TECHNASIA/ GREEN VELVET - SUGA

Technasia, also known as Charles Siegling, is a musician and DJ raised and based in Paris. Until 2008, the group also consisted of other founding member, Amil Khan, raised and based in Hong Kong. After meeting in China during the 90's, they felt it was time to put South East Asia on the world map of electronic dance music and started their musical duo and label Technasia in 1996. In 2008, Amil took the decision to quit the duo in order to commit exclusively to raising his newly born child. He remains however until today a very strong input in all label and artist management related issues. Charles is now the sole member of Technasia. Charles and Amil have built their notoriety during these last decade with acclaimed hit tracks such as 'Oxide', '2 The Floor', 'Descent', 'Future Mix', 'Hydra', 'Force' or 'Final Quadrant'. They have been exposed to a variety of electronic music and is influenced in their works by early electronic sounds from the likes of Yellow Magic Orchestra, Coil, Xymox, Einstuerzende Neubauten, Depeche Mode. Technasia is also known for Charles Siegling's striking DJ sets as well as unique live acts, performed in solo by Charles Siegling and in the past as a duo with Amil Khan. They have performed until today at all top electronic music festivals, events and clubs on the planet. Technasia is also proud to host several club residencies worldwide in high profile venues such as Womb in Tokyo, Nitsa in Barcelona and Rex Club in Paris. During these last 8 years, Charles and Amil have extended their activities to artist production and label management, conducting executive production (through their label Sino) and booking management for artists such as Joris Voorn, Renato Cohen, Christian Smith, Steve Rachmad or more recently Dosem. 2009 More Sino Live! performances planned together with Renato Cohen as well as with upcoming new Sino talent Dosem. Remix for Subotic 'Pause It' on Dmom (to be released in March '09). Remixes for Marc Romboy 'The Beat' on Systematic Recordings (to be released). Remixes for Mauro Picotto 'Living For The Night' on Alchemy (to be released). Executive production for Renato Cohen's first album '16 Billion Drum Kicks' on Sino (to be released). 2008 Technasia & Renato Cohen perform a series of live performances entitled 'Sino Live!' in several major festivals: Wire (Japan), Circuito (Brazil), Electromind (France) & Monegros (Spain). New Technasia original release, 'Oxide', followed by two Renato Cohen remixes. Remixes for Joris Voorn's 'No Revolution' on Green. Amil quits Technasia to give himself more time to raise his newly born son. 2007 Remixes for Theo Parrish's cult tracks 'Falling Up'. Technasia conducts executive production for the several albums of fellow artists: Steve Rachmad ('Neo Classica' on Sino), Joris Voorn ('From A Deep Place' on Green) and Christian Smith & John Selway ('The Coming Storm' on Sino). 2006 Technasia releases their second album 'Popsoda' in May 2006. It features collaboration with DJ Nasty, Fletch Flex, DJ Godfather, Joris Voorn, John Thomas, Renato Cohen and Dave Clarke. The album also features several vocal tracks. In order to promote the album, Technasia goes on the road again for a new Live tour from April to December 2006. Launch of 'Module', Subaka's label, co-managed by Technasia. 2005 Launch of 'Green', Joris Voorn's label, co-managed by Technasia. Launch of 'Ethique' and 'Static Drum', John Thomas' labels, co-managed by Technasia. 2004 Launch of 'The Steppin' Show', label run together by Technasia and John Thomas. The fellas also run a party of the same name every 2 months at the Rex Club in Paris. 2003 'Recreations' is released. It is a collaborative musical journey of Technasia's past renowned productions conceived alongside Claude Young, Funk D'Void, Renato Cohen, John Tejada. In March '03, Technasia starts a 60-date/5-month world live tour, visiting most popular clubs and festivals. Charles Siegling is invited to do the third volume of the renowned Brussels' Fuse Club mix CD series, released in October 2003. The mix shows Charles Siegling's unique ability to mix, tweak, scratch and shuffle a wide variety of music styles- from Old-Skool House to Techno and Detroit Electro. 2002 Technasia launches the 'Plus' mix cd series (carrying the same name as the popular events in China and Japan), with the first one being Charles' mix, recorded live at Club Orange in Beijing in April 2001 and released in February 2002. Amil Khan's 'Plus' mix CD follows in October 2002. 