DJ Antoine

DJ Antoine (2013)

DJ Antoine (* June 23, 1975 as Antoine Konrad in Sissach BL ) is a Swiss house - DJ , producer , label boss and lifestyle entrepreneur. He had his international breakthrough in 2011 with the single Welcome to St. Tropez. With Ma Chérie he also produced the most successful single by a Swiss musician of all time in terms of sales. In 2015 he was a member of the jury of Deutschland sucht den Superstar . In 2020 he will take a seat as a coach in the third season of The Voice of Switzerland on one of the four couch chairs.

Career

Musical beginnings

Antoine Konrad began to orientate himself towards DJ music at an early age. At the age of 19 he started a career as a DJ . He started out in the genres of hip-hop and garage house . The interest in hip-hop and garage music arose particularly from his childhood idols such as Dr. Dre , Run-DMC or Public Enemy . The inspiration for disco and house music came later, especially through the song Show Me Love by Robin S.

1995: first successes

He first became famous in 1995 through his Club House Café in Basel . At the same time, he started his own production work and set up his own record distribution company. In December 1997 he released his first single Sound of My Life , the tones of which can be heard partly in David Guetta , Chris Brown and Lil Wayne's song I Can Only Imagine . His first albums DJ Antoine - The Pumpin 'House Mix and Partysan on the Boat @ Street Parade '98 were released in the summer of 1998. DJ Antoine founded the record label Houseworks in 1999 and has been its managing director ever since. More than ten DJs and other house artists are under contract there. With Egoïste , DJ Antoine has another label. Other labels from him are Session Recordings and VIP Recordings .

To date, DJ Antoine has released over 50 albums. His first single chart placement came with the single Disco sensation , which he recorded together with his studio partner Mad Mark . Since then they have mixed all of his songs together and often publish them under their names. They also remixed tracks from well-known artists such as Timati , P. Diddy , The Wanted , Timbaland , Nelly , Pitbull , Sean Paul and Afrojack together .

2005–2010: Further successes

DJ Antoine and MC Roby Rob (2007)

His fifth single All We Need , whose voice is the Swiss singer Maury , was also able to place in the German charts for three weeks in 2005. Through the song This Time , he was signed by Universal's UK subsidiary All Around the World Records in 2009 .

In November 2009 Antoine released the song Every Breath as a single. It's a cover of the song Every Breath You Take . With this track he celebrated his first top ten success. In 2010 DJ Antoine produced for Snoop Dogg , DJ Smash and Bob Sinclar, among others .

In 2008 DJ Antoine excited with the socially critical album DJ Antoine - Stop! A sensation in which he openly spoke out against youth violence and in favor of more civil courage. In spring 2009 he was honored for this album at the Swiss Music Award for the “Best National Dance Album”, the title of which he was able to defend in 2010 with the album DJ Antoine - 2009 . Also in 2010 he was awarded the Swiss Prix ​​Walo .

In January 2010, DJ Antoine and MC Roby Rob separated after eleven years. Afterwards, the house musician Mr. Mike accompanied DJ Antoine for several years on his performances and in the studio.

Welcome to St. Tropez : International Breakthrough

His remix of the track Welcome to St. Tropez by the Russian rapper Timati became a top 5 hit in the entire German-speaking region in the summer of 2011 and made DJ Antoine known to a wide audience in several other countries through high chart placements, especially in Europe. It is the most commercially successful single in Switzerland after Ma Chérie .

After Welcome to St. Tropez , he released the single Ma Chérie , which was DJ Antoine's most commercially successful song and the most successful song by a Swiss act of all time. In Germany the song reached number six, in Austria and Switzerland number two, in Italy number four. In addition, Ma Chérie stayed in the Swiss charts for 99 weeks . For this single, DJ Antoine received double platinum in Germany and quadruple platinum in Switzerland. In 2012, a version of the song with the Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias and the US rapper Pitbull was recorded, which is still unreleased.

Two months later, the accompanying album Welcome to DJ Antoine was released, which was released in Switzerland under the title 2011 . After only one week it reached number one in Switzerland, the top 20 in Austria and the top 10 in the German charts. The songs on the album are all based on the Welcome-to-St.-Tropez style . In addition, the rapper Timati took part in several songs. In addition, there was a collaboration with the Swiss singer Michael von der Heide, who lent his voice to the title "Bleu Infini".

