If you’ve been anywhere near an electronic music event in the past few years, the likelihood is that at least one point during the evening you will have been moving to the hypnotic sounds of Marco Lys.
Born and raised in Italy’s legendary Venice, Marco Lys’s reputation has been forged on endless days in the studio perfecting his unique sound of electro tinged house, and demand for his sound has continued to grow with every piece of production that he works his magic on.
Lys’s career is testament to those who feel that things come too easy for the modern day electronic music producer, but to all those in the industry who have been involved with his work, none are surprised at his success, and this was demonstrated in 1990 when Lys was invited to supply the guest mix his native Radio Luna.
The mix earned praise from far and wide, and Luna immediately established Lys as their weekly resident on the show. Spinning at various private parties and some of the most prestigious clubs in North Italy and Austria, the young dj was soon drawn into the world of producing and after a year of experimenting with different sound, he released his first of many tracks.
Twenty years later and he is firmly established as one of the most respected producers in his genre, with an endless flow of superlative productions as 'Your Love', 'Speechless', 'la Tromba' and remix projects for the industry’s finest imprints.
His work on labels that include Strictly Rhythm, Positiva, Rising Music, Nebula, Oxyd, Audio Therapy, Baroque, Rise and Direction have gained support from the cream of the world’s elite, whilst collaborations with Sam Paganini, Michael Gray, Filo & Peri, Matt Darey, My Digital Enemy and Chris Lake amongst others show his diversity and ability to bend his sound to suit.
Lys’ recent album collaboration with Chris Lake, ‘Cross The Line’ was released on Rising Music in September 2010 and gained strong support across the house music spectrum from artists and tastemakers worldwide.
On the remix tip, Lys continues to push the boundaries, and with various original projects now complete and due for release over the coming months, Lys is now firmly back on the remix scene, with projects for some of the biggest labels on the planet.
If all this wasn’t enough, Marco Lys continues to guest on the radio. He is now the main force behind Italy’s hottest radio program ‘ In Da Klubb’ that goes out every Friday and Saturday night on the 105 Network, and allows him to showcase his latest sounds to the nation.
2010 has seen Marco playing on some of the most important clubs in Europe as The Space in Leeds, Base Club in Krakow, Plan B in London and Amnesia in Ibiza to name a few.
It’s easy to see why Marco Lys is the name on the lips of label heads and top producers across the globe.
Spawned and groomed in to society in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, JED HARPER was obsessed with music from an early age, which he initially expressed in his teens as a Hip Hop DJ under the name JEDI. Knowing that he wanted to make music his life’s work, JED HARPER completed a Bachelors Degree in Radio & Television Arts at Ryerson University, which lead him to the epicenter of Canada’s nightlife community; Toronto.
While still attending University, JED HARPER began playing open format “mash up” sets around Toronto, which caught the attention of CKLN radio station; who helped him land his first residency at VINCE CARTER’s INSIDE nightclub in 2001. After signing as a resident at INSIDE, the offers started rolling in, and JED HARPER (under the name JEDI) quickly became a leading force in the new sound of “mash up”. “At the time, you either played Hip Hop, or you played House”, explains Jed. “I would typically be playing a 5 hour set at my residencies; so playing one genre was really limiting, and got dull quickly. So I started playing whatever I wanted; and it worked. This was when mash-up was starting to explode, so everyone was booking me; and I was playing out typically 6 nights a week for years.” Over the course of the next 8 years, JED HARPER held the title of main resident at a majority of Toronto’s leading nightclubs, including GUVERNMENT, CiRCA, THIS IS LONDON, CENTURY ROOM, LOT 332, CHEVAL, COBRA; the list goes on. You name the club; he was probably the resident at its height of popularity.
Along the way, JED HARPER had a plethora of achievements, including Deejaying for KANYE WEST, and performing alongside names such as DAVID GUETTA, ROGER SANCHEZ, BASEMENT JAXX, BLACK EYED PEAS, and WYCLEF JEAN. JED HARPER’s success also found him being requested to perform at celebrity parties for icons such as SEAN COMB’s (P-DIDDY), PARIS HILTON, NELLY FURTARDO, and JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE. To top off his list of name dropping, JED HARPER was also honoured with the offer to become the OFFICIAL TORONTO BLUE JAYS DJAY; a title that he still holds proudly.
In 2008, JED HARPER focused on pursing his love for electronic music, and launched his own record label, BAD CONCEPT RECORDS. In 2009, he released his first original production “GET IT GIRL Featuring CHOCLAIR”, which sat in the Beatport Top 100 for 5 weeks, reaching #31. Since then, JED HARPER has been producing & song writing for GIRLICIOUS (“2 In The Morning”; #35 Canadian Hot 100, #29 Canadian Hot AC), MEISA KUROKI (“Bye Bye My Friend”; #5 OMNICRON Chart), HOWIE of the BACKSTREET BOYS (“One Hundred”; TBR), and remixes for JRDN (“You Can Have It All”), CANDY COATED KILLERS (“Neon Black”), and DY & DANNY FERNANDES (“Passenger”). This year also saw Jed being requested on the festival circuit, including sets at ULTRA MUSIC FESTIVAL in Miami, USA, and THE BPM FESTIVAL in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
In 2010, JED HARPER decided to hang up the name “JEDI”, and focus on electronic music production full time, under his real name. “I was spending so much time in the studio writing music, and everything that was coming out of me was house music”, explains Jed. “I had wanted to drop the name JEDI for a while; and I felt like this was the right time to do it. I was making a change in my music direction; and this seemed like a good anchor to identify the change”. To further signify the change in his sound, JED HARPER also started producing events through BAD CONCEPT RECORDS and began inviting guests such as JOACHIM GARRAUD, EDDIE HALLIWELL, and MICHAEL WOODS to perform. “I didn’t want to be producing electronic music all day, and then playing mash-up sets at night; it didn’t make any sense”, continues Jed. “I had 6 weekly residencies at the time, and was playing out from Tuesday to Sunday. So I pulled out of a few of my projects to focus on producing events that catered to my sound. My new focus is to make BAD CONCEPT RECORDS a completely 360 label, and have all of the projects I’m working on compliment each other”.
2011 sees JED HARPER continue with his fully loaded schedule; including DJ tour dates across North America, an onslaught of both original & remix productions, and producing events around the Toronto area.
