Parov Stelar

Parov Stelar
Parov Stelar in August 2017, photographed by Jan Kohlrusch
Background information
Birth name	Marcus Füreder
Also known as	Plasma Cash Candy Nola Grey
Born	(1974-11-27) 27 November 1974
Origin	Linz, Austria
Genres	Electro swing downtempo
Occupation(s)	Producer DJ
Years active	1998–present
Labels	Etage Noir Recordings
Website	www.parovstelar.com

Marcus Füreder (born 27 November 1974) better known by his stage name, Parov Stelar, is an Austrian musician, composer, producer and DJ. His musical style is based on a combination of jazz, house, electro and pop. He is known as one of the pioneers of electro swing.^[1]

Biography

Marcus Füreder first appeared as a DJ at nightclubs during the mid-late 1990s. He became involved in producing and publishing in 2000. Having released his first maxi singles on Bushido (still using his real name and his stage name Plasma), Füreder founded the record label Etage Noir Recordings in 2003.^[2] A year later, under the stage name Parov Stelar, the EP Kiss Kiss was immediately picked up by the influential Austrian radio station FM4. Kiss Kiss, soon followed by the LP Rough Cuts, provided him with a breakthrough on the international electronic music scene.^[3]

Parov Stelar was among the first who produced electronic swing music in Europe.^[4] With his album Shine the BBC named Parov Stelar as one of the most promising producers active in Europe today.^[5] His specific approach to music production, combined with a proven sense of sound aesthetics, led to a reaction from audiences and colleagues all around the world, giving him a reputation as the founder of a new genre: Electro Swing.^[6]

With his subsequent albums (Seven and Storm (2005), Shine (2007), Coco (2009), The Princess (2012), The Invisible Girl (Parov Stelar Trio, 2013), The Art of Sampling (2013), the No. 1 album’s The Demon Diaries (2015), Live @ Pukkelpop (2016)), The Burning Spider (2017) and more than 20 EPs he was able to strengthen and even improve his status until today and he became the favorite of a huge fan community.^[7]

In February 2004 he played his first show in the PlayStation theatre. In November 2005 Parov Stelar had his first appearance together with a Live-Band. This kick-started a huge live success with more than 700 live shows all around the world, e.g. sold out shows at PlayStation Theater in New York (back to back), Alexandra Palace in London, Zenith in Paris and Columbiahalle in Berlin. They played many major festivals like Coachella (US), Glastonbury (UK), Sziget (HU), Hurricane/Southside, Lollapalooza (DE), Rock Werchter, Pukkelpop (BE), Pinkpop (NL), Vieilles Charrues, Solidays (FR), NOS Alive! (PT), Zurich Open Air, Gampel Open Air, Gurten Festival (CH), Untold (RO), Frequency (AT) and co-headlined La Fete the L’Humanite in Paris in front of 100,000 people.^[8]

2 sold out shows at PlayStation Theater in New York on November 6th and 7th 2015

The cast varies from the Parov Stelar Trio up to the full cast of the Parov Stelar Band consisting of Parov Stelar (Programming), Cleo Panther (Vocals), Marc Osterer (Trumpet), Sebastian Grimus (Saxophone), Jakob Mayr (Trombone), Michael Wittner (Bass/Guitar) and Willie Larsson Jr. (Drums).

Parov Stelar won 7 Amadeus Austrian Music Awards: Electronic/Dance (2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016), Album of the year for The Princess (2013), Best Live Act (2013 and 2014).^[9] Parov Stelar worked with Lana Del Rey,^[10] Bryan Ferry, and Lady Gaga ^[11] among others. He released ten albums, more than twenty EPs and sold more than 500,000 albums independently.^[3] The track "Booty Swing" reached top chart positions in the electronic US and Canadian iTunes charts.^[12] "All Night" reached Double Platinum Status for more than 100,000 tracks sold in Italy in May 2017^[13] and in May 2018 the song "The Sun" featuring Graham Candy reached the No. 1 chart position in the US iTunes Electronic Charts.^[14]

His tracks have been used on hundreds of compilations worldwide as well as in TV shows, TV series, movies and advertising spots which brought him international recognition.^[15]

He is married to Barbara Lichtenauer, better known by her stage name Lilja Bloom, and the two have created many songs together, including "Step Two" and "Coco."

Parov Stelar and Lilja Bloom are the founder of the design label „Stelarbloom“ and won the A‘ Design Award 2017/2018 with their furniture design project „Voltaire“.^[16]

Discography

In popular culture

• In 2016 the song "Clap Your Hands" was used in a TV Commercial^[25] for the iOS and Android game Shuffle Cats.
• In 2014 the song "Catgroove" was used in a TV commercial^[26] for the Belgian telecom operator Proximus.
• His song "All Night" was featured In a television commercial for Paco Rabanne Eau My Gold perfume.
• His songs "All Night" and "Millas Dream" were used as soundtrack of Turkish motion picture İncir Reçeli 2.
• His song "Chambermaid Swing" was featured in the Bacardi "The Party 1957" commercial in 2012. This was his first major exposure to the United States pop scene.
• The Klingande remix of "The Sun" was featured in the video game Forza Horizon 3.
• His track "All Night" from the album The Princess has been chosen for a TIM commercial (Telecom Italia Mobile) in 2017.^[27]
• The song "All Night" reached Double Platinum Status for more than 100,000 tracks sold in Italy in May 2017.^[13]
• Parov Stelar’s song "The Princess" has been chosen for the 2017 Lexus global brand campaign “Shift”.^[28]
• The song "The Sun" is featured in a 2018 advertisement for Transitions Lenses as part of their "Light Under Control" campaign.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Parov Stelar.

• Official website
• Parov Stelar at Discogs
• BBC music's review of his album Shine
• Article in Rhythm and Booze Magazine This link does not work