DJ Antoine released the song Sunlight in Switzerland , which he recorded with the Belgian singer Tom Dice , as a second single. It was able to place itself in the charts in Switzerland and through heavy downloads of the album track and the iTunes single in Germany and Austria. Especially in Switzerland and Belgium, the home countries of the musicians, it was very popular.

In 2012 he participated with a remix of the single Infinity 2012 from Guru Josh . His version of the song reached the top 20 on many download charts. It was used for Magnum advertising in the cinema and gained notoriety through this. A mix of several songs by DJ Antoine can be found at the Kontor Summer Jam . This megamix was able to reach the charts of several European countries.

The fourth and final single from the studio album Welcome to DJ Antoine was released on September 14, 2012 with the song Broadway in a 2K12 version as a single. However, this song only became a rather minor hit and only reached the German charts.

With over eight million records sold, fifteen platinum and numerous gold awards as well as his record label Houseworks , DJ Antoine is Switzerland's most internationally successful DJ. DJ Antoine has also won the Swiss Music Award for “Best Album Dance National” three times in a row and was nominated in 2012 for an Echo, one of the most important music prizes in Europe, in the “Best Artist Dance” category.

2013: Sky Is the Limit and AK Babe

DJ Antoine (2013)

At the end of 2012 Antoine announced his new album. It was titled Sky Is the Limit and was first released in Europe on January 25, 2013. Sky Is the Limit was released in the US on May 14, 2013, and in Asia on May 15, 2013.

Parallel to the album, the song Bella Vita was released as a single. The single became Antoine's first number one single hit in Switzerland and was also successful in Germany and Austria. Two days after its release, the album was at number 1 in the iTunes charts in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. In addition, several album tracks rank in the top 100 songs on iTunes. It was Sky Is the Limit , House Party and Perfect Day . All three songs also climbed into the official singles charts a week later. Sky Is the Limit with Bella Vita became the biggest success of the new album so far.

The second single releases Sky Is the Limit and All I Live For appeared simultaneously on March 15, 2013. However, the Sky Is the Limit could not top the success it already had as an album track. Also All I Live For failed to reach the charts.

In June 2013 he founded the “AK Babe” project. It is based on the fashion label "AK Babe" of the same name, which sponsors it. In return, he produces singles with Mad Mark and publishes them under the pseudonym "AK Babe". As a title addition, the signature DJ Antoine vs. Mad Mark Radio Edit attached. In addition, the logo of the fashion brand can be found on the single cover.

The Kontor Top of the Clubs Vol. 59 includes his instrumental piece Festival Killer , together with the FlameMakers, for which a music video was also shot. You can also find the first single there as "AK Babe" with the title We Don't Care (Like a Honey Badger) . We Don't Care (Like a Honey Badger) also became the title track of the third edition of his remix album series Houseworks Sunlight Beach Party Vol. 3 , which was released on June 28, 2013.

On August 2, 2013, the song Crazy World was released at the Kontor Summer Jam 2013 . This song and Festival Killer did not appear as an official single either. Due to the many downloads of the sampler, the track entered all of the download charts. Crazy World was able to make the jump into the Swiss charts and was finally released as a single in December 2013. A music video was then also shot. In other countries Antoine could not celebrate any chart successes.

On September 27, 2013, the third official single House Party was released , which was recorded in collaboration with U-Jean and B-Case . A new mix of the song was used for the title track of the single and the music video. This one decides from the others in that the intro of the original track is in the middle. Parallel to the new single, the remix album for Sky Is the Limit was also released in the form of the Gold Edition with remixes and mash-ups of the original titles of the normal version.

