Born in 1976, multi talented Dutch artist C-Jay took up an early interest in electronic and experimental music from the hands of artists like Jean Michel Jarre, Vangelis and Tangerine Dream.
At the age of 11, C-Jay started taking his first musical educations on the ins- and outs of both digital and analogue instruments with the enthusiastic love and support of his parents.
And now years later at the age of 32, C-Jay is as diverse as it gets in todays dance music business: former recordstore owner (Sessions Recordstore), dj, producer, label owner (The Sessions Recordings) and promoter of his own underground dance nights, called The Sessions. At this moment C-Jay has put a stop on promoting his nights, to focus all his time on studiowork and performances.
As an artist / producer C-Jay had his first worldwide release in the spring of 2004. This tune (SwayWatch) was signed to the Moun10 imprint, (owned by Dutch house legend Jaydee) and has got massive support from artists like The Flash Brothers, Chris Fortier and Fred Numf. After this first release the attention of the scene rapidly grew.
His second release was made together with his friend Jaydee under the name Graylock moniker and was released by First Impression Recordings, the label of Jaydee. This release was supported, played and charted by Armin Van Buuren, Ton TB, Paul Van Dyk, The Flash Brothers, Carl Cox, Chris Fortier and many more. The release also made it into the higher ranks of the worlds renowned Balance Record Pool charts.
Due to the fact that both releases were received well by the international dance scene, C-Jay decided to start his own record label The Sessions Recordings. The basic idea behind this was to have no boundaries in releasing his own material, not having to depend on other labels in this early stage of his career and trying to draw the attention of the big guys even more. The label soon became a fact, and the first vinyl release hit stores worldwide in november 2004. After 3 vinyl releases on his own label C-Jay had the result he wanted: the attention of both the scene as well as the people on dancefloors worldwide. The established labels were now interested in him as an artist, because he positioned himself and showed that his tunes were loved by many around the globe.Later on, in November 2005, C-Jay’s first co-production with his friend Mick Wilson (UK) appeared on the well respected Dutch imprint Cyber Records. This masterpiece called Darkism is a personal favorite of no one less than Anthony Pappa and Hernan Cattaneo who both have been dropping it a lot in their sets of summer / fall 2005. Hernan Cattaneo even closed his legendary set on Dance Valley Festival 2005 with this floor filler which Dutch national radio broadcasted live from the festival.
The record label C-Jay owns still exists nowadays; February 2006 C-Jay decided to revitalise the label again and turn it into a digital imprint. Talented young guys like Roger Martinez, Josel & Pedro, Bastian Bouma and Perry O'Neil released their stuff through The Sessions Recordings, but early 2008 C-Jay decided to focus the label's attention back to his own music again. The label will basically be an outlet for his own material, after have given young artists a chance to use his label as a jumpstart for their career.
The main result of this decision is that the first full lenght artist album of C-Jay called Magnanimity, hit stores worldwide in September 2008. The double disc is a statement of where C-Jay’s at right now as producer and musician. On this album you will find his own productions of which none have been released before the album. So all the material is fresh and exclusive. C-Jay's trademark mixture of trance, progressive and techno is showcased on 2 discs, with remixes included by other artists on the second disc.
Having shared DJ booths with almost every big star of the scene, C-Jay is bound to become one himself. In the last couple of years C-Jay found himself playing gigs in Poland, Romania, Holland, Germany, Greece, Belgium, Switzerland and the Ukraine, now the rest of the world is waiting for him.
Source: www.thesessions.nl
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