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Blank & Jones | |
|---|---|
 Performance in Washington D.C., 2006 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Cologne, Germany |
| Genres | Electronic,trip hop,house,trance,downtempo |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Labels | Kontor (current) WEA Records Edel Music EMI,Varèse Sarabande |
| Members | Jan Pieter Blank (aka Piet Blank) Rene Runge (aka DJ Jaspa Jones) |
| Website | blankandjones.com |
Blank & Jones are a German electronic music group, consisting of Jan Pieter Blank (born June 15, 1971), known as Piet Blank; René Runge (born June 27, 1968), better known as DJ Jaspa Jones; and the producer Andy Kaufhold (N*D*K) (born December 17, 1969). They have released twelve albums and more than two dozen singles since their first single release "Sunrise" in 1997.
Piet Blank, who became interested in music after purchasing his first record "Kids in America" byKim Wilde, had his first experience spinning a record on a turntable at age 16. René Runge, who resides inDüsseldorf and who is better known as Jaspa Jones, had his first experience as a DJ at age 19.[1] Together with help from Andy Kaufhold, they formed the trance production team Piet Blank & Jaspa Jones (which would later become simply Blank & Jones) after meeting at thePopkomm music conference.[2]
Even though they had been together for a few years, they did not release their first single, "Sunrise", until 1997. Their first album,In the Mix, was a studio production that came out in 1999. As of 2008, thirteen of their singles have made it into the German top 50, and three into the top 20. Each album made the top 50, including two which reached the top ten.
Blank & Jones have teamed up withRobert Smith fromthe Cure,Anne Clark,Sarah McLachlan,Claudia Brücken from (Propaganda),Pet Shop Boys, andDelerium. They have also contributed to theCafé del Mar compilation series and produced their ownchill-out albums, the 15 editions of theRelax series.
They released a single entitled "Miracle Cure" on May 30, 2008, off their studio albumThe Logic of Pleasure which is a collaboration withNew Order's frontmanBernard Sumner. This collaboration was realised with the help of Berlin-based record producerMark Reeder who is a long term friend of Sumner's. Blank & Jones invited Reeder to remix "Miracle Cure" and this in turn, brought about their collaboration with him and a new project was conceived. This resulted in Reeder completely reworking most of the Blank & Jones vocal tracks for the successful and highly acclaimed 2009 albumReordered.[3]
In 2012, they produced a new album for German singerSandra titledStay in Touch.[4][5]
In 2006, Blank & Jones and their long-standing production colleague Andy Kaufhold collated their finest material on one release,The Singles, which also included two new tracks:
We felt the time had come to put all our singles together on one CD, we preferred to see it as one step along the way, rather than a mere retrospective. A little breather before we moved onto new pastures ... Our aim was to retain the flair of each original track. We wanted them to sound just as they did when we made them, but clearer, in the same way as one restores a painting. You don't paint it from scratch, you just bring out the colours again.[6]
The album was also released in Limited Edition format, in whichThe Singles are complemented by a DVD, bringing together all Blank & Jones videos on one disc for the first time. The videos feature people such as Estella Warren and Til Schweiger in "Beyond Time", the latter having also directed the clip. The DVD was produced and designed by Thomas Jahn, scriptwriter and director ofKnocking on Heaven's Door. The video for the single "Catch" was directed by Conchita Soares and Toni Froschhammer which features TV actress Nadine Warmuth.
From 2009 to 2019, they curated a series of compilation albums featuring '80s music calledSo80s. The series had 24 volumes. In 2011, they curatedSo80s PresentsKajagoogoo.[7] In 2012, they curatedSo80s albums featuringFalco[8] andSandra.[4] In 2014, they curatedSo80s presents Alphaville.[9]
The chart success of Blank & Jones is partially based on their club gigs, radio shows and other live performances including events such asLove Parade,StreetParade and Mayday. The success is further boosted by their activeness as moderators on Eins Live-TV and by being the co-hosts onViva-Clubrotation.[1]
When asked about the key to their success, their response is:
We do everything digitally, on the basis ofFinal Scratch, which allows us to use our own edits and mixes, nothing comes straight from tape. Every set we play is unique, not only sound-wise but also in terms of what we play and how we play it. Roughly 60% of our set consists of our own repertoire, as where better to present our own material than via the DJ decks.[6]
Blank & Jones have performed at major festivals and raves in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Russia. They have also traveled further afield on a regular basis, to Canada, Mexico, South America and Australia.
Piet Blank is also the host of theClub Mix that is aired on international flights byLufthansa, where he hosts a two-hour radio show that shows different artists such asTotally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs andFritz Kalkbrenner. The show is hosted in German as well as in English.
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