Progressive House · Ibiza · UK Underground
Two careers forged in the fire of the music industry. One shared vision that helped define an era.
The Story
Before there was Aquilia, there were two very different journeys; one through the corridors of a major label, the other through the sweat-soaked raves of the early British dance scene. When those worlds collided, something remarkable happened.
Together, Tony Edwards and Steve Andrews became Aquilia, a progressive house project that didn't just participate in the Ibiza sound of the late '90s and early 2000s, but helped define it. Their debut statement, Dreamstate, landed on one of the most iconic DJ compilations ever pressed: Sasha's Global Underground 013: Space Ibiza, a double CD and triple vinyl release that became a touchstone for an entire generation of dance music devotees, and later the subject of a Channel 4 documentary on the Global Underground brand.
From cover-mount CDs in the UK's leading clubbing magazines to festival main stages, Aquilia's music travelled far and wide, earning the kind of organic, word-of-mouth support that no marketing budget can manufacture. Tracks like Earthbound and Voodoo followed, each one a deeper, more refined dispatch from a duo that never stopped evolving. Their remix of No More Tears. Originally by DJ Tiësto under his Allure alias; brought a darker, more cinematic edge to the dancefloor and earned praise from key DJs across Europe and Ibiza.
The People
Tony Edwards didn't stumble into music; he was born into its orbit. Signed to synth pioneer Gary Numan's Numa Records as a teenager, his path was marked out early. But it was a decade inside EMI Records' London operation that gave him a rare, inside-out understanding of how the industry truly works. Not just the glamour, but the machinery.
During his ten-year tenure at EMI, Tony worked in the orbit of some of the most important artists of their generation: Radiohead, Coldplay, Robbie Williams. The experience was an education no university could replicate, shaping a sensibility for what makes music not just good, but enduring.
When he left EMI, Tony didn't step back from music. He stepped deeper into it, emerging as a producer and sound engineer, and finding in Steve Andrews a creative partner who matched his ambition note for note.
"A decade at EMI gave him the industry's most valuable credential: knowing exactly what separates a great record from a forgotten one."
Some DJs spend years working their way up the ladder. Steve Andrews was thrown straight to the top rung at 17, sharing rigs and record bags with Grooverider, LTJ Bukem and Slipmatt at the height of the early '90s rave movement. The deep end, as it turned out, suited him perfectly.
By his mid-teens, Steve had already been a drummer in a punk band. Music wasn't a hobby; it was a language. When electronic music arrived, it wasn't a departure; it was a natural evolution. He took to samplers, synths and drum machines the way others take to a mother tongue, building a production vocabulary that was as instinctive as it was technical.
The artist who crystallised his vision was Sasha, the architect of progressive house and trance's most euphoric chapter. When Dreamstate earned a place on Sasha's landmark Global Underground: Space Ibiza compilation, it wasn't just a milestone. It was validation from the DJ who mattered most.
"Thrown in at the deep end at 17, sharing stages with the biggest names in rave, Steve never once looked like he was out of his depth."
Selected Works
Dreamstate
Aquilia's defining moment. Featured on Sasha's Global Underground 013: Space Ibiza; one of the most celebrated DJ compilations of its era, released on double CD and triple vinyl.
Earthbound
A deeper, more introspective dispatch that showcased the duo's evolving sound; lush textures, tighter grooves and a refined command of tension and release.
Voodoo
Dark, hypnotic and unmistakably Aquilia. A cornerstone of their catalogue and a dancefloor weapon that earned support across the progressive underground.
No More Tears
A rework of DJ Tiësto's Allure project that brought a cinematic, progressive edge to the original, earning widespread support from key DJs across Europe and Ibiza.
The Future
Aquilia are back, and this time, they're going deeper.
After years of silence, Tony Edwards and Steve Andrews have reformed Aquilia and are readying a new chapter of original music for 2026. The sound has shifted; grown, matured, shed its skin. Where once there was the driving euphoria of progressive house, there now lives something more immersive: the lush, cinematic textures of deep trance and melodic house, music built from melancholy and atmosphere in equal measure.
Running quietly alongside the new releases, the Aquilia Music label will serve as a creative home for the duo and a select circle of like-minded artists, a boutique imprint with a clear aesthetic point of view, releasing music on its own terms and its own schedule. Watch this space. More importantly, listen to it.