^DJ Metro Area

www.myspace.com/metroarea
www.myspace.com/darshanjesrani

Darshan Jesrani’s recording project “Metro Area” (together with partner Morgan Geist) on the Environ label has left an indelible mark on the dance music landscape. Known for its freestyle recombination of influences which revolve around (but aren’t limited to) older production styles and the songwriting focus of disco, new-wave/synth-pop and R&B, Metro Area has injected much needed doses of funk and sensuality, mood and space back into the loop-based and seldom-subtle world of underground dance.

Their 2002 debut album elicited superlative responses from The New York Times to The Onion, from web-logs to the Wire. Metro Area won a place among Rolling Stone’s “Top 50 Albums of 2002”, a rock and rap-dominated list for which most club/dance projects are not even considered. Further accolades include BBC/Radio 1’s “Dance Album of the Year” and a “Best New Artist” prize at the 2003 DanceStar/American Dance Awards.

Most recently, Darshan caught the collective ear with his extended “Parks Dept. Dub” remix of the underground hit “Starlight” (July 2006), the first offering from the acclaimed, talented and hungry New York disco upstarts Escort. His mix landed on the year-end top-10 lists of many DJs known for their selections and taste. His co-writing, production and remix work (with Klas "Sasse" Lindblad and Ewan Pearson) on the debut single “It’s All True” (February 2007) from beloved UK singer Tracey Thorn’s (Everything but the Girl, Marine Girls) much-anticipated solo album (EMI/Virgin) is currently making waves in broader arenas, and has been touted as a fresh update of the Funhouse-style, vocal-led, New York City synth-pop sound of the early/mid-80s.

These days, Darshan stays very busy with regular DJ bookings world-wide, the approaching completion of his new studio/music loft in Brooklyn, new party Strobe Lodge with DJ extraordinaire Citizen Kane, new project Arcade Lover (together with Dan Balis of Escort, and whose new single features Lisa Shaw (vocals), Jonathan Maron of Groove Collective (bass) and a host of other talent) and of course fresh, new Metro Area material with Morgan (spring 2007). He remains thankful as he keeps an eye and ear open for new opportunities to develop and broaden his involvement in, and contributions to the music he loves.