Cleaner is one of the main side projects from the popular electro band, Haujobb. Haujobb themselves are part of the newest wave of electronic dance acts to come storming out of Europe. The band was formed in 1993, initially releasing the cassette-only Drift Wheeler. This embryonic issue brought them to the attention of Off Beat records, who released their first CD, Homes and Gardens, later that same year. In 1995, the duo released their second CD, Freeze Frame Reality, and began doing remixes for other bands, including Front Line Assembly and Download. The Frames CD came out later that year, which featured both new material and a number of remixes done by such luminaries as cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy/Download, Adi Newton of Clock DVA, and Mentallo and the Fixer. All of these releases are available on Metropolis / Pendragon Records.
1996 saw the band taking part in The Remix Wars Part 1 - :wumpscut: vs. Haujobb, in which each band remixed several tracks from each other's repertoire. It also saw their first full European tour and the release of new material, with their highly successful Cleaned Visions single and their drum and bass influenced full length CD, Solutions for a Small Planet. 1997 saw the release of their double electronica EP, Matrix, and the beginning of Daniel Meyer's side projects. Newt's -273C joined Daniel with Forma Tadre's Andreas Meyer, while Cleen linked him with Thorsten Meier.
As a project, Cleen explores a more electro oriented style than Newt or Haujobb. Designed Memories, Cleen's impressive debut EP, joined Daniel with vocalist Thorsten Meier for a very club friendly foray into the electro genre. Cleen's first full length effort, the 1998 release Second Path, saw the band move away from club oriented music into a more electronica oriented sound not unlike Haujobb's Solutions for a Small Planet release. Following the success of Second Path, Cleen began work on new material, which resulted in a new single The Voice (now deleted). During the recording of the full length release, Daniel and Thorsten parted ways due to artistic differences, with Daniel Meyer completing the new album on his own. Changing the name of Cleen to Cleaner to avoid conflict, Daniel took over both musical and vocal duties in recording of Solaris, which featured some of his best material to date. More dance oriented than Second Path, and featuring bonus remixes by And One and Beborn Beton on the Metropolis release, Solaris marked a new direction for the Cleen / Cleaner project.