DerHova

Canadian-Armenian, DerHova, is one of Armenia's leading music composers, songwriters, and producers.

Originally from Toronto, he signed his first recording contract in 1991 with the newly formed house music Hi-Bias Records label, and in the following 15 years, was mainly credited under the pseudonym Mark Ryan.

For years, his main focus was his Temperance project. What started as a solo tech-house project, eventually crossed over into a more dance-pop/eurodance sound with the inclusion of Mark's schoolmate Lorraine Reid on vocals. Throughout the 90s, Temperance had numerous top ten hits, various award nominations and victories, and many licenses worldwide.

By 19, Mark had established himself as a talented producer. His side projects led to a number of successful remix works, and as a result Billboard magazine titled him one of the top remixers from Canada. In 1996, Temperance peaked with its hi-nrg cover version of the 1980s hit "Forever Young".

In 1997, after the releases of S.P.O.T. (Side Project of Temperance) and the Temperance single "Universal Dream", Mark parted ways to launch 22 Green Productions, primarily focusing on producing and remixing various local and international artists, such as soulDecision, 666, Urban Cookie Collective, Mia Minx, Emjay, and more.

From 1997-2006 22 Green was the credited title of most of his remix works, and from 2006, he began replacing his credited pseudonym Mark Ryan with DerHova (a variation of his real name H.A. Der Hovagimian).

In 2006, DerHova produced what many call 'the greatest pop hit in Armenian music'. The song "Qami Pchi" by the group HAYQ became the Hit Of The Year at the Armenian National Music Awards, and thrusted hip hop into the mainstream. Numerous hits followed, with DerHova blending ethnic instrumentation with western rhythms, something that was completely new and fresh in Armenian commercial music.

In 2008, his song "Qele Qele" performed by Sirusho was Armenia's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest. DerHova composed the song, thought up the title, and produced the original and remix versions. Of 43 participating countries, it went on to rank 4th (Armenia's highest position), and received the most 12 points in the competition.

In 2010, his production of "Mama" performed by Vladimir Arzumanyan won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, bringing Armenia it's first ever Eurovision victory.

Over the years, DerHova has been credited with producing and/or remixing over 350 commercially released titles in various genres under various aliases, with distribution through most major labels.

DerHova's involvement in the Armenian music industry has also brought many hits to various artists. Always striving to try something new, he's also known as a perfectionist, always striving to bring Armenian songs to world standards.