Greg Benz

Originating from London, Ontario, Canadian DJ Greg Benz (www.gregbenz.com) began his first residency in 1999 at DV8 nightclub. In early 2000 he joined the RISE! Family, a predominant production company in South-Western Ontario as the resident DJ for their clubs and special events. Greg maintained a busy traveling schedule performing at numerous clubs and events across North America including the infamous Sona (Montréal) and Turbo (Toronto). In a short time Greg managed to quickly climb the ranks and earn himself a spot as one of the most wanted progressive DJ's in Canada.

In the summer of 2001, Greg put the finishing touches on his collection of studio gear.
Greg and his studio partner Marco Di Carlo were introduced at a local club where Greg was holding a monthly residency. Their mutual admiration for progressive house, atmospheric breaks and techno, soon led them to the studio where their experimenting and writing inevitably set the foundation of what their sound offers today.

In 2003, Benz & MD (www.benz-md.com ) have exploded onto the global dance music scene with seven signed compositions, a handful of remixes and endless praises by some of the world's top producers and DJ's. The duo has a very promising future ahead for them. Their sound can be described as a fresh, sophisticated blend of deep melodies, twisted grooves and tight arrangements that captivates the listener from start to finish.

While growing up in Southern Ontario, music was a dominant force in the duos lives. Hip Hop, house music and compilations by Sasha and Digweed served as a preface to Greg's DJ career. With over 8 years as a DJ now under his belt, Greg has played along side some of the worlds top Dj's such as Max Graham, Richie Hawtin, John Acquaviva, Chris Fortier, Donalde Glaude, Dave Ralph and Mistress Barbara. Greg's knowledge for the mechanics of dance music and his understanding of what it takes to make a crowd move are not only evident in his hometown but also spans the global scene. In April of 2003 John Digweed himself invited Benz to share the airwaves with him on his esteemed radio program on Kiss FM. The international feedback of Greg' s set for the KISS FM show has positioned Greg Benz as the next generation of up and coming DJ's to watch for.

While Marco's tastes led him to a formal musical training background, his teaching and playing music as a teen helped shape his musical vocabulary. Marco dipped his melodic hands into all types of music from classical, jazz and blues, to soul and hard rock. The guitar was his instrument of choice but after being introduced to the lush and intricate sounds of groups like Underworld, Orbital, Depeche Mode and Way Out West; Marco soon switched over to synthesizers, samplers and software-based instruments. Also an accomplished and world wide recognized digital artist, Marco draws on his musical talents as an extension of his artistry. Where by the layering and texturing of sounds can be paralleled to painting with colours and composition.

Benz&MD’s initial demo material received enthusiastic responses from several established record labels and prompted John Digweed to personally call and comment on the quality of each composition. The initial seven demos were all signed and remixes were also commissioned. International support was received from such DJ's as Sasha, John Digweed, Armin Van Buuren, Hybrid, Anthony Pappa, Nick Warren, James Holden, Max Graham, Satoshie Tomeii, John Acquaviva, Jerry Bonham, Matthew Dekay, Mick Burns, Shiloh, Starkid, Subsky, Fred Numpf, Brad Copeland etc.

In early 2004 there own record label "Aurium Recordings" (www.auriumrecordings.com) will be up and running. The label is run by Greg, Marco and partner David Strauss and will concentrate on pushing a more melodic progressive sound. Tracks and remix's already signed by Benz & MD themselves, Subsky, Bluehaze, Shiloh, Delikate Imposters with many more to follow...

With more productions, a record label and remixes already in the works for 2005, you can listen for a tougher, deeper polished sound from the duo who will continue pushing the sonic envelope to emotionally charge their listeners on and off the dance floor.

Inate

Keith McDonnell - Producer / DJ & owner of UK dance imprints Baroque, Method & Electrofly Records.. as well as Critical Rhythm Label Group Management

Keith has been DJing for the last 12 years and producing, on and off, for the last 6. As with most, he started out by dj’ing in his own back yard - Coventry - and gradually went further afield to venues like the legendary "Milk Bar" - London, the "House" & later the "Garage" club in Nottingham & Bonds in Birmingham . Towards the end of ‘99 a plan was hatched and Keith set up baroque records ( with Mick park of Tilt ). Keith left his job as an engineer to look after the running of the label, they signed Odessi ‘Moments of Space’ and the rest is history… then in 2003 Keith took over the label and is now in sole control of the helm!


