Max Essa is originally from London but currently resides in Tokyo. He has been working as a producer and D.J since the early 90’s. In 1993 Max made his debut as a producer on the legendary Warp Records as part of the production team, Essa. During the course of the next ten years he went on to work for a variety of labels such as Paper Recordings, D-Vision (Italy) and D.i.Y Discs, collaborating with a diverse array of artists including Charles Webster and Mark Rae.
In 2006 Max’s critically acclaimed ‘Midnight Garden E.P’ was released on Stevie Kotey’s Bear Funk label and signalled something of a new direction. The record combined Max’s guitar work with a slower, ‘Balearic’ sound which was in tune perfectly with the resurgence in popularity of all things ‘cosmic’ and disco. Since the release of this record Max has gone onto remix many artists including Rubies (Telle Records), Coyote (Is It Balearic? Recordings) and Sorcerer (Tirk Records). In 2009 he produced two L.P’s for Bear Funk – his debut solo album, ‘Continental Drift’ and ‘Zim Zim Zah Zah’ in collaboration with Stevie Kotey.
2010 has been Max’s busiest year yet with the launch of his own label, Jansen Jardin, focusing on a more ‘house’ sound and featuring artists from both Japan and Europe. He has a new solo L.P entitled, ‘White Shoes Blue Dreams’ due out in October on Bear Funk, as well as singles for Is It Balearic? Recordings and John Daly’s, Feel Music label. Max has also continued to keep busy on the remix front working on tracks for Nang Records, Ene Records Tokyo and Solardisco. He can be found most weekends DJing on Tokyo’s hectic underground circuit, playing everything from deep house and disco to rock and dub. |