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Steeped in
a background of learning his craft through long sets at his various
residencies during his days in Central Florida and later at Twilo
in New York , Chris is an old school dj in the truest sense of the
word. He has learnt his craft in a way that few DJs can boast. Very
few of today's headline DJ's can say they know how to build a night
from nothing and create an atmosphere at any point in the nights
festivities. However, Chris Fortier is one of the few that can.
With the seemingly
never-ending world tour still in effect from last year's release
of the critically acclaimed “Bedrock: Compiled and Mixed”
compilation, Chris is a headline act in his own right, he continues
to travel to every corner of the globe in the last 12 months including
residencies at The