Mt Eden (also known as Mt. Eden and formerly Mt Eden Dubstep) is a

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...

and

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...

artist from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Popular tracks include "Sierra Leone"a remix of

Freshlyground Freshlyground are a South African Afro-fusion band that formed in Cape Town in 2002. The band members have different backgrounds, including South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. Freshlyground's musical style blends elements of traditional Sout ...

's "I'd Like" and remixes of

Delerium Delerium is a Canadian new-age ambient electronic musical duo that formed in 1987, originally as a side project of the influential industrial music act Front Line Assembly. Throughout the band’s history, their musical style has encompassed a ...

's "Silence" as well as

Lisa Miskovsky Lisa Miskovsky (born 9 March 1975) is a Swedish musician and singer-songwriter. Biography Miskovsky quickly placed herself on the Swedish rock music charts with her debut album ''Lisa Miskovsky'' and single "Driving One of Your Cars", with Swed ...

's "Still Alive". Mt Eden began gaining popularity following the 2009 release of Sierra Leone, which went viral on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. Mt Eden currently has 146 million combined video views and over 261 thousand subscribers on the act's YouTube channel, as well as more than 291 663 "likes" on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

History

Background and beginnings

Jesse Cooper started making

mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...

s under the

moniker A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

"Jay Fresh" on the weekends. In the beginning Cooper mostly made hip hop mixes with his friends, one of which was Harley Rayner, the son of former

Split Enz Split Enz were a New Zealand rock band formed in Auckland in 1972 by Tim Finn and Phil Judd and had a variety of other members during its existence. Originally started as a folk-oriented group with quirky art rock stylings, the band built a ...

keyboardist

Eddie Rayner Anthony Edward Charles Rayner (born 19 November 1952) is a New Zealand musician who spent twelve years as a keyboardist in the band Split Enz. He has also played in the groups Orb, Space Waltz, Crowded House, The Makers, The Angels in 1986-198 ...

. In 2008, Cooper decided to make

music after he heard Electronic musicians

Benga Benga may refer to: Ethnonym * Benga people, an indigenous ethnic group of Equatorial Guinea * Benga language, spoke by the Benga people * Benga music, a genre of music originating in Kenya Places Romania * ''Benga'', the old name of Mo ...

and

Skream Oliver Dene Jones (born 1 June 1986), known as Skream, is an English electronic music producer based in Croydon. Skream was an early and influential exponent of the dubstep genre. After producing several singles, he released his first full-len ...

, at the New Zealand music festivals Phat09 and Splore, saying that he had his "mind blown" by the young genre. He also started making

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

music around the same time, which was inspired by the Front Left Speaker Crew and Joe Hockley. One of the first songs Mt Eden made public was "Sierra Leone", a remix of

's "I'd Like",
which he uploaded and posted on his Myspace page, however the song gained major recognition after a fan posted the track on

. In 2008, Cooper's girlfriend's little brother suggested he make a YouTube page for himself to post music on. He called the page "MtEdenDnB08" because he lived in

Mt Eden Mount Eden is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand whose name honours George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland. It is south of the Central Business District (CBD). Mt Eden Road winds its way around the side of Mount Eden Domain and continues to weave ba ...

. That was when Cooper decided to release music under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

"Mt Eden Dubstep", later changing his name to simply "Mt Eden" in 2010, when Cooper recruited Rayner. Mt Eden released their first

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

(EP) ''MEDS'' for digital download on 7 December 2010. It has got mostly positive reviews by customers on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

. On 16 February 2013, Mt Eden announced upcoming releases in a post on their

page, writing: " ..Our Sierra Leone Remix package (Sierra Leone Reinvented + Remixes, Sierra Leone music video) is coming in April. The first single off ''No Mans Land'' is "Airwalker", to be released late April/early May, with the full ''Walking on Air'' EP out in late May. ''No Mans Land'' LP will ropin June." The EP ''Sierra Leone (feat.

) emixes' was released on 30 April 2013, with a completely re-made version of their original "Sierra Leone" and three remixes of the same song by Ta-ku,

AraabMuzik Abraham Orellana (born June 16, 1989), better known as his stage name AraabMuzik ( ; stylized as araabMUZIK), is an American record producer and DJ. He made a name for himself by performing beats and instrumentals live and in real time on a Ak ...

and

Tommie Sunshine Tommie Sunshine (born Thomas Lorello; March 26, 1971) is a record producer, remixer, DJ and songwriter of electronic music from Chicago currently living in Brooklyn, New York. He is known for creating dance remixes to popular rock and alternativ ...

with Live City. The duo's ''Walking on Air'' EP was released in June 2013, featuring seven songs, by Ultra Records Label.

References

External links

* *
Mt Eden on SoundCloud
{{Authority control New Zealand dub musical groups New Zealand electronic music groups Remixers New Zealand record producers New Zealand musical duos Musical groups established in 2008 2008 establishments in New Zealand Dubstep musicians Electronic music duos