To any dance music fan, the words “Above & Beyond“, might be the only few in pair, that send a rush of adrenaline, passion, amazement & wonder through their entire system, right to the edge of their extremities. They are the only artist collective that hold a place so special, in so many people’s hearts, that they are worshipped as Gods; And watching them play live is considered a once in a lifetime pilgrimage that must be performed. It is considered an experience, an ethereal point at which all of this worlds most powerful and positive emotions collect and overflow.

There are DJ’s that can rock clubs, and demolish festivals. There are artists that can create music and write songs so powerful, they can send your heart racing and shivers down your spine. These guys can do both. They are indeed the ‘Holy Trinity of Dance Music’. From winning the BBC Essential Mix of the Year, to playing to one million people. What’s truly wondrous about them is that they’ve created music backed by such power, which is enough to entrance and move a crowd of a million to such an extent, that all of them may be found, singing along, word-for-word.

Above & Beyond make music, pure and simple with the desire to connect with people. “We’re a group,” says Above & Beyond founder Tony McGuinness. “And what we’re trying to do is exactly do that, connect with people. You try and describe something in your own life, but in a way that will resonate with other people. When you see people singing along as passionately as they do, I guess you’re getting it right.” This makes Above & Beyond unique, not just in trance, but in popular music as well. “We like to think of ourselves as songwriters first,” says Paavo Siljamaki, who with Jono Grant makes up the trio. “That’s our approach to music. The most challenging thing is to write a song that really touches the listener.”

Jono Grant and Paavo Siljamäki met at the University of Westminster, where they were both pursuing a degree in electronic engineering. Having discovered a common mutual interest for electronic music, they decided to collaborate in writing music together. Following Siljamäki’s suggestion, they set up the Anjunabeats label in the summer of 1999 with the release of their first single, “Volume One,” under the alias Anjunabeats. Initially, the Anjunabeats record label was founded as a medium to release their own music. Since the label acquired the same name as their production alias, however, they started to release music under different names, most notably as “Dirt Devils” and “Free State”.

The original mix of “Volume One,” packaged with their “Tease Dub Mix”, received immediate attention in various dance clubs and quickly gained support from DJ’s such as Pete Tong, Paul Oakenfold, Judge Jules, and Paul van Dyk, after Jono Grant and Paavo Siljamäki personally handed a dub plate of the song to Paul Oakenfold in 2000 at the now-defunct London nightclub, “Home”.

Following the success of “Volume One” and a string of singles and remixes under their Free State and Dirt Devils alter egos, the Marketing Director & Manager of the Warner Music Group, Tony McGuinness, was alerted to the duo by his brother, Liam McGuinness. Liam had purchased a sample library that Jono Grant had created for Yamaha, and got in touch with Jono. Having been commissioned to remix Chakra’s “Home,” Tony McGuinness recruited Grant and Siljamäki to help him complete the remix.

When the group was searching for a name to use for their Chakra remix, the inspiration came from a web page belonging to an American motivational trainer coincidentally named Jono Grant. Grant had the poster stuck to his wall. The slogan used by the motivational trainer was “Above & Beyond”, and they decided to use that as their name. 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 on BBC Radio 1, it reached number one in the UK club charts.

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 stone 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. Later, Above & Beyond did 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 collaborations with Andy Moor and vocalists Carrie Skipper, Ashley Tomberlin, Zoë Johnston, and Richard Bedford. Above & Beyond’s single “No One On Earth,” featuring the vocals of Zoë Johnston, soon followed. It was voted Tune of the Year for 2004 in Armin van Buuren’s trance radio show A State of Trance.

They began their DJing career in grand style in 2002, in front of 8,000 people in Tokyo. Since then they have become globetrotting superstars. In 2004 they won ‘Essential Mix of the Year’, proving just how deftly they navigate the full spectrum of melodic dance music, with sets that cross genres with ease and that encompass the trancier side of house, progressive and techno.

In 2006, Above & Beyond released their first artist album Tri-State which was greeted with rave reviews. “Brilliant,” said DJ Magazine. “The ultimate fulfillment of any dance act’s ambition”. The sheer quality of the songwriting on this album shone through as it swept from euphoric melodies to atmospheric down-tempo moments. Above & Beyond had most certainly arrived. “Tri-State was our first attempt at writing an album”, said Paavo. “We felt the perfect album wouldn’t be 12 club tracks but a collection of songs that take you on a journey. It took over a year to do it. There were moments where we weren’t really sure. But in the end we feel we made something we could be proud of”.

