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Tony Rapacioli & Ricky Simmonds pka KANSAI are on fire at the moment.
Originating from Italy, Tony Rapacioli (a.k.a. Praha/Rouge/Ratio) began his musical career at the early age of 18 producing and dj-ing under the guise of Sly -T to the original hardcore massive.
His first two releases came courtesy of MCA records with two hardcore classics, "Underground Confusion" and "Help Me".
This then helped him breakout further and secure larger capacity gigs such as Turnmills, Roller Express and the Astoria which now have legendary status to all those following the scene at that time.
Tony then decided to take some time out from music and dj-ing to go and experience life outside the studio and dj booth to find some fresh inspiration for his music.
Upon his return from his travels, the decided to embark on a period of hard graft to further his skills and he enrolled to do a music technology and sound engineering course at The Institute of Sound and Technology in South London.
Reinvention was his next step, so armed with the knowledge of current studio technology, the guise of "Triptonic" was concieved in collaboration with a couple of friends. Soon signed up to Ouch, Tasty and Storm Recordings, the man was back on form. Success from these signings led to the creation of Praha Records with 3 hot releases. However, the grind of running a record label took its toll, so he abandoned this get back to the music side once more.
Now putting out releases under the guises of TR Junior, Samui, Rouge (appearing on Platipus sister label Gekko) and Lamai (signed to AM:PM as a collaboration with The Space Brothers/Kansai partner), the Praha name has gone from strength to strength with its debut Platipus release, 'Pachinko' and the follow up 'Kala Chant'.
Gaining more and more support from the likes of Sasha (who has requested for any new material to be sent directly to his house before any A&R bods get there grubby mitts on it!), Dave Seaman and Jon 'OO' Fleming -its only a matter of time before Praha is a household name. He's set to continue his growing profile into 2003.
RICKY SIMMONDS, KANSAI's other half & half of THE SPACE BROTHERS writing & production duo STEPHEN JONES.
Under various pseudonyms they have released their music through several UK
labels. Since 1995 they have been through a prolific writing and production
schedule, charting in the uk top 40 with twelve releases.
With the release of "I AM" under their CHAKRA guise, they set a standard for
themselves which has been carried through projects including ASCENSION,
ESSENCE, FORCE MAJEURE and the now legendary LUSTRAL.
PAUL OAKENFOLD originally wanted to sign The Space Brothers' debut single but
eventually worked with Ricky and Steve after signing Ascension to PERFECTO.
Their ties continued when Paul agreed to mix the bonus cd on their Space
Brothers album SHINE.
Aside from their recording work, The Space Brothers have been actively
involved in various other projects that include remixes and collaborations - a
notable recent success being the top ten hit "BEAUTIFUL" with Matt Darey.
They have written music for the television series "The Sopranos", tracks for
films including "Manumission The Movie" and the John Travolta film -
"Swordfish".
2003 began with another top 40 hit "AM I ON YOUR MIND" (OXYGEN), and after
the completion of their new studio, they are finishing off mixes for new CHAKRA
and SPACE BROTHERS releases.
This year will also see the release of new tracks from Ricky's projects with
Tony Rapacioli. "REMEMBER THIS NIGHT" (KANSAI) will be released through
PLATIPUS and HOOJ will be putting out the already acclaimed "I CAN FEEL YOUR LOVE"
(QUADRAPHONIC).
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