nen ‘bisschen’ was über concord dawn… btw, dieser track hat mich nach nem jahr dnb pause erstmal wieder zum dnb hingezogen… obwohl er mir dann recht schnell auf den keks ging, weil der track überall lief und ich mir ja soooo sehr gewünscht hätte das der typ endlich mal seine fresse hält! 
Concord Dawn consists of two passionate musicians, Matt Harvey (aka Matty C) and Evan Short (aka Kiljoy), who burst onto the scene back in mid-1999 with their unique high-octane brand of drum ‘n’ bass. It took the duo no time at all to establish themselves as the darlings of the local bNet student radio stations up and down the country, who spun their stand-up-and-take-notice tunes on hefty rotation. They were featured at the top of several weekly top tens and even broke records at some stations for staying at the number one spot for as long as they did. After about a year or so of this underground success, they were head-hunted by local electronic music label Kog Transmissions and released their first self-titled album in July, 2000.
Since then, the local boys done good have been flying the flag for Kiwi electronic music all over the world, thus earning themselves the tag of ‘New Zealand’s pioneers of drum ‘n’ bass’. International heavyweights such as Grooverider, Goldie, DJ Hype, Ed Rush, Dieselboy, Bad Company, Total Science, Digital, Trace, Klute, Bailey, Fierce, Marcus Intalex, Kemal, Cause For Concern and many others have been playing Concord Dawn songs for the past few years, proving that it is not just homegrown pride that has contributed to their success here in New Zealand.
They have also earnt a fearsome reputation for their live performances by criss-crossing the globe to tour extensively in Asia, America, Europe, Canada and Australia. In addition, they have featured at almost all of the major dance festivals in Aotearoa, including the Big Day Out, Phat 05, the Gathering, Alpine Unity, Destination, Rippon, Splore, X-Air and numerous university Orientations (including several at our fine institution).
The Concord Dawn story has been a long time in the making and began aeons ago when Matt and Evan met at school at the tender age of 11. Once they discovered their mutual love for music, they formed a band together and started jamming every afternoon. The music they made was a tad different to what they produce now, however – they played tunes from the likes of Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones! Until a few years later, that is, when they fell in love with the rave culture. Their affair with this exciting new phenomenon began when Evan was given a jungle mix-tape from friends at school which awakened his musical curiosity. The tape had several classics on it such as ‘Disturbance’ by Hyper-On Experience and tunes from DJ Crystal and Kenny Ken. Meanwhile, around this time Matt became hugely-influenced by DJ Aaron, one of the founders of the New Zealand drum ‘n’ bass scene. The pair was instantly drawn to this new sound, and began experimenting with creating their own version of it: “Jungle combined a lot of the music we were into at the time. It was a mash-up of rock, jazz and hip hop, but had the energy of dance music”.
The boys crossed paths again at audio engineering school and got their heads together to write some tunes. Almost immediately after putting pen to paper to sign with Kog Transmissions, they began working on album number one. That collection of high-energy thumpers was well received by the local audience, meaning Concord Dawn could then attempt their first foray into the vinyl market. They did so by issuing two 12-inch releases taken from the album. This was followed in quick succession by second album Disturbance, which both refined and expanded upon the energetic sound they had so quickly become known for. The sophomore effort consolidated their local fan base and began to attract interest from overseas.
For the next year, they went into hiatus to refine the Concord Dawn sound further, with Evan heading to London for six months to immerse himself in the culture of the drum ‘n’ bass homeland. Upon his return, work was commenced on album three, Uprising, which included classics like ‘Morning Light’ and ‘Don’t Tell Me’. The exceptional response to these tunes resulted in Concord Dawn signing to UK-based labels and securing their first overseas gigs. ‘Morning Light’ was the first release off the album and was a huge breakthrough. It was a big success on both the club dancefloors and on commercial radio, debuting just short of the top 100 in the UK charts. In November, 2002, the song featured on the Mixmag cover CD (alongside other Concord Dawn tracks ‘Aurora’ and ‘Take Me Away’) with a new mix by John B. It also appeared on DJ Craze’s Live in Puerto Rico DVD and DJ Bailey’s Soul Thunder mix CD.
‘Don’t Tell Me’, with its frisky lyrics and gritty baseline, was noticeably different to anything the duo had done before. Due to its originality and dance floor popularity, it got snapped up for another Mixmag cover CD and was accompanied by ‘Ninja’, another track from Uprising. ‘Raining Blood’, a heavy metal-influenced tune, was the third single off the album and displayed the pair’s diverse knowledge in, and passion for, music of all forms. When the much-anticipated album finally dropped in New Zealand in late-2003, it achieved gold sales status in just three months – an unprecedented result for a local drum ‘n’ bass release.
With Concord Dawn now well-established internationally and their catalogue being distributed worldwide, Evan and Matt embarked on a seemingly never-ending world tour, travelling all over the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia. Uprising won Best Album and Best Electronic Release at the 2004 bNet music awards, while Concord Dawn were also nominated for Best Electronic Act at the 2004 NZ Music Awards, but narrowly missed out to Salmonella Dub.
In between the frantic touring, they found time to begin formulating ideas for next album Chaos By Design, which is the second release on their own label Uprising Records. The record – so-titled as a reference to the musically-eclectic nature of the songs it contains – won critical acclaim worldwide and picked up Best Electronic Album at the 2006 NZ Music Awards. Another worldwide tour was embarked on shortly after the release, although this time the pair split up to cover more ground. Matt relocated to Vienna, Austria, to work the European side of the industry harder with Evan covering his homeland, Australia, Asia and the Americas from his base on Waiheke Island. Work on a fifth album began early last year, but there has been no word yet on a likely release date.
Recently:
- fundus: til death do us part [screensaver]
- fundus: what the fuck is heimat
- kronk ^^
- lolcatz&dogz
- bäm!
- rofl des tages.
- frohes neues!
- sneaky preview…
- good bye!
- toll.
