Tony, Paavo & Jono about Andrew Bayer: “It says in his biography that Andrew was forced into piano lessons by his parents. I smiled when I read that, imagining a cartoon in The New Yorker with a young, reticent Mozart being ordered to the piano by his dad. Andrew clearly took to music like a fish to water, but to complete that analogy properly he would have to be a flying fish, equally gifted whatever the medium.
Releasing music professionally since the age of 15, he first came to our attention as part of transatlantic trance duo Signalrunners, with Scottish producer Alan Nimmo. After high school he went to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston and found it inspiring and productive, with the Signalrunners output during that time becoming increasingly innovative and exciting. “Electric Sheep” (a nod to Bladerunner, his favourite movie), “These Shoulders” and “Meet Me In Montauk” are all groundbreaking Anjunabeats classics to this day.
His first solo release was his awesome remix of OceanLab’s “Secret” in 2009, and for his final year project at Berklee he began working on an album. The tracks he was making bore little relation to the music he’d been doing as part of Signalrunners, but at Anjunabeats that’s never a problem if the music is great—and “It’s Artificial” was beyond great. Andrew has never “stayed in his lane”, and this trait—along with his extraordinary talent and positive vibes—led to us inviting him to London to be our in-house production manager. Whilst waiting for his visa to be approved, Andrew spent the year making some incredible club tracks with Boom Jinx (“To The Six”, “Keyboard Cowboys” and “Fracture”, among many) and finishing his first album, which was released in 2011. His second album again bore little relation to what had preceded it and, again, was extraordinary. Filled with highlights “Gaff’s Eulogy”, “Lose Sight” and “Need Your Love” (marking the start of his long relationship with Norwegian vocalist Ana Brun), ‘If It Were You We’d Never Leave’ (2013) is one of Anjuna’s most-played albums.
Post album two, Andrew had a purple patch of club bangers (“Once Lydian”, “Bullet Catch”, “Mirth Mobile”), “Superhuman” with Danish singer Asbjørn and yet more club monsters (“Celestial”, “Signs Of The Fall” with Berklee friend Alison May). For his third album Andrew again changed lanes, deciding to solidify his songwriting chops with Ane Brun and Alison May. The result, considered by some as his magnum opus, was ‘In My Last Life’— a collection of beautiful love songs that again owed very little to the dance floor that Andrew is often associated with, instead drawing its inspirations from influences as far and wide as Talk Talk, Aphex Twin, Kate Bush and Atoms For Peace.
The reason for this long, yet still incomplete biographic introduction to Andrew’s 20 years of Anjuna mix is that his mix contains none of his own releases. And that’s the measure of the man: I know from working with Andrew on Above & Beyond music these last eight (Grammy-nominated) years that he is refreshingly selfless, and as excited about your ideas as you are. And he has great ears. Please enjoy the Anjuna releases that have inspired him the most.”
Andrew Bayer’s edition of “20 Years Of Anjunabeats” is out on November 26th 2020!
Get your Copy of “Andrew Bayer Presents: 20 Years Of Anjunabeats” here:
https://anjunabeats.ffm.to/re20yab.szq
Tracklist “Andrew Bayer Presents: 20 Years Of Anjunabeats”:
01. Above & Beyond – Hello
02. Super8 & Tab – Needs To Feel (Wippenberg Remix)
03. Oliver Smith – Pacific
04. Bart Claessen – 90 Nights of Summer
05. Super8 & Tab – Helsinki Scorchin’
06. Maor Levi – Reflect
07. Super8 & P.O.S. pres. Aalto – 5
08. Above & Beyond vs. Andy Moor – Air For Life
09. Remo-con – Cold Front (Bart Claessen Remix)
10. Activa pres. Solar Movement – Eclipse (Mat Zo Remix)
11. Bart Claessen – Elf
Andrew Bayer Presents: 20 Years Of Anjunabeats