2001 Technasia releases their first classic album 'Future Mix'. It won Technasia three award trophies (Best Album, Single and Newcomer) at the 2001 Edition of Berlin's Musik and Machine Awards. The album acts as a tribute to the pioneering Chinese radio show of the same name. Presented by Charles and a local Chinese radio DJ, Michael Nee, 'The Future Mix' was broadcasted from 1998 to 2001 to the entire South East China province of Guangdong (Hong Kong, Canton, Shenzhen, Foshan...) covering a population of 60 million people. The album features excerpts and jingles from the actual radio show itself! Technasia tours as a Live set which takes them to leading events and clubs worldwide. Charles Siegling starts several DJ residencies in popular electronic music clubs such as Fuse in Brussels, Rex Club in Paris and Nitsa in Barcelona. 1999 Launch of Sino, the first Technasia/Technorient affiliated label. It will host artists such as Joris Voorn, John Thomas, Renato Cohen, Dubfire, Petrae Foy, Kelli Hand, DJ Skull, Steve Rachmad... Launch of Star Tracks, Charles Siegling's solo label. The sound is radically techno DJ tools oriented. 1997 Technasia releases their very first EP 'Themes From A Neon City'. 1996 Amil Khan and Charles Siegling meet in Hong Kong. Thru their common influence and taste in electronic music, they decide to start to make music together. They base their newly created music production units (Technasia and Technorient Music) in Hong Kong, in order to put South East Asia on the world map electronic dance music. 1974 Birth of Charles Siegling in Paris, France. 1972 Birth of Amil Khan in Hong Kong, China. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

Using the Green Velvet moniker to make his singularly twisted, funk-flecked house and techno hybrid, it was as Cajmere that he made his first musical mark back in the early 90's after ditching school half way through a post-grad, chemical engineering degree at top-notch US college Berkeley. Up until then, music had been a hobby fueled by cobbling together tracks on a "sixty buck keyboard, a cheap four-track and a cheap drum machine" while still an undergraduate at the University of Illinois. In 1992, after surviving on cheese sandwiches and maximizing credit limits, Cajmere finally made an imprint on the dance community with his infectious experiment, "Coffee Pot" (It's Time for the Percolator) – Clubhouse Records. Then he moved on to more complex musical and lyrical arrangements with songs like Lidell Townsell's "Get With U" (Mercury Records). The Cajmere and Dajae collaboration resulted in a #2 Billboard Dance Chart and International dance hit - "Brighter Days". It was at this point that Cajmere decided to start Cajual Records. Having his own label gave Cajmere the autonomy to attain his goal of developing a sound that was representative of Chicago. Later that year, he formed the sub-label Relief Records, mostly for instrumental tracks by himself and others. The label gave birth to his first Green Velvet production 'Velvet Tracks'. When he emerged as the flamboyant, neon-haired Green Velvet to front mid-90's hits like 'Preacher Man', 'Answering Machine' and 'Flash', the shock-waves reverberated throughout house and techno scenes the world over. This elaborately garbed, lyrically wild creature scored a direct hit, putting his hometown back on house music's production map. Jones has since brought his DJ stylings around the globe, playing house and techno under his Cajmere and Green Velvet monikers. In addition to DJ sets, he hit the road with his live show, performing original tracks in front of crowds numbering in the tens of thousands. "I've always been quite shy and introverted in a way," says Jones. "So it was weird getting up on stage and doing the Velvet thing. It's just quite strange that I'm doing what I'm doing now." Recent stops have included Exit Festival (Serbia), Awakenings Festival (Netherlands) and T in the Park (Scotland). In 2009, Green Velvet’s production made waves in the dance music scene yet again with “Everybody Wants”, this time collaborating with rap-songstress and fellow Chicago native Kid Sister. The club hit was swiftly followed up with “Turn It UP”, which features powerhouse production duo Santiago & Bushido. 2010 will see the release of a new Green Velvet album with an exciting guest list that includes Afrojack, De La Soul, Diplo, Kid Sister, Santiago & Bushido, Tommie Sunshine and more. With a new Cajual Records residency in Chicago—‘Green Velvet & Friends’—also to launch this year, the imprint of this artist remains fresh with the help of his network of DJ buddies from around the world. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.