Djenga

Twenty seven year-old Ian O'Brien was born in Essex and grew up listening to the sounds of his parents' favourite musicians, The Beatles and Stevie Wonder. As a teenager he became seriously interested in music when a friend introduced him to the sound of fusion group Weather Report and funkster Herbie Hancock. He took up Guitar and went to college in his home town of Southend to study music. Around this time he became interested in electronic music after accidentally discovering the music of Underground Resistance, Derrick May and the other Detroit techno artists of the time. Inspired by the Detroit sounds, Ian took up production and released his debut EP as 'Memory Tree' in 1995 (co-produced with Asad Rizvi), receiving playlist support from Kiss FM's Colin Dale and Colin Faver. This was followed by a string of recordings for UK underground labels including Ferox, 4th Wave and Pacific records. His debut album 'DESERT SCORES' was released in February 1997 on Ferox records, to great critical acclaim. The album marked a change in style and enabled Ian to be seen not only as a techno producer, but also as an experimental artist exploring new sounds and styles. The album's extensive use of odd time signatures set a trend that was heard on electronic records throughout the late 90's. As a result of the record's widespread appeal, he went on to do remix and production work for artists as diverse as Lisa Stansfield, Japanese artist Monday Michiru and Belgian pop stars Telex. He has since collaborated on material with some of the best techno artists on the scene - including Claude Young and Kirk Degiorgio amongst others. His long-awaited second album 'Gigantic Days' was released on Peacefrog in April 1999, with 'A History Of Things To Come' following in 2002.