Dimitri from Paris
Encyclopedia
Dimitri from Paris is a French
music producer and DJ
of Greek
origins. His musical influences are rooted in 1970s funk
and disco sounds that spawned contemporary house music
, as well as original soundtracks from 50s and 60s cult movies such as Breakfast at Tiffany's, La Dolce Vita
and The Party
, which were sampled in his album Sacrebleu
. Dimitri fused these sounds with electro and block party hip hop
he discovered in the 80s.
but in Istanbul
, Turkey
. Born in Turkey to Greek parents, Dimitri grew up in France where he discovered DJing at home, using whatever he could find to "cut and paste" samples from disco hits heard on the radio, blending them together to make tapes. This early experimentation helped him launch his DJ career.
and finally to Radio NRJ, Europe's largest FM radio network, in 1986. There, he introduced the first ever house music
show to be broadcast in France, while simultaneously producing runway soundtrack
s for fashion houses such as Chanel
, Jean-Paul Gaultier
, Hermès
and Yves Saint-Laurent. He also released two solo EP
s from 1993 to 1994, and contributed to the Yellow Productions
compilation La Yellow 357.
, released on Yellow Productions
. A blend of diverse influences including jazz, original film soundtracks, samba, and organic house
, Sacrebleu sold 300,000 copies worldwide and was named Album of the Year by UK's Mixmag magazine
.
In 2000, Dimitri followed Sacrebleu up with A Night at the Playboy Mansion (Virgin) and Disco Forever (BBE), followed by My Salsoul in 2001, After the Playboy Mansion in 2002. In 2003, Cruising Attitude was released, to be closely followed by his first outing on UK's premier dance music label Defected: Dimitri from Paris In the House.
He has followed a somewhat glamorous musical path by recording soundtracks and advertising campaigns for fashion houses Chanel, Jean-Paul Gautier and Yves Saint Laurent and remixing hundreds of artists as diverse as Björk
, The Cardigans
, James Brown
, New Order
and Quincy Jones
. He also did the music for the anime Tsukuyomi -Moon Phase-
and mixed the soundtrack for the French luxury dessin animé Jet Groove produced by Method Films.
on her third album, as she said she worked with "a French guy called Dimitri", but this was later proved false.
2005 saw Dimitri go back to his Funk and Disco roots, with Japanese hip hop producer and über collector DJ Muro for Super Disco Friends a double CD mixdown. In 2006 he offered his House of Love outing to Valentine's Day's lovers. Later on Dimitri produced Los Amigos Invisibles
"Super Pop Venezuela" album which grabbed a nomination for a grammy award.
2007 saw the release of the Cocktail Disco project with longtime partner BBE, a handful of Disco classics remixes and other surprises down the line.
2009 saw the release of the Night Dubbin, a post-disco R&B compilation remix album.
A Night at the Playboy Mansion, 2000
Disco Forever, 2000
My Salsoul, 2001
After the Playboy Mansion, 2002
In the House, 2004
Neko Mimi Mode, 2004
The Kings of Disco, 2004 compiled by Dimitri from Paris and Joey Negro
TV Tokyo Animation Tsukuyomi–Moon Phase– Best Collection "Zenbu, Kikitakunacchatta…", 2005
Super Disco Friends, 2005 compiled by Dimitri from Paris and DJ Muro
Southport Weekender, 2005 compiled by Dimitri from Paris, Jazzie B, and Quentin Harris
In the House of Love, 2006
Cocktail Disco, 2007
Return to the Playboy Mansion, 2008
Night Dubbin, 2009 compiled by Dimitri from Paris & The Idjut Boys
Get Down With The Philly Sound, 2010
Knights of the Playboy Mansion, 2011
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
music producer and DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
of Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
origins. His musical influences are rooted in 1970s funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
and disco sounds that spawned contemporary house music
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
, as well as original soundtracks from 50s and 60s cult movies such as Breakfast at Tiffany's, La Dolce Vita
La Dolce Vita
La Dolce Vita is a 1960 comedy-drama film written and directed by the critically acclaimed director Federico Fellini. The film is a story of a passive journalist's week in Rome, and his search for both happiness and love that will never come...
and The Party
The Party (film)
The Party is a 1968 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards, starring Peter Sellers and Claudine Longet. The film has a very loose structure, and essentially serves as a series of set pieces for Sellers's improvisational comedy talents...
, which were sampled in his album Sacrebleu
Sacrebleu (album)
Sacrebleu is the debut album from Dimitri from Paris.Note that the album cover pictured is for the 1998 version of Sacrebleu, released on Atlantic Records, and not the original 1996 release on Yellow Productions, which featured a different cover....
. Dimitri fused these sounds with electro and block party hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
he discovered in the 80s.
Biography
Contrary to his musical pseudonym, Dimitri was born not in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
but in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. Born in Turkey to Greek parents, Dimitri grew up in France where he discovered DJing at home, using whatever he could find to "cut and paste" samples from disco hits heard on the radio, blending them together to make tapes. This early experimentation helped him launch his DJ career.