The first single to be heard from Above & Beyond’s second artist album, Group Therapy was “Thing Called Love” featuring vocals from Richard Bedford and was also featured in the Anjunabeats Volume 8 compilation album released on 19 July 2010. After months of writing, refining, and perfecting, Above & Beyond’s hugely anticipated second artist album Group Therapy was released to widespread critical acclaim on 6 June 2011.

Hitting #1 in the iTunes Dance Album charts, the album was also hugely well-received by the dance music press. DJ Magazine put the three members of Above & Beyond on the cover of their May issue, describing them as the “biggest DJ/production collective the UK has ever produced”. Mixmag hailed the album as “Artist Album of the Year”. The album comprised of beautiful downtempo moments, such as the classical piano-influenced opening track “Filmic” and the reflective “Only Few Things,” featuring Zoë Johnston, as well as the more uptempo club tracks such as “Sun & Moon,” “Thing Called Love,” and “Prelude.” All songs are written and produced by Above & Beyond, with Richard Bedford providing the male voice throughout the album and Zoë Johnston providing the female vocals.

They have played at the most prestigious dance music festivals in the world, and to sold out venues all over the globe. Their fan following ranks in the millions. In 2013, Above & Beyond continued to headline and perform at several dance music festivals, including Ultra Music Festival, Electric Daisy Carnival, Tomorrowland and Stereosonic. The group also performed their first-ever acoustic shows at Porchester Hall in London and The Greek Theater in Los Angeles, featuring Zoë Johnston, Alex Vargas and Annie Drury, amongst other special guests such as Skrillex.  On October 26, 2013, Above & Beyond celebrated Episode 050 of Group Therapy Radio at Alexandra Palace in London with a live 7-hour broadcast

Apart from all these they own two of the most prestigious labels in dance music, Anjunabeats and Anjunadeep. Anjunabeats releases Trance and Progressive music whereas Anjunadeep focuses on the deeper side of electronic music.

They have even been hosts to their own radio show, starting with Trance Around The World. Trance Around the World was a weekly radio show comprising a total number of 450 episodes from 2004 to 2012. It reached an audience of 30 million listeners in 35 countries weekly, making it one of the most listened to radio shows in the world. TATW also served as a platform to promote new artists on Above & Beyond’s renowned Anjunabeats label.

There have been various special episodes of TATW, including live Above & Beyond sets from festivals and radio episodic milestones, such as Episode 400, which was celebrated in November 2011 in Beirut, Lebanon. Trance Around the World ended its nine-year broadcast in November 2012, celebrating Episode 450 in Bangalore, India. After which, they currently host Group Therapy Radio as a successor to Trance Around The World, the first episode of which was held on the very same day & date, in Bangalore, India, where they celebrated the final TATW episode.

What audiences around the world also respond to is the professionalism and enthusiasm that Above & Beyond bring to their art. There is a warmth about the trio that people love. Tony is the one who gives it all on stage. “Tony is really the rock n’ roll star of the whole crew. He’s the guy with the most experience, in life, in many things”, says Paavo, “and he still manages to be the kid of the group”. Tony sums up his band members with equal enthusiasm. “Jono is ambivalent about the incredible talent he has. He has a lot of energy, he is fearless when he’s DJing and is always in a good mood”. If Jono’s contribution is an effortless musicality, says Tony, Paavo adds heart and soul. “What he brings in a sense is how to bring out the emotion in a track.” 

Check out some of Above & Beyond’s most notable tracks.

This month, Submerge shall be bringing Above & Beyond with their Group Therapy phenomenon to India once again, only this time, its a 4 city tour! Upon the announcement of which, all social media platforms in the country were buzzing with mentions. Above & Beyond was trending in India for a whole day, within seconds. Many even have personal countdowns to the day these three colossi of dance shall descend play at their home city. We can’t wait to receive Group Therapy and catch them live.  It is, indeed, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. So mark your calendars, if you haven’t yet already!

Catch the trio at:

Pune, on Thursday 21st November, 2013

Bangalore, on Friday 22nd November, 2013

Delhi, on Saturday 23rd November, 2013

Mumbai, on Sunday 24th November, 2013

Click here for further details!