Freeshine

ION came about as a result of a series of coincidences. After reading an article on a fungus that eats and destroys CDs, Jon decided to salvage his old student data from CDs he burnt in 96-99. Most of the data was unrecoverable, yet a set of old audio files from an online acquaintance were salvageable. They were in a mysterious folder called Mano1. At the time, Jon had been commissioned to create two ambient tracks for the Swedish forest industry. Back in the late 90s, Jon and Manuel were friends on various IRC channels for Flash / music production, and shared many creative interests. In 2000 Jon moved to Sweden, Manuel to the US, and they lost touch. 13 years later, after Jon came across Manuel’s old music files, he found him and suggested a collaboration on the Swedish forest project. This project was received with great success and spurred a creative collaboration that would continue.

ION was born.

Manuel Clement
As a 90s Marseille teenager, Manuel was making hip-hop beats with French rappers while playing keys in the black metal band Throner. He is known to have disturbed pedestrians, making dark acid and hard techno with an amplifier on his balcony, cranked to 11. In 2006 he released the dark ambient album All Life is One. In recent years, his music and sound design work on Google Doodle video games such as Star Trek, Zamboni, Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, and The Roswell Crash, have reached millions of people.

Jon Seneger
While growing up in the small mountain town of Kongsberg Norway, Jon’s main cultural inspirations were books, cinema, computers and the yearly jazz festival. This developed an interest in computers and music. Jon pursued his passions in electronic music and while at university, started a band with fellow student Mark Wilkinson, The ME Band. After being signed to EMI, Jon, a pioneer of his time, suggested that they should sell the album but stream the music online for free, there was some resistance to say the least. It was a few years too early! In 1999 Jon co-founded a creative agency focusing on audio and visual design, over the years working with clients such as Software AG, Husqvarna Viking, Pfaff, Skogsindustrierna amongst others.