Blank & Jones Biography Some facts about Blank & Jones Location: Cologne (Köln), Germany Members: Piet Blank, Jaspa Jones, Andy Kaufhold Studio: Spacedust studios in Düsseldorf, Germany Year of appearance: 1996-97 Label: Gang Go Music/WEA Previous label: Kontor Records/Edel
Piet Blank and Jaspa Jones met at the party organized by Eins Live Radio. Piet tells:    – We met in 1996 at a big Popkomm party in Cologne. I asked Jaspa, if he wanted to do a remix for my project, Gorgeous. He said yes, but he was very slow and our record company was waiting desperately for the remix. So I decided to go to Jaspa's studio to help him with the final mixdown. We finished the remix very fast, and there was some time left, so we did the first Blank and Jones remix. The first Blank and Jones track was done for the Mayday Album in 1997, my first Mayday gig ever. And so Blank & Jones project was born (called "Piet Blank & Jaspa Jones" then). "Sunrise" was followed by house hit "Heartbeat" and "Flying To The Moon" (but not very big hits yet). Soon afterwards the third member of the project joined Piet & Jaspa – Andy Kaufhold, having already made a remix of "Flying To The Moon" under the name N*D*K and being a part of Gorgeous project together with Piet. Although he doesn't perform with Piet and Jaspa he can be seen behind them with his cam during their DJ-gigs. The trio also formed Da Bomb project, and Jaspa became a part of Gorgeous. They started to release their music under the famous Kontor Records label (as Blank & Jones alias). And soon these threesome literally exploded world's dancefloors with their first trance track "Cream". It was something extraordinary, the sound never heard before. But after the breakthrough they released many descent tracks to become really successful hits. After the first album, "In Da Mix", was made they released "After Love" as the single. Though the original mix was rather similar to "Cream" the single contained new "I-B-I-Z-A Mix/Shortcut" that demonstrates that they can be very diverse. "The Nightfly" rushed into charts in the spring of the year 2000 and conquered hearts of many people all over the world. Then "DJ Culture" album was produced. Blank & Jones (called already this way) then gained their own unmistakable sound, and that tender female voice became recognizable attribute of their work. Then Blank & Jones left Kontor Records and started to release under Gang Go Music label. In May 2001 the totally fresh sound came with "Nightclubbing" album, however, something distinctive in the sound remained. The first single form the 3rd album was released only in the late autumn. That was amazing "Beyond Time". It became the soundtrack to the movie "Jetzt Oder Nie – Zeit Ist Geld" ("[It's] Now Or Never – Time Is Money") by Til Schweiger, who also filmed the video clip. With the 2nd single from "Nightclubbing", "DJs, Fans & Freaks (D.F.F.)", Blank & Jones showed again that they can be different. In the limited edition of the album there were the first ambient mixes. With the next single, "Desire" (February 2002), guys reached their top place in the charts at the moment (#10). The follow-up album, "Substance", was also very well accepted. In 2002 Blank & Jones released their first mix CD, called simply "The Mix vol. 1", that meant there were going to be its sequels (they made "Trance Mix USA vol. 2" before, but the tracks were chosen according to label's demands). The track #2 "The Hardest Heart" featuring Anne Clark was released as the single and it was the first track with guest artist (except Dieter Meier's, a famous Yello producer, the speaking voice in "DJ Culture" intro). 2003 was the year of genre expansion for Blank & Jones. First, they produced the album for Anne Clark ("Sleeper In Metropolis 3000"). Second, in April the time came for "Relax" album, that showed Blank & Jones' huge talent in chillout and ambient. Together with such great artists like Pet Shop Boys, Sarah McLachlan, Claudia Brücken (the singer of the 80s band Propaganda) and Elles de Graaf (the voice of Armin van Buuren's "Perpetuous Dreamer" project). The track they made for Mayday gig, "A Night To Remember", is a hard techno. In summer the new part of "The Mix" was produced. At last, their longing to expand the boundaries led to the unusual collaboration between them and Robert Smith (a gothic rock band The Cure singer), – "A Forest" single. As their music examples both Piet & Jaspa call Pet Shop Boys and Depeche Mode. As the other favorites they call e.g. The Cure so they are very happy to cooperate with them! They have produced the incredible remix of Pet Shop Boys tune "Home & Dry" and also "Love Comes Quickly" mix that was included in "Relax". Now guys are concentrated on Blank & Jones project but as their old projects like Da Bomb and Gorgeous or Jaspa Jones solo they made some pretty famous tracks and remixes in the past, e.g. Gorgeous – Don't Stop or Da Bomb – The Original. As remixers they did remixes of such famous tracks like Moby – James Bond Theme or Bellini – Samba de Janeiro as Da Bomb. Today, as Blank & Jones, they have a number of remixed tunes representing their own unique manner. Just to give an example, Wolfsheim – Wundervoll or Fragma – You Are Alive. Besides their producing Blank & Jones are DJs first of all. Although they are mostly into trance now, they spin some different vinyl sometimes, like house or techno. They are guests on many parties and of course on the biggest events like Love Parade, Nature One, Mayday or Trance Energy. They also play in small clubs. They create a special atmosphere wherever they perform. The DJing experience defines their production, their mixes bring you that exceptional party feeling. Their albums sound like perfect DJ mixes, and they drive crowds insane with their performances everywhere. You can listen to their regular sets on N-Joy and Digitally Imported Radio (In The Mix with Blank & Jones). There were some other shows in the past: on Eins Live (Partyservice with Piet Blank), the monthly stream on Digitally Imported Radio. For more information, visit the official Blank & Jones site.