IJO

“I got into music since the day I was born”. That makes IJO a listener for over 23 years now. And so it seems just natural that he put out his first record when he was only 6 years old – he recorded his early compositions for piano on his tape recorder.
Overwhelmed by the highly energetic sound of Jungle and Drum&Bass, which he discovered around 1995, he started focusing his production on that particular kind of music. His constant flow of production didn’t seem to end and so the amount of tracks (not only Drum&Bass, but also Ambient, Electronica and Jazz) he wrote over the years grew bigger and bigger. His approach to music changed again in 2001 when he discovered Aphex Twin’s “drukqs” and Squarepusher’s “Go Plastic!” – two pivotal albums that broadened his view of how far “Drum&Bass” could (and should!) go. However, not only music seem to have influenced the Lithuanian teacher for English and German language. IJO emphasizes the social and emotional aspect of his work: “Inspiration to make music comes from everything that surrounds me, especially from relationship with others”. And in an interview, held in 2003, he stated: “My music is based on my mood. I am really unstable - I like creating ambient music and I like to create chaos. I don't like to be restrained to just one musical direction because I want to be versatile in music. It has to be interesting and emotional”. Find out what that sounds like listening to his earlier releases. Debuting with an Ambient album on Surfaces in 2003, IJO put out another album and an additional EP on Sutemos during the following years. Furthermore, his tracks and remixes appeared on various compilations. Being an active part of the Lithuanian electronic music scene, IJO already performed live with German IDM combo Funkstorung, Ceephax Acid Crew (aka Squarepusher’s little brother) and The Doubtful Guest amongst others.
IJO releases:
Melancholika (Surfaces) 2003
The Driw Play EP (Sutemos) 2004
Computer Pop (Sutemos) 2006
Untitled EP (Plain Productions) 2006