As a DJ Keith plays "a solid selection of chunky, fiery house music. Over the years he has played all over the world inc. Israel, Germany, Ireland, USA inc Orlando, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Texas & Miami, Poland, Lithuania, China etc.... As well as around the UK. Highlights of Keith’s Djing in 2001 include Spundae in San Francisco & LA, Stern Radio in Berlin, The Cross in London & his best event to date was djing with Danny Tenaglia @ Dannys own ‘Vinyl’ night in NYC!... and his current fave place to DJ is Shaghai in China, he’s been there 3 Times already in 2005!

On the production side he works under his ‘Innate’ guise, reflecting his own tuff and twisted sound and has released such classics as ‘Innate’ - ‘changes’ track , which went on to be signed by Platipus following it’s massive success on baroque, with support from all the usual suspects. It’s inclusion on various compilations (including the ‘Home’ CD mixed by Steve Lawler) and being used twice in Parks & Wilson’s Essential mix on Radio 1 helped raise the Innate profile. He has also released ‘Roots Rock’the Andy Moor & Bill Hamel col lab track titled ‘Barotek’ which was produced in Orlando on one of Keith’s visits. He has also remixed Jade 'The Safar' (which received support from Pete Tong on radio 1), Sleepfreaks ‘P.H.B’ & Nash T ‘Orca’ & Sinead O’Conner’s ‘Guide me God’… as well as may productions & remixes on his own label, baroque


On top of all this he’s constantly working hard on his labels & the running of the label management company – Critical Rhythm, which looks after some of the worlds finest labels inc. Quivver’s - BozBoz.. Benz & MDs - Aurium, SOG, Nascent & Climax.

Quivver

John Graham is a globally renowned leader of the international dance music scene with a spine tingling career spanning more than a decade. Productions under his 'Quivver' 'Space Manoeuvres' 'Stoneproof' 'Skanna' and 'Tilt' aliases have built him an impressive yet diverse fan base which includes the likes of Sasha, John Digweed and Paul Oakenfold through to Fabio & Grooverider.

Behind the decks John has graced many of the world's most inspiring locations including wowing crowds at the Olympic Village in Sydney and delivering his sound to new ears on regular North and South American tours.

John has been a prominent feature at many of the most prolific festivals including Glastonbury, Homelands, Ultra and Extrema whilst his club repertoire stands equally tall ranging from the likes of Cream, Liverpool to Crobar, Miami and Pacha, Ibiza to Spundae, San Francisco, not to mention his well publicised residency at the worlds best known club in recent years, New York's Twilo.

Taking a trip into John's history as an artist is like taking a magical journey through much of what is good in the last decade of electronic music. It all began at A&M Records where John and writing partner Neil Barry produced a couple of tracks under the Quivver guise named 'Saxy Lady' and 'Twist & Shout'. Both tracks went on to receive huge dancefloor support across the globe and in turn catapulting Quivver into a household name.

A shake up at A&M and a split with his recording partner set up a frenzied chase for the John Graham/Quivver signature. First off the mark was Paul Oakenfold who, already a huge fan, saw this extreme talent free for the taking and wasted no time in snapping him up for his Perfecto label. Over the next two years John became a key member of the Perfecto squadron performing globally with their legendary tours and releasing groundbreaking tracks to catch the attention of even the non dance music listener.

After the demise of Perfecto and their split from East West, John was offered a deal with Virgin Records and began a new downbeat vocal project as Stoneproof. Not one to break old habits, the first Stoneproof single 'Everything's not You' received huge critical acclaim at club level and propelled itself onto an elite and impressive accolade of compilation CDs including Northern Exposure, Resident - 2 Years of Oakenfold at Cream and Sasha's Global Underground Album.

John joined up with Italian supernova band 'Planet Funk' in 2004 where he wrote and performed vocally on seven tracks for their second album scoring an impressive Number 4 in the album charts on it's recent release. Following in the same footsteps which seems to guide John through success with every project he lays his name to, the first single from the album entitled 'Stop Me' looks set to be a huge hit and has already been licensed to Coca Cola for their current advertising campaign in Italy whilst receiving the title of Pete Tong's Essential tune on BBC Radio 1.

