Project 46

Project 46
Project 46's Ryan Henderson and Thomas Shaw
Background information
Origin	Vancouver, British Columbia & Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Progressive House, Electro House, Electronica
Years active	2011 - present
Labels	Monstercat, MixMash, Spinnin' Records, Ultra Music, Manufactured Music, RCA Records, Zouk Recordings
Associated acts	Kaskade, Laidback Luke, Paul Oakenfold, Krewella, DubVision, Bynon, 15grams, Gemellini, Collin McLoughlin, Andrew Allen, Brooke Tomlinson
Website	http://project46.com/
Members	Ryan Henderson Thomas Shaw

Project 46 is a Canadian DJ/producer duo made up of Thomas Shaw and Ryan Henderson. They are best known for their tracks “Last Chance” with Kaskade, “Collide” with Laidback Luke and “Reasons” featuring Andrew Allen.

Ryan Henderson was born in Waterloo, Ontario and Thomas Shaw in Vancouver, where they both still reside.

Growing up, Thomas Shaw was always involved in the arts, taking part in piano lessons, choir training, and school theatre, while also finding time to teach himself the guitar and drums. Though originally interested in Alternative music, Thomas was later introduced to dance music and FL Studio by a friend, which the pair use for production to this day. Before joining Project 46 Thomas worked at a local Costco while majoring in computer science at a local university.

Ryan grew up listening to Euro-style music like Alice DJ, and grew his passion for dance music through working events. Prior to teaming up with Thomas, Ryan ran two successful nightclubs in Waterloo, 140 West and Tabu, before a fire in 2010 destroyed both of the clubs. Later, another local club owner was charged with arson. In November 2010 Ryan opened BETA in Waterloo, where he still oversees talent buying and promotions.

During their time as individual DJs, Ryan played at local nightclubs for fun while Thomas held a weekly residency at a local pub in Port Coquitlam.

Project 46 was formed in June 2011 after Ryan and Thomas met through a mutual friend via Skype. Their first collaboration came in the form of an unofficial bootleg of Swedish House Mafia’s “Save The World,” which they produced from opposite sides of the country. From there Project 46 built a loyal fanbase by releasing a new original, bootleg or remix every Friday on their Soundcloud, which they jokingly called “Pancake Fridays.” The name stuck and is still used by the pair to this day.

Project 46’s first official release was a collaboration with 15grams titled “Dreaming” featuring Matthew Sartori on and came out on September 17, 2011. The track broke Beatport’s Top 100 and marked the start of their fruitful career with Canadian label Monstercat. Multiple Top 100 hits followed on Monstercat before Project 46 made their first undeniable impact on the dance music scene with their breakthrough release “Reasons” featuring the vocals of Andrew Allen in April 2012. Within a week “Reasons” shot past Tiesto’s remix of “Somebody I Used To Know” to take the #1 spot on Beatport overall, and was the first of their tracks to garner radio play on BBC Radio 1 and Sirius XM. That same year Project 46 debuted at #100 on the DJ Mag Top 100 list, joining Richie Hawtin and Deadmau5 as the only Canadian DJs to make the poll.