2014: We Are the Party

DJ Antoine announced his new single in early April 2014. It was released on May 9, 2014 and is titled Light It Up . The song is sung by the American pop and country singer Tebey, who also appears in the official music video. The video premiere took place on the day of publication. The song turned out to be a cover version of the Italo hit Tarzan Boy by Baltimora from 1985. The Hamburg label Kontor Records released the single on May 9, 2014. Remixes come from FlameMakers and the German DJ duo Bodybangers . A short time later, all posts, including Facebook and Twitter, had hashtags with the motto We Are the Party . Antoine then announced that this would be the title of his new studio album. The album was made available for pre-order on August 1, 2014 on iTunes and Amazon. The songs Go With Your Heart , Wild Side , Tokyo and Shake Ya Body were already available for download and soon hit the iTunes charts. Similar to Sky Is the Limit, selected musicians also played several songs on the album on We Are the Party , including rapper Euro and the DJ duo FlameMakers. Songwriter, producer and singer Jenson Vaughan was also back on the production team. The songs It's Okay and I Don't Mind in particular stand out , as these already existed and are just a new recording together with the original artists.

The song Go With Your Heart , which was recorded in collaboration with the singer Tamara Melek and the rapper Euro, was the first single to be released at the same time as the album was released. However, no official music video was made for the track. Only a lyrics video appeared. At the same time, a lyrics video for It's Okay with Mihai, TomE and Lafranchi was uploaded. Furthermore, official music videos were shot for the songs We Are the Party with X-Stylez & Two M and for I Don't Mind with Timati and Flo Rida . However, he was by no means able to build on the success of the single releases of his albums Welcome to DJ Antoine and Sky Is the Limit . Furthermore, We Are the Party came under heavy criticism due to the neglect of its actual style.

On September 30, 2014 it was officially announced that he would be on the jury of the German casting show Deutschland sucht den Superstar in 2015 . As early as 2013 there were rumors that he would be part of the jury for the 11th season, but at the time there were problems with the negotiations.

2015: Collaboration with Akon - Holiday

In 2015 he started with the single Woke Up Like This (actual spelling #WokeUpLikeThis). This is sung by the singer Storm. The release date was May 15, 2015. Already on, DJ Antoine published a fifteen-second preview of the song's Champagne-Gold remix. After just a few days, the progressive house track made it into the German iTunes charts, but missed entry into the official single charts in German-speaking countries. The music video, on the other hand, was a success. It appeared parallel to the single and consists on the one hand of the lyrics of the song as well as, matching the song title, of numerous pictures of people who have just woken up. While it has been compared to the #Selfie video by US DJ duo The Chainsmokers , it was still praised for its creativity. Kay One , Heino , Oliver Geissen and KReeD contributed to the numerous selfies .

On June 16, 2015, a new track was released online. This turned out to be a collaboration with the American singer and rapper Akon , known for world hits like Lonely or Sexy Bitch with David Guetta . In advance, the track was given great opportunities in the commercial sector as well as as a possible candidate for the 2015 summer hit. On July 3, 2015, the single and the lyrics video were finally released. The song advanced to number 3 in the official iTunes charts in Germany. The single also became a success in Austria and Switzerland. In contrast to his previous singles, Holiday can be classified much more in the field of commercial house and was also able to reconnect for the first time to the commercial success of his earlier songs.

2016: 13th studio album Provocateur

On January 22, 2016, after Holiday, the second advance single of his upcoming studio album Provocateur was released . This is titled Thank You and was sung by Eric Lumiere. The single, increasingly influenced by pop, only reached a single chart placement in Austria and Switzerland, but was able to attract attention in airplay.

The studio album Provocateur was released on March 18, 2016. This was the first in three publications that did not reach the top position in Switzerland. In Germany it was number 26 and in Austria number 13. The album was released as a standard version with 17 tracks and as a 2CD Limited Edition, which contains a continuous DJ mix with 19 tracks on the 2nd CD. Collaborations took place with Jordin Sparks and Conor Maynard , among others . The song "Best Trick" also features a collaboration with the world-famous British musician Mark Knopfler . The third single was released in parallel with the studio album. This is called Weekend Love and was sung by Jay Sean . Stylistically, the song was based on Holiday . In Germany the song moved back into the singles charts and in Switzerland the song was also able to place in the top 25.

The fourth single was Dancing in the Headlights . This was created in collaboration with Conor Maynard. However, the title track of the single is represented by a new version that was mixed with producer Paolo Ortelli. While the album version can be classified in the field of progressive house, it is heavily influenced by the trapical sound. Any chart placements failed to materialize.

