CHRIS FORTIER USA
www.djchrisfortier.com

PLAYING AT SCREEN
29.03.2003

BIOGRAPHY
INTERVIEW
(-) PHOTOS
FLYER

With his current mix Compilation: “Bedrock:Compiled and Mixed” riding high in the dance compilation charts, it’s come to pass that everyone is just now finding out how good Chris Fortier really is. Critically acclaimed by the worldwide dance press and more importantly the clubbing fraternity, it has received stunning reviews and endless chat board discussions on its place as one of the year’s top releases.

In support of the CD, the first half of his year long world tour has travelled throughout the US and UK, including his bi monthly residency at the lavishly intimate Prologue at The Cross in London; and to places across the globe including Buenos Aries, Prague, Athens, Budapest, Zurich, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. Chris is no longer a name just on the U.S. stage, but on the world stage.

Even with being constantly on tour, Chris' production career has never been healthier. The delicious “Losing Wait,” his first solo production, has met with a warm response from all the likely sources including Nick Warren, Satoshi Tomiie, and Sasha, who called it one of the tracks of the Delta Heavy US tour. The track is the finale to the Bedrock CD, and is signed to SAW recordings.

Currently residing in New York, Chris’ roots can be traced to the early nineties in Orlando, Florida, where he was spotted by DJ Icey and quickly thrown in by Kimball Collins as resident at the infamous "Aahz". These visionary and legendary nights served as a platform to bring Sasha and John Digweed to America for the first time, and establish an "Orlando" sound that would become synonymous with clubbers and DJs alike for years to come.

As one of the pioneers of the current US progressive DJs, Chris was one of the first to travel the country, playing in cities like Atlanta, Charlotte, Washington and Boston when they were in their infancy. This continued as new markets in Central America and Canada began to appear making him one of the most travelled DJs in the States. In 2000, after his move to New York, he joined the infamous Twilo as one of their residents, playing alongside Dave Seaman for the clubs successful bi-monthly Saturday events. To support his constant touring, Chris was one of the first to release a compilation CD in the States, a typically original move at the time and has realised five more in the space of the last five years.

Keen to build the production side of his career, Chris started Fade Records in 1995 and released his first double A sided single “For All the People/ All I Got” under the production name of Fade with his one time surf competitor, Neil Kolo. The Fade sound quickly defined the era and the fashionable progressive Orlando sound. A long-term record deal from the UK and remixes for BT, Sam Mollison, Space Brothers, and Future Force followed over the next few years.

In 1998, while submitting a Sarah Mclachlan bootleg of “Plenty” (which was subsequently released last year) to her record label, Chris was offered a remix of a Delirium track called Silence. With such limited quantities being pressed by the label, the remix created a frenzy. Eventually succumbing to the demands of the general public after it’s inclusion on Northern Exposure 3, and the buzz it created with DJs like Dave Seaman and Sasha opening and closing their sets with it, the label released it to discover a worldwide chart hit, with it hitting number one in four countries including Australia, and selling over 1,000,000 worldwide. More recently Fade have worked on projects for Bedrock, Sarah McLachlan, and DJ Tiesto and are currently working on demos for their first album.

Away from the studio and the decks, Chris takes great pride in his role at Balance Promote Group, as founder of the internationally renowned Balance Record Pool, it has become the premier choice for labels to promote their product in the States. As a perennial driving force within the U.S industry it has been a powerful vehicle to kick start the U.S scene into the ever growing healthy state it is currently in.