PRØJECT-4  in its essence is a tale of friendship and a means to breaking through traditional barriers of distance. Having first met while working in Sales at a major London publishing company, where Leigh Strong was also based within the graphic design studio, they hit it off straight away. With much in common, from music to gaming, martial arts to spirituality, and a mutual respect for each other's crafts, many hours were spent discussing how graphics and music were intrinsically linked, furthermore, imperative in enhancing the entire artistic experience. Quite literally, two sides of the same coin.

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While Jon expressed to Leigh the increasing benefits of working remotely and entirely in-the-box, the dots hadn't fully joined up and the right project needed to come along to solidify his ideas. In an effort to propel Jon forward, Leigh decided to hire him to write a track for the princely sum of £1. Leigh of course knew this nominal amount was given in jest, but it set the intention, and an opportunity formed out of a desire to co-create and show how a humble idea could ignite a grander vision. Still, with payment came a contract and a proviso that as the client, he had a say in the direction of the music.

 

Prior to the world turning upside down and entering lockdown in March 2020, Jon had already felt a shift in the way the industry was turning and had made a move to place himself at the front of the curve. As Jon set work on writing an original track, Leigh started working on the graphics and within a few weeks, in what now eerily looks like premonition, Another World was released on 22nd February 2020. Exactly four weeks later, most parts of the world found themselves at a near standstill.

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With both Jon and Leigh ecstatic at the finished track, and also recognising that the way their working relation had gelled pretty much instantaneously, talks between them moved to where they could go next. From there, Another World set the tone for what would become an album of tracks worked on together. Through inclusion and a sharing of each other's processes whereby Leigh was tasked with co-producing and bringing ideas to the songs, while Jon was involved in the visual development of the artwork. It was a dialogue that helped propel the message and convey the music on a visceral level, and after taking their name from the default filename in one of the DAWs Jon was using at the time, PRØJECT-4 was born.​​​​​​