H.A. Der-Hovagimian

Who is H.A. Der-Hovagimian?

H.A. Der-Hovagimian born in Toronto, Ontario, is a Canadian-Armenian music composer, songwriter and producer.

He signed his first recording contract with the newly found Hi-Bias Records imprint at the age of 17. For the following 15 years, he was mainly credited under the adopted pseudonym Mark Ryan.

For years, his main focus was his Temperance project. Starting out as a solo Tech house project, his debut commercial release was the 5-track Phantasy EP, released early 1992 on Hi-Bias Records. Temperance eventually crossed over into a more Dance-pop/Eurodance sound with the inclusion of Mark's schoolmate Lorraine Reid on vocals. Over the next couple of years Temperance won numerous top ten hits, awards, and licenses worldwide.

By 19, Mark's on the side successful remix works also led to Billboard magazine titling 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. 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.