Early career
He started out by DJ'ing at the French station Radio 7, before moving on to SkyrockSkyrock
Skyrock.com is a social networking site offering its members a free web space where they can create a blog, add a profile, and exchange messages with other registered members...
and finally to Radio NRJ, Europe's largest FM radio network, in 1986. There, he introduced the first ever house music
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
show to be broadcast in France, while simultaneously producing runway soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
s for fashion houses such as Chanel
Chanel
Chanel S.A. is a French fashion house founded by the couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, well established in haute couture, specializing in luxury goods . She gained the name "Coco" while maintaining a career as a singer at a café in France...
, Jean-Paul Gaultier
Jean-Paul Gaultier
Jean Paul Gaultier , born 24 April 1952 in Arcueil, Val-de-Marne, France) is a French haute couture fashion designer. Gaultier was the creative director of Hermès from 2003 to 2010. In the past, he has hosted the television series Eurotrash....
, Hermès
Hermès
Hermès International S.A., or simply Hermès is a French high fashion house established in 1837, today specializing in leather, lifestyle accessories, perfumery, luxury goods, and ready-to-wear...
and Yves Saint-Laurent. He also released two solo EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
s from 1993 to 1994, and contributed to the Yellow Productions
Yellow Productions
Yellow Productions is an independent record label specializing in electronic music. Based in Paris, France, it was founded in 1993 by DJ Yellow and Christophe Le Friant ....
compilation La Yellow 357.
Recording career
In 1996 Dimitri gained worldwide recognition with the release of his first full album, SacrebleuSacrebleu (album)
Sacrebleu is the debut album from Dimitri from Paris.Note that the album cover pictured is for the 1998 version of Sacrebleu, released on Atlantic Records, and not the original 1996 release on Yellow Productions, which featured a different cover....
, released on Yellow Productions
Yellow Productions
Yellow Productions is an independent record label specializing in electronic music. Based in Paris, France, it was founded in 1993 by DJ Yellow and Christophe Le Friant ....
. A blend of diverse influences including jazz, original film soundtracks, samba, and organic house
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
, Sacrebleu sold 300,000 copies worldwide and was named Album of the Year by UK's Mixmag magazine
Mixmag
Mixmag is a British dance music and clubbing magazine. It styles itself as "the world's biggest selling dance music magazine", with an Audit Bureau of Circulations audited circulation of approximately 21,250...
.
In 2000, Dimitri followed Sacrebleu up with A Night at the Playboy Mansion (Virgin) and Disco Forever (BBE), followed by My Salsoul in 2001, After the Playboy Mansion in 2002. In 2003, Cruising Attitude was released, to be closely followed by his first outing on UK's premier dance music label Defected: Dimitri from Paris In the House.
He has followed a somewhat glamorous musical path by recording soundtracks and advertising campaigns for fashion houses Chanel, Jean-Paul Gautier and Yves Saint Laurent and remixing hundreds of artists as diverse as Björk
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
, The Cardigans
The Cardigans
The Cardigans are a Swedish rock band formed in the town of Jönköping in October 1992.Their debut album Emmerdale gave them a solid base in their home country and enjoyed some success abroad, especially in Japan. It was not until their second album Life that an international reputation was secured...
, James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
, New Order
New Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
and Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
. He also did the music for the anime Tsukuyomi -Moon Phase-
Tsukuyomi -Moon Phase-
is a manga series by Keitarō Arima about a young vampire girl named Hazuki and a Japanese freelance photographer Kouhei Morioka whom Hazuki attempts to make into her servant....
and mixed the soundtrack for the French luxury dessin animé Jet Groove produced by Method Films.
Recent developments
There was a rumour that he worked with Sophie Ellis-BextorSophie Ellis-Bextor
Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor is an English singer, songwriter, model and occasional DJ. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s, as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded, Ellis-Bextor went solo, achieving widespread success in the early 2000s...
on her third album, as she said she worked with "a French guy called Dimitri", but this was later proved false.
2005 saw Dimitri go back to his Funk and Disco roots, with Japanese hip hop producer and über collector DJ Muro for Super Disco Friends a double CD mixdown. In 2006 he offered his House of Love outing to Valentine's Day's lovers. Later on Dimitri produced Los Amigos Invisibles
Los Amigos Invisibles
Los Amigos Invisibles is a multiple-Grammy nominated and Latin Grammy winning Venezuelan band that plays a blend of disco, acid jazz and funk mixed with Latin rhythms...
"Super Pop Venezuela" album which grabbed a nomination for a grammy award.
2007 saw the release of the Cocktail Disco project with longtime partner BBE, a handful of Disco classics remixes and other surprises down the line.
2009 saw the release of the Night Dubbin, a post-disco R&B compilation remix album.
Compilation albums
External links
- [ Allmusic entry for Dimitri from Paris]
- DJ Dimitri from Paris club-night of note at Queen
- Resident Advisor entry for Dimitri From Paris