Jega
About
Jega is the recording name of Dylan J. Nathan, a Manchester born electronic musician and 3D designer. Nathan has released records on Planet Mu, Matador and Skam records. Nathan produces all the music and artwork for his releases. Nathan was a teenager during the formative Madchester music scene, experiencing the Hacienda nightclub and Factory records wave first hand.
Nathan studied architecture in London, graduating in 1994. He shared classes with Mike Paradinas (Mu-Ziq). Richard D. James (Aphex Twin) was also studying sound design at the same campus. Paradinas' subsequent signing to Rephlex and London's healthy Rave and fledgling Drum&Bass scenes were strong influences on Nathan's musical direction. Nathan's first experiments were recorded at Paradinas' studio whilst Paradinas was touring.
Nathan returned to Manchester and focused on music, releasing his first EP "SKA006" in 1996 on Autechre-affiliated, Manchester-based Skam records, original home of Boards of Canada. SKA006 is dark and reflective of the UK's IDM sound. Equipment used was low-fi and mostly borrowed. Jega's first release garnered praise from the UK press, specifically NME & Melody Maker. Jega toured Europe with Autechre in 1997, playing concerts with Funkstorung and Boards of Canada. He released his second EP "SKA009" in 1997. Nathan's sound was evolving, incorporating samples for the first time, and premiering a new style tagged Drill n'Bass by NME.
Jega's broadening sounds and styles attracted the attention of Paradinas. Jega's first album, Spectrum, was the first release on Paradinas' Planet Mu label. Paradinas is quoted on planetmu.com: "Manchester's Dylan Nathan is one of the reasons I started this label in the first place." Spectrum fused Nathan's love of breakbeat, IDM and melody into a diverse audio collage of samples and sequencing, a departure from Skam records' more electronic and purist sound.
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