So to 2005 and what's next for John Graham? It's commonly known that many performers of the world class calibre John was born to can easily suffer writers block after such an illustrious decade, but John? No chance. With an ever increasing number of requests for international performances both live and as a DJ, a 4 track EP 'The 4 Fatties' due out on his own Boz Boz label and the long awaited Space Manoeuvres album coming up combined with a DJ mix compilation and long awaited supporting global tour, the Planet Funk album and an ever increasing global profile it's business as usual for one of electronic music's brightest stars.

Shiloh

Dubbed “Breaks Men of the Moment” by Hooj.com, brothers Colin and Justin Moreh are the 2 peas that form the Shiloh pod. Finding it hard to get them to talk about anything seriously, I find I hit a chord when mentioning the close relationship they seem to have with one another. “Everything we do stems from the fact that we love hanging out with each other—whether watching hockey or sorting out new tracks. Individually I think we make good music, but the combined effect is exponential—we compliment each other in a huge way,” tells Justin. “When we finally decided to really work hard together to make our first demo, we finished 8 tracks in under 2 weeks and 3 of them got signed immediately. This really solidified what we could accomplish as a duo,” added Colin. Solidify it, it did—Shiloh have enjoyed huge support by many a large DJ including, Jonathan Lisle, Luke Chable, Sasha, Tayo, James Zabiela, John Digweed, Nick Warren, Hernan Cattaneo, Adam Freeland, BLIM, Meat Katie, etc., numerous plays on BBC Radio One, and their records have topped hype charts and record shop sales charts the world over, with their first offering, the massive “Will U Ever Come Around”, signed to a reality TV series in the UK.

Formerly, Colin DJ’d with the name Maya and was the first west coast Canadian DJ to travel internationally, and did so on a regular basis, playing with the DJs that form a who’s who list of the profession–from Little Louis Vega to Paul Van Dyk. Maya got equal billing with the likes of Danny Howells, Lottie, Max Graham, Christopher Lawrence, etc. and received mention in DJ magazine, Muzik, and a full page write-up in M8 magazine. Colin has DJ’d at some of the most coveted and high profile clubs and parties like Ireland’s number one voted club—the Boom Boom Room, Germany’s top club at the time—Proto X, and headlined M8 magazine’s 1-year club-night anniversary; all to stellar reviews and has held numerous residencies—at one time co-resident with Max Graham for Sweet, one of North America’s hottest promoters for many years. No stranger to radio, Colin DJ’d in a featured prime-time spot on the largest German speaking radio station in the world—HR3.

Before Justin started producing with brother, Colin, he had already become respected in dance music circles on his own merit. He started out producing tracks with Propellerheads’ cult software, Rebirth, in 1996. He quickly became one of the most recognized Rebirth artists in the world, often a beta tester for leading music software products. “I’m so stoked to be making tracks for myself now instead of workin’ for da man!” said Justin—referring to working and remixing for labels as a producer for hire. More than a young electronic music prodigy Justin is also an accomplished musician and vocalist, travelling around North America with various bands.

Colin has rekindled the DJing fire, with Justin in tow this time around. Their mixes are receiving global attention and praise, and a Proton Radio monthly residency came about after their Featured Artist Mix shattered the previous record for listeners. Shiloh, partnering with Scena, also has a 3 hour radio show called Planet Shiloh (or “Mir Shiloh”) airing once a month on Radio Re-cord 106.3 FM based in Saint-Petersburg Russia who broadcast all over the northwest region of Russia and the Ukraine—syndicated on radio stations all over Russia. Some of the most prolific and consistent producers out there, Shiloh’s incredible body of work has translated into a phenomenal full live show, with live percussion, synthwork, and bass guitar—and a midi controlled setup from Cubase, run off of PC.

Shiloh’s full length artist album as well as a mix compilation are to be released toward the end 2004, with a plethora of original records, remixes, and DJ compilation appearances coming out over the next months. Shiloh’s huge mark on the industry in such a short period time has been cut deep—and not just in the breaks community, but underground dance music as a whole anxiously anticipates each future offering.