He's been called a "phenom" by bay-area international jocks and dance music emperors Jondi and Spesh. Ingo Vogelmann (L2Music owner, Frisky Radio host, and Frisky Records artist) has called him "the most talented person I've ever met". His releases to date have seen support from Darin Epsilon, Sultan, LeMonnier, and Michael Deep, Taucher, and many others.
For quite sometime, though, the artist formerly known as "Nero", who used to remix as "Bent Perception", has been climbing out of obscurity and into his own as... himself. Dropping monickers and aiming a bit higher all the time, Jonah Hakanson is well on his way to becoming the next big thing in progressive dance music culture.
Jonah Hakanson has been a decade in the electronic music world as a DJ and music producer. Jonah was born and raised in Oregon, USA. He was introduced, at a very young age, to the digital music production environment via his father. Growing up around synthesizers, MIDI sequencing software, and with a solidly musical family, Hakanson eventually delved into music first with an improv rock band in his late teens, and then... once introduced to electronic dance music... never stepped away from it. After exploring the music while DJing at the college radio station in his hometown, throwing the tiny burg's first rave (and dodging the cops), Hakanson got serious about producing music.
Jonah signed his first official record deal with Looq (of Jondi and Spesh fame) in San Francisco in 2005. The single of She's Been Sold/Last Dream received some major west-coast support, and Jondi and Spesh used it as their secret dancefloor weapon for that season. As Jonah's first release, it shot stunningly to #8 on the Balance Record Pool chart. Also, in late 2005, Jonah submitted his track Resonator to L2 Music run by Ingo Vogelmann. Resonator was signed after a tempo adjustment, over-nighted via FTP, and began a valuable connection with one of Germany's go-to guys for progressive dance music.
In mid 2007 Jonah signed his track Lost to Pacifc Front which compiled an EP of several remixes, and later also released Summer Solstice with Dustin Howie on the same label. He has a handful of releases on local Portland label Akashik Records, including a collaboration with talented Portland singer-songwriter Laura Ivancie, and is now operating his own "Undergone" brand seeking to create a repository of new sound that will likely feature prominently in future performances.
Jonah has been a guest at nights such as Qool Portland, Spektrum Saturdays, and also at the Fire Electronic Music Festival 2009. He helped found Portland area indie dance label Akashik, as well as helping to launch dBz Crew, and the new Current dance music community, of Forum Night fame, in Portland. He operated, off and on, his own imprint dubbed N:M (for Nero: Music), and has some remixes under his belt for Portland community producers. His sound has been described as thoughtful, melodic, straight-up progressive house, with an emphasis on the House part. His DJ sets tend to style themselves between straight-up progressive vibes to tech-house frenzies, with lots of layers, dubs, acapellas, and custom edits worked in along the way. Imagine a less reserved Sasha. But, the core of the sound Jonah Hakanson has sought has been those moments that really change people, spontaneous collisions of perfect and unexpected harmony, and whatever it takes to keep human beings moving.
Jonah Hakanson is currently working on a full length album of original production work titled "Now Feel This" for Frisky Records, with technical genius support from Ingo Vogelmann. The leading single and sole vocal piece "Why You Can't Trust Yourself" has already caught the enthusiastic support of world famous electronic dance music producer Charlie May, among others.
March, 2010
