Artist Of The Month - DJ Antoine (February 2014)

Known for always being stylishly dressed while performing in front of thousands of enthusiastic fans is how you can best describe Antoine Konrad aka DJ Antoine and his life – ‘A dream, which came true’. With more than 2.5 million sold albums, 39 Gold-Awards, 2 Triple Gold-Awards, 7 Platinum-Awards, 4 Double Platinum-Awards, 2 Triple and 1 Quadruple-Platinum-Awards and owning the record label “Houseworks”, DJ Antoine is certainly one of the most successful DJ’s to have emerged from Switzerland.

His career officially took off in 1995, when he opened his club called House Café in Basel. The club proved to be the benchmark for the progress of a great part of scene in the city and the cult-parties are still regarded as fond memories. Within a short period of time, his funky sets and his trademark ‘dress to impress’ attitude made him a cult figure within Basel and later in the Swiss house music scene.

After a short trip into the Swiss Hip-Hop scene, Antoine quickly switched genres, getting hooked on the pumping house music wave. In 1998, he released his first album “DJ Antoine – The Pumpin’ House Mix” and come 1999 his compilation, “Houseworks 1″ won him his first gold award. Post that, things started picked up pace rapidly and until this day, DJ Antoine has produced 51 CD’s, strongly establishing himself in the music and club scene. Since 2003, he has been also hosting his own weekly radio show, which is broadcasted by radio stations, all over the world.

In 2006, DJ Antoine achieved his international breakthrough with the album “DJ Antoine – Live in Moscow” and the single ‘This Time’. Ever since then, he became an act, highly demanded in popular and trendy clubs all over the world. Gigs worldwide turned into a regular but exciting part of his everyday life. Acknowledging his international success, labels such as, All Around The World Records, the electronic music label owned by Universal Music UK, Happy Music France, EMI Music South Africa, Ultra Records USA and Kontor Records Germany signed ‘This Time’ in 2009.

Antoine has won many awards in recent years including the Ericsson Dance Music Award in 2001 for the best and most successful artist of the year 2000 in the category ‘House / UK Garage / Progressive House’. In 2008, he created a stir with his socio-critical album titled, “DJ Antoine –Stop!”, on which he openly spoke out against juvenile violence, calling for more civil courage.

In spring 2009, the record was prized with the Swiss Music Award for ‘Best National Dance Album’. The following year, he defended that title with, ‘DJ Antoine – 2009′ and even received the noted Swiss Prix Walo for the work. In 2010, he achieved great success in Switzerland for his album, ‘DJ Antoine – 2010′, for which he was awarded with a platinum record.

In the studio, DJ Antoine works with his long-term business partner Fabio Antoniali also known as Mad Mark and together they form an incredible partnership, which can be clearly established since well-known musicians such as, Mary J. Blige, P. Diddy, Pitbull, Cyndi Lauper, Robin S., Roberto Blanco and Ivana Trump have had their tracks exclusively remixed by them. In 2010, DJ Antoine produced songs for Timati, Snoop Dogg, DJ Smash and Bob Sinclar and in that same year, Mr. Mike joined the team as a vocalist, also accompanying the DJ to selected performances.

Collaborating with Timati led Antoine to another, more recent highlight of his career, his first collaboration with Timati and Kalenna Harper (Dirty Money) for the smash hit single, “Welcome to St. Tropez”, which was the biggest European hit of the year 2011, and sold over 1,000,000 copies.

His most recent albums include “DJ Antoine – 2013 Sky Is The Limit – Remixed” and “DJ Antoine – Sky Is The Limit – Gold Edition” which included many exclusive remixes, tracks and special versions. On top of that, he also found himself in the famous DJ Mag DJ Top 100 polls at a commendable #68 in October 2013.

Alongside his work as a DJ, Konrad also manages his own production and booking companies Global Productions GmbH and Global Bookings. For his events, he regularly creates extensive and individual concepts, in tune with the client’s and guest’s needs and wishes. His exclusive event concepts represent lifestyle and luxury and he inspires his customers with his ideas.

Antoine’s evidently noticeable passion for music, endurance, commitment and his confidence in the things he believed in, have always been loyal companions as also his flair for trends, the right partners, a strong team and of course his fans, who have always provided him with the support needed. A legend in his own right, he shall be playing at the Love Festival on Friday, 14th of February at the Buddh International Circuit, Noida. Get ready!