Signalrunners was a trance production alias of Alan Nimmo and Andrew Bayer. They were active between 2004 and 2008 and released most of their singles on Above and Beyond’s label Anjunabeats. 

Early Years: 2004 to 2008

Signalrunners first release was in 2004 with the double A side ‘Breathe / Recoil’ (Red Monkey Records 2004) but the track which first put them on the trance music map was a collaboration with Southampton based trance DJ Mike Foyle. The single ‘Love Theme Dusk’ (Armind 2005) was released on Armin van Buuren’s Armind label and in addition to strong support from van Buuren himself was also championed by Judge Jules, Paul Van Dyk and Above and Beyond. ‘Love Theme Dusk’s success was due to the combination of high tempo trance bassline, hypnotic piano line and break beat breakdown that had enough melody for the mainstream but that still packed enough punch for the clubs.

The next landmark success for Signalrunners came in the shape of ‘Leaving London’ (Five AM 2006).  ‘Leaving London’s haunting vocals, big piano chords coupled with shuffly housey rhythms spread its appeal across multiple genres of dance music fans while the T4L mix was geared for harder edged trance dance floors.

Signalrunner’s star was firmly in the ascendancy and their support from top tier DJs and dancefloors alike saw them become increasingly in demand both as DJs and as remixers, resulting in remixes for, among others, Oceanlab, Judge Jules, Lange and Markus Schulz.

Signalrunners biggest success came with the progressive vocal trance track ‘These Shoulders’ (Anjunabeats 2008) featuring Julie Thompson on vocals. More understated than previous Signalrunners tracks ‘These Shoulders’ signalled the start of a more progressive direction for the production duo towards the minimal electro trance of ‘Meet Me In Montauk’ (Anjunabeats 2008) and ‘Electric Sheep’ (Anjunabeats 2008).  These two singles were light years away from their earlier vocal trance releases and indeed proved to be the last Signalrunners released, the sparser sound an indication of the need for Nimmo and Bayer to pursue their changing musical directions as solo artists.

Though the Signalrunners were only active for a few a years their high quality production skills and ear for a tune propelled them to quick and sustained success.  Their remixes and productions between 2004 and 2008 brought a much needed element of quality to mainstream trance as it picked itself up from mid-decade mediocrity towards the late noughties resurgence.

Alan Nimmo and Andrew Bayer were based on opposite sides of the Atlantic: Nimmo is Scotland and Bayer in the US.