collaborating with many world class musicians for over 15 years. The group consists of Jono Grant, Paavo Siljamäki, and Tony McGuiness. We had the opportunity to speak with one of the groups founding members, Jono Grant, about their recent album We Are All We Need, the musicians he admires, and life on the road.
Can you tell me a little about your new album, We Are All We Need. What were some of the challenges with making the album?
I think when we made Group Therapy we had a lot of songs we hadn’t used on Tri-State and we hadn’t used on the OceanLab album, well, mainly the OceanLab album, that being before Group Therapy; where as with We Are All We Need we needed to start fresh. It was a completely blank slate, and I think that’s why it took so long, I think the next album might come out a bit sooner, but we had to start from scratch and then it’s working out how to produce the tracks once you’ve written them. Some tracks like “Making Plans” was a challenging one—we were trying to make a four on the floor dance track and it just didn’t work. So, we ended up going a bit more break-beat with that one for example. Sometimes when you got the songs its challenging to work out exactly how to present it because there’s so many different roads you could go down, and you got to know when to stop, really.
You collaborated with various artists to include Alex Vargas, Zoë Johnston, Gemma Hayes, and Justine Suissa. What was that experience like?
It was great! We’ve been working with Zoë now for quite a few years, and Justine—we did the whole OceanLab album with, and Gemma Hayes is someone we heard on the track “Wicked Game” which is a cover of Chris Isaac track and it was on our Anjunabeats Volume Series, the last one we released; so, it was great to get a new vocalist on board—just really loved her voice. Alex Vargas, we introduced him through the acoustic album. We really liked his voice, he is a great performer as well. Working with him is great and we also wrote “All Over the World” with him. It was great working with all of these people, they are all nice people, first and foremost. They’re easy to work with.
What is the most fulfilling part about being with Above & Beyond?
For me, its making records. They’re the things that you look back on. When you finish a new track, there is nothing quite like that feeling and then, later on from that, its how the audience responds to it. You know, you make these tracks and you’re very involved—almost like a little hermit crab in the studio, and you work your way, and then you take it to the outside world. That’s the second exciting and fulfilling bit, I think, it’s having the opportunity to share this music with people and for them to be interested in it. Its one thing making music, sitting there in the studio, but the fact that people find it relevant and enjoy it in their lives and it becomes a soundtrack to their lives, that’s an incredible thing. We don’t ask for that, people enjoy it and make of it what they will. That’s really beautiful. It gives you a great sense of purpose.
Who are some musicians you admire and listen to on a daily basis?
There is not one musician I listen to on a daily basis but the music I grew up with is quite diverse. I mean everything from Miles Davis on the jazz tip to Jean-Michel Jarre, the Pet Shop Boys, New Order, all that kind-of pop stuff, even like Steely Dan who I think wrote some amazing songs, The Beatles, obviously. I try to listen to a diverse selection of music rather than dance music because dance music is a derivative form of music and you need to be inspired by other music and make it work in a club format. The language of music is a bit deeper than dance music and dance music is almost like a carrier for the emotions and the ideas.
You guys are currently on tour. What’s life like on the road and what essentials do you take with you?
Life on the road is a mix baggage actually. Its full of high’s and low’s—often the lows because you’re tired, to be honest. The high’s, obviously are the amazing gigs and people you meet and their stories you hear. In terms of essentials we carry on the road, it’s all the kind of boring stuff really, laptops, on this tour bus—pajamas, essentials. All I need really is some clothes, laptop, and some headphones to do this job on the road. And good people I think are the essentials.
Above & Beyond
www.aboveandbeyond.nu
Below is a photo recap by Saul Torres of Above & Beyond’s performance at Buchannan’s Event Center on Tuesday March 10, 2015. Unfortunately, Jono was not present at this show.