The last single was released on May 27, 2016. This is called London and contains vocals from rapper Timati and singer Grigori Leps . The song is based on the Russian song of the same name by Timati and Leps from 2012 alone. For the new version, the text, melody and structure have been changed and re-recorded. Also in a music video with all three artists followed.

2017: Singles La Vie En Rose & I Love Your Smile

On April 16, 2017, he announced the single La Vie En Rose . It was released on April 28, 2017. He used an accordion for a single release for the first time since Ma Chérie . Jenson Vaughan , Matt James and Craig Smart worked as songwriters . Vaughan also contributed his vocals, as with his hits "Bella Vita" and "Sky Is The Limit". The single moved back into the top 50 of the official Swiss single charts and reached the iTunes charts in Germany.

With I Love Your Smile , the Swiss DJ released his second single in 2017. The collaboration took place with the Belgian producer Dizkodude, who is under contract with the record label Houseworks run by DJ Antoine himself , and the singer Sibbyl. The song turned out to be the cover version of Shanice 's 90s hit of the same name , but was praised for its successful mix of pop and dance elements. An official music video was also produced and uploaded to the record label Kontor Records ' YouTube channel on the day of release . In the video, DJ Antoine plays the leading role together with his girlfriend at the time, Laura Zurbriggen .

The single reached the official Swiss hit parade again , but only lasted a week. In addition, it was placed in the iTunes charts in Germany (77th) and Switzerland (38th).

2018: 14th studio album The Time Is Now

The Swiss house producer released the first single in 2018 on January 26th, 2018. It is titled El Paradiso and is sung by the Italian-Canadian singer Armando Scarlato Jr. and the Canadian rapper Jimmi The Dealer. In addition, Jenson Vaughan worked again as a songwriter. On the day of publication, an official music video for El Paradiso was also uploaded to Kontor.TV . The location is in a lounge of the same name in St.Moritz in the Swiss Alps. The collaboration with Scarlato came about through his participation in Antoines summer tour, where he sang the previously unreleased song. An extensive remix package for El Paradiso includes a remix by the internationally known Canadian DJ and producer Dzeko .

On May 4, 2018, the single Ole Ole was released as the official World Cup song for the Swiss national soccer team . In this context, a "Hopp Schwiiz" version also appeared on the single, which is used in the official music video and was also officially presented in Lugano as part of the last preparatory game between Switzerland and Japan. Ole Ole was created in collaboration with the Canadian singer Karl Wolf and the Panamanian rapper Fito Blanko . Armando participated again in the creation of the song - here as a songwriter. The collaboration entered the official Swiss single charts at number 60. The choice of the song met with fierce criticism from within the Swiss population, and the performers were faced with allegations of sexism and the glorification of alcohol consumption. DJ Antoine is quoted as follows in the Schweizer Zeitung 20 Minuten : “The song doesn't have to and can't please everyone, and that's okay. I just hope that the know-it-alls and complainers don't spoil the mood - after all, that's the point, that we go to the World Cup with joy. "

On June 1, 2018, Antoine's first German-language single was released with the title Yallah Habibi in collaboration with Sido and the singer Moe Phoenix . The collaboration, which is rather unusual for the respective artist, made the first entry in the official German single charts for DJ Antoine since 2016 and stayed there for seven weeks with the highest position 67. In the Swiss hit parade , Yallah Habibi rose to position 36 Kontor.TV uploaded an official music video with all three artists in action.

The last single harbinger of the new album is called Symphony and was released on September 28, 2018. While the original version was produced in deep house style, Antoine used a progressive house remix from Canadian newcomer DJ and producer Kidmyn for the music video . Armando and Jimmi The Dealer, who worked with DJ Antoine for his single El Paradiso earlier this year , contributed the vocals to Symphony . The Dutch record label Armada Music became aware of the track and released it a few weeks after the original release via Kontor Records under their name.

DJ Antoine's 14th studio album The Time Is Now was released on November 9, 2018 . All singles released so far in 2018 are part of this album, plus the 2017 single La Vie En Rose and 14 other new songs. Antoine uses different styles in his album, in addition to house there are songs from the areas of (dance) pop , hip-hop and reggaeton . Artists involved in the album include a. the US rappers Pitbull and David Rush, the Trinidadian Soca singer Machel Montano and the US singer Chris Willis . There are also numerous participations of the Canadian singer Armando and the Canadian rapper Jimmi The Dealer. A special find on the album is the song Baby, Let Me Tell You ... , as it is a new edition of the original by DJ Antoine himself from the year 2000. Almost all of the songs on the album were produced again in collaboration with DJ Antoine's longtime studio partner Mad Mark . The second part of The Time Is Now is a Biggest Hits Collection that includes the 22 most successful songs of his entire career, including Welcome To St. Tropez , This Time , Ma Chérie , Holiday and Sky Is the Limit . In addition, a CH edition of the album includes three bonus tracks, which are each acoustic versions of the songs El Paradiso , Symphony and Downfall .

2019: 15th studio album 2019 Megamix

On May 10, 2019, DJ Antoine released his 15th studio album 2019 Megamix . Initially, the album was only offered for sale in his home country, Switzerland , and was also not published on download and streaming portals. This is accompanied by a cooperation with the Swiss petrol station shop provider Migrolino , at whose sales outlets the album is sold solely and exclusively as a CD. The worldwide and digital publication took place on June 21, 2019.

Stylistically, Antoine will return to Megamix in 2019 with less pop and more EDM- focused songs "back to the roots". The 14 tracks can be heard in a continuous DJ mix . The parallel single Good Vibes (Good Feeling) was also released digitally and worldwide in a slightly shorter single version as the only song, whereby this production is stylistically more in the dance-pop area and thus based on releases from previous years such as Holiday or La Vie En Rose ties in.

2020: Jury member of The Voice of Switzerland

In September 2019, DJ Antoine was announced as the first coach of the third season of The Voice of Switzerland , which was broadcast from January 27 to April 6, 2020 by the Swiss private broadcaster 3 Plus . As part of the TV premiere of the first blind auditions, DJ Antoine presented a new edition of his hit Ma Chérie together with the Swiss duo Buetzer Buebe, consisting of the dialect singers Gölä and Trauffer . The version sung in Swiss German went straight to number one on the Swiss iTunes charts and reached number seven on the official Swiss hit parade .

On January 17th, 2020, DJ Antoine released the single Superstar in collaboration with Tom Novy . Its house song of the same name from 1998 is the original version of this new edition. The hookline of Superstar was almost retained, but the song's instrumental was completely re-produced. Compared to most of the previous releases by DJ Antoine, Superstar is stylistically more house elements than pop .

As a subsequent single release, DJ Antoine presented rhythm like a dancer in collaboration with Culcha Candela on April 3, 2020 . The German-language single provides a cover for the Eurodance hit Rhythm Is a Dancer by Snap! from 1992 and, in contrast to Superstar, is more in the more commercial dance-pop area.

The single Kiss Me Hard released on June 5, 2020 in collaboration with the Canadian singer Willa is also characterized by dance elements . While the structure and concept of the song are new, the drop contains sound elements from its own hit Welcome to St. Tropez from 2011. Although it was not placed in the single chart, Kiss Me Hard was able to attract attention in Swiss airplay . For the official music video published on Kontor.TV , fans were called on via DJ Antoine's social media channels to send in short videos that were appropriate to the subject of the song, which ultimately also formed a large part of the video.

Activity as a lifestyle entrepreneur

Under the Konrad Lifestyle AG , founded in December 2016 and based in Oberwil (BL) , DJ Antoine sells wine and champagne from his own product line and organizes exhibitions and catering in the high-end segment.

Private

DJ Antoine describes himself as a devout and strict Catholic . From 2014 to 2018 he was in a relationship with the model Laura Zurbriggen .

Discography

→ Main article : DJ Antoine / discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	AT	CH
2008	Stop!	-	-	CH4th gold (17 weeks)CH	First published: April 25, 2008 Sales: + 15,000
	2008	-	-	CH2 gold (16 weeks)CH	First published: June 13, 2008 Sales: + 15,000
	A Weekend at Hotel Campari	-	-	CH4th gold (10 weeks)CH	First published: September 26, 2008 Sales: + 15,000
2009	2009	-	-	CH1 gold (21 weeks)CH	First published: March 27, 2009 Sales: + 15,000
	Superhero?	-	-	CH2 (13 weeks) CH	First published: June 12, 2009
	17900	-	-	CH9 (13 weeks) CH	First published: November 13, 2009
2010	2010	-	-	CH1 (25 weeks) CH	First published: May 7, 2010
	WOW	-	-	CH7 (15 weeks) CH	First published: November 5, 2010
2011	2011 / Welcome to DJ Antoine	DE8 (51 weeks) DE	AT16 (56 weeks) AT	CH1 platinum (38 weeks)CH	First published: May 27, 2011 Sales: + 30,000
2013	2013 (Sky Is the Limit)	DE6th gold (22 weeks)DE	AT2 (31 weeks) AT	CH1 platinum (40 weeks)CH	First published: Jan 25, 2013 Sales: + 120,000
2014	We are the party	DE10 (4 weeks) DE	AT4 (7 weeks) AT	CH1 (12 weeks) CH	First published: August 29, 2014
2016	Provocateur	DE26 (3 weeks) DE	AT13 (4 weeks) AT	CH5 (12 weeks) CH	First published: March 18, 2016
2018	The Time Is Now	-	-	CH22 (4 weeks) CH	First published: November 9, 2018

Web links

Commons : DJ Antoine  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website
• DJ Antoine at Discogs (English)
• The big interview with DJ Antoine in: The Sunday of August 6th, 2011

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Eternal best list - singles. Retrieved March 4, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Interview with DJ Antoine
3. ↑ DJ Antoine Advent Calendar Episode 10
4. ↑ DJ Antoine Advent Calendar Episode 19
5. ↑ Eternal best list - singles. Retrieved November 15, 2018 . 
6. ↑ Platinum for Machérie ( Memento of the original dated December 31, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ↑ Frank Lothar Lange: 10 Secrets about DJ Antoine. February 25, 2015, accessed November 15, 2018 . 
8. ↑ Infinity in Magnum advertising ( memento of the original from November 1, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
9. ↑ Article on "Urbanmusic All Day"
10. ↑ About DJ Antoine / biography. Retrieved November 15, 2018 . 
11. ↑ Announcement for the new album
12. ↑ Houseworks Sunlight Beach Party Vol. 3 on iTunes
13. ↑ Announcement on the Official Website.Retrieved April 11, 2014
14. ↑ DJ Antoine with Dimaro feat. Maury - Best Trick. Retrieved August 24, 2017 . 
15. ↑ Shanice cover of the 90s hit -DJ Antoine & Dizkodude feat. Sibbyl - I Love Your Smile. August 14, 2017. Retrieved November 19, 2017 . 
16. ↑ Sex, alcohol, party: huge fuss about DJ Antoine's World Cup song. May 8, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2018 . 
17. ↑ DJ Antoine strikes back. May 7, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2018 . 
18. ↑ New CD out now - news item on the official website. Retrieved May 20, 2019 . 
19. ↑ DJ Antoine relies fully on CDs in 2019. In: 20 minutes - Swiss daily newspaper. Retrieved May 20, 2019 . 
20. ↑ DJ Antoine becomes a coach for “The Voice of Switzerland”. Retrieved January 25, 2020 . 
21. ↑ DJ ANTOINE, GÖLÄ & TRAUFFER - MA CHÉRIE. Retrieved July 15, 2020 . 
22. ↑ NOVY VS. ENIAC - SUPERSTAR. Retrieved January 25, 2020 . 
23. ↑ Dominik Hug: Despite Corona - DJ Antoine makes the world kiss. June 16, 2020, accessed July 15, 2020 . 
24. ↑ Dominik Hug: Antoine opens a barrel. March 7, 2017, accessed March 4, 2019 . 
25. ↑ Star DJ Antoine: “I'm loyal for the first time” , in: Blick.ch, from January 29, 2013
26. ↑ DJ Antoine and Laura Zurbriggen are separated. In: 20 minutes. Retrieved October 15, 2018 . 
27. ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH