Family Presents Dimitri From Paris
Author: Clea Woods
Monday, June 2, 2003
The "Essential Playboy Entertainer "
Dimitri from Paris is a DJ, producer, and remixer all rolled into one who serves as the French Ambassador to lounges and dance floors around the world. He is the quintessential gentleman, straight out of the 17th century, and the most sought after DJ superstar quite able to get any club on the planet jumping!
In a nutshell, there are two distinct sides to Dimitri: undeniably a born-and-bred French dandy, he is also a devoted dance music fanatic and a worthy heir to such legendary New York DJs as François K, David Mancuso, Danny Krivit, Tony Humphries and Frankie Knuckles.
Dimitri is known not only for his love of early 70's funk and the disco music that came along afterwards, but also for his long-term love affair with original soundtracks by Mancini and from Blake Edwards' films such as "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "The Party", dating back to the late 50's and early 60's. In the 80's, he explored all types of emerging post-disco music and became a big fan of electro, block party hip-hop, and the West End and Sugarhill Gang labels. Inevitably, Dimitri would be one of the first DJs to broadcast the new Chicago house and New Jersey garage sounds.
Dimitri, born in Turkey to Greek parents, grew up in France. He discovered DJing at home, using whatever he could find to "cut and paste" samples from disco hits heard on the radio, and remixing them together to make tapes. In fact, it was on the radio that Dimitri begin his DJ career in the early 80's. He started off at french station Radio 7 then, in 1987, he went over to NRJ (one of the biggest FM stations in France), where he worked for 12 years. At NRJ, he hosted the Saturday night show, broadcasting all the latest dance music, and freely and independently created the first French radio show devoted to house music on Europe's leading FM network.
Dimitri learned most of the tricks of the trade at NRJ, from mixing hard-core and pure sounds live, to creating jingles and editing exclusive remixes. Dimitri is often considered, along with Laurent Garnier and Eric Rug, to be one of the best house DJ's in France. However, he is different from his illustrious colleagues in that his idea of house music does not include techno, raves and ecstasy. Believe it or not, Dimitri has never even been to a rave - and that doesn't bother him a bit.
In 1990, his growing reputation enabled him to record soundtracks and advertising campaigns for Chanel, Jean-Paul Gautier and Yves Saint Laurent. He also remixed hundreds of artists such as Björk, the Brand New Heavies, New Order and Quincy Jones. However, it wasn't until 1998 with the release of his first album, "Sacrebleu" (Yellow Productions), that he became world famous. Named one of the ten top Album of the Year by MixMag, it sold several hundred thousand copies. This remarkable CD, a blend of diverse influences such as original film soundtracks, jazzy samba and soft house, is a ground breaking album and a perfect representation of lounge music that is sure to offer listeners some delightful surprises.
This foray into lounge music, far away from the dance floor, didn't keep Dimitri from kickin' it on the turntables at the best clubs in the whole world, and in particular at the famed Paris Respect sessions, where he DJ's regularly. He also concocted several disco/house compilations, including the infamous "A Night at the Playboy Mansion" (Virgin) and "Disco Forever" (BBE), both released in 2000.
Currently, Dimitri is finishing up his second album, which is just as eclectic as his first. He also took the time to prepare the follow-up to the Playboy project with "After the Playboy Mansion"; - scheduled for international release on February 19, 2002 - on which he gives his musical interpretation of Hugh Hefner's mansion, while making a name for himself as a real modern and international playboy.
Dimitri may be one of the most diffi Tags