Trance with Blank & Jones

Blank & Jones - we have a lot in common

A legendary duo from Cologne focusing on Trance and House - these guys have a lot in common with me, similar year of birth and some similar taste in the 1980ies. One of the two (or even three!) is Piet Blank - after he bought his first record (Kim Wilde - Kids In America), he was quite clear on his future career: "I must do something with music". So at the age of only 16 years, he started working on the turntables for the first time. Not much different with René Runge, born in June 1968 and currently living in Düsseldorf, better known as Jaspa Jones: He made his first experiences at the DJ desk at the age of 19. Another important part of Blank and Jones is sound wizard Andy Kaufhold, born in 1969.

The recent past

I am not boring you with the first years - just listen to their first tracks during this post.

The recent years since 2003 are kind of interesting with new projects. After the collaboration with The Cure singer Robert Smith, Bernard Sumner from New Order and ex-propaganda singer Claudia Brücken they moved back to clubbing sounds in 2008 / 2009 by compiling remix albums of successful artists from the 1980s in the "So80s" series, and in 2012 they carried over the concept to another decade with the "So90s" series.

Together with one of the now ten "Relax" editions and various "Milchbar Seaside Season" releases, this brings together a now almost unmanageable number of releases.

Already in 2012, there was talk of over two million records sold worldwide. And even if CDs hardly sell any more, there might have been some more in the meantime.

There you can also try something new. From 18th to 20th August 2016, Blank And Jones put together a show called SilentMOD at the Gamescom computer games trade fair in Cologne Cathedral, using ambient sounds, scents and a laser show. In the thriller "The Shadows of Norderney" from 2019 they played a leading role. They have cult status on the island, also because twice a year they invite guests to the Seaside Season event party at the Norderney Milchbar, which plays their music every evening at sunset.

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