John Tejada

Normally associated with his peers in techno from Detroit, Europe and elsewhere in the US and the world, John Tejada has embraced electronic music as a personal frontier, expanding on his formidable resume as a techno recording artist as producer and remixer, DJ, and label owner. With dozens of singles, remixes, some film and TV work, and contributions to sample CDs to his credit, this recent expansion has born a slew of tracks deeply informed by his uncompromised aesthetic honed over years of diligent production which finds its roots in Detroit techno but references a far broader range of music, both in and outside of electronic music. His musically formative years were steeped in classical music, growing up in family of performing artists -- his mother a soprano singer and his father a conductor -- which then widened to include hip hop, DJing and finally, electronic music.

Known for crafting a brand of subtle, musical techno, his recorded output ranges across tempo and genre lines, from chilled out affairs with spacious arrangements to pulsating, densely layered, deeply energetic tracks that work magnificently in the hands of DJs as well as on the home stereo. Earlier on, his music found release on labels such as A13, Multiplex and Generation R&S. Following on those successes, he established his own imprint, Palette Recordings, in Los Angeles in 1996, and has enjoyed many years of steady growth and recognition. The label has served as an exclusive outlet for his own prodigious output but has recently begun to expand its roster. He has also continued to record for other labels such as Plug Research, Seventh City, Poker Flat, and others, often in collaboration with 15-year long collaborator Arian Leviste. Alongside these numerous singles, he has also produced thirteen albums (including three from his indie band, I'm Not A Gun) and four mixed CDs.

Born the son of a Vienna composer/conservatory teacher and an opera-singer mother, John Tejada joined Cosmic Baby and BT as classically trained techno changelings. Unlike those producers, however, Tejada's recordings for Plug Research and A13 emphasize the rougher, more melancholy aspects of techno inspired by Detroit icons like Juan Atkins and Derrick May. Raised on the West Coast, Tejada played piano and drums as a child, then began listening to hip-hop and electro, beginning his DJ career by playing out in those styles. After hearing the Detroit techno blueprints courtesy of recordings by Atkins and May, Tejada began producing; during 1996 alone he recorded two singles for A13 Records (as Lucid Dream) and an EP for Electric Ladyland (as Autodidact). Early the following year, his debut Lucid Dream album, Pure, appeared, followed by a single for Plug Research as Mr. Hazeltine. After the 1997 Plug Research & Development compilation earned kudos around the home-listening techno community, Tejada formed his own label, Palette Records; collaborated with Joe Babylon of Plug Research and Allen Avan as Frankie Carbone; and recorded on his own for Organised Noise, Ferox, and 7th City.

His first album, Little Green Lights and Four Inch Faders, appeared in 1999 on A13 Records. Backstock, a wrap-up of his Palette label recordings, was released in 2001, and his second full production LP -- Daydreams in Cold Weather -- followed one year later on Plug Research. From that point, Tejada kicked his release schedule into an even higher gear, especially when it came to full-length projects. He collaborated on a series of albums with Arien Leviste: Fairfax Sake (Playhouse, 2003), The Dot and the Line (Moods & Grooves, 2004), and Back for Basics (Palette, 2005). There were the solo discs The Toiling of Idle Hands (Immigrant, 2003), The Matrix of Us (Defocus, 2004), Logic Memory Center (Plug Research, 2004), Cleaning Sounds Is a Filthy Business (Palette, 2006), and Where (Palette, 2008). As I'm Not a Gun, he worked with Takeshi Nishimoto to produce three albums for City Centre Offices and a fourth for Palette, and he also mixed the 44th volume of the Fabric series. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide