Daniel Kandi

Musical career

Daniel Kandi began producing trance music in 2000 under the name DJ Mendoza. He was a member of the Danish music community then known as MyMusic (now known as BandBase), where he published his music. In 2003, he formed the duo Duval and Mundo with another member of the community, Anders Duvald Mikkelsen (also known as Stalker). They released their first single as Aurelius, titled "Sorrow", with Jamie P. and vocals by David Hughes, in September 2005 on the Dutch label Intrenze.^[3]

From 2004 to 2007, Daniel Kandi worked with A&R and executive producer Fritz Niko in two projects called Weekend Wonderz and Hit'n'Run, remixing for both Danish and international artists like Infernal, Inez, TV-2, Bent Fabric, Christine Milton and Terri Walker. They have been nominated three times at the Danish DeeJay Awards in the category "Danish Remix of the Year"; in 2006 for their remix of "Stronger" by singer Inez and their remix of "Alt det" by rapper Mortito, and in 2007 for their remix of "Ten Miles" by the dance act Infernal.

In 2006, Kandi produced a track called "Breathe", which was signed to the British trance label Anjunabeats in June 2006, as his first solo release.^[4] It was included as the final track in the compilation Anjunabeats Volume Four.^[5] The follow-up EP "Child / Nova" was released in January 2007,^[6] and both tracks were featured on the compilation Anjunabeats Worldwide 01. Kandi's third release on Anjunabeats was "Make Me Believe / I Found The Way", which was released on July 2, 2007.^[7] Furthermore, "Make Me Believe" was featured on the compilation series entitled Anjunabeats Volume Five mixed by Above & Beyond.

On November 15, 2007, Armin van Buuren selected Luke Warner & Mat Lock – "Deep Psychosis (Daniel Kandi's Cure Mix)" as the "Tune of the Week" on A State Of Trance Episode 326.^[8] "Deep Psychosis" was released on December 10, 2007 on DJSA Records, after the track was signed to DJSA from users on HarderFaster.^[9] A remix competition for this track also appeared on the site.^[10]

In 2008, Kandi collaborated with Robert Nickson whom he visited in his studio in the Netherlands. This resulted in several tracks, with "Liberate" and "Rewire" being released on the A State of Trance label later the same year.^[11][12]

Every 3rd Friday, Daniel Kandi hosts his own radio show called "Always Alive" on the internet radio Afterhours FM from 18–20 CET.^[13]

In April 2010, Kandi released the track "Symphonica", released under the alias Timmus.^[14] It was selected by Dutch DJ Armin van Buuren as the best track of 2010 on his personal top 20.^[15]

In January 2011, he launched the record label Always Alive Recordings, in collaboration with Phillip Alpha, as a sub-label to Enhanced Music.^[16]

In January 2011, Kandi was nominated at the 2011 Danish DeeJay Awards in the category Danish DJ of the Year.^[17]

Kandi has mentioned in several interviews that the only equipment he has used to produce his tracks has been Propellerhead's Reason software.

On March 3, 2011, Armin van Buuren selected Daniel Kandi & Phillip Alpha's track "If It Ain’t Broke" as the "Tune of the Week" on A State Of Trance Episode 498.^[18] It was also included on Armin's mix album A State of Trance 2011.^[19]

His track, Saggitarius, is on the Universal Religion Vol. 5 from Armin Van Buuren.^[20]

In 2017, Kandi continued his touring career by visiting multiple countries in Asia, notably Bangkok.^[21] He was also featured as a line-up in the 2017 Luminosity Beach Festival trance music event held in the Netherlands.^[22]

Snooker career

Daniel Kandi has won the Danish snooker championship for five consecutive years from 2004 to 2009.^[23] On March 31, 2018, he became the first Danish player to score a 147 in an official tournament match when he made a maximum break in his first round match against Bo Jarlstrøm at the Danish Championship.^[24]

He entered Q School in May 2018 in a bid to win himself a place on the snooker professional tour.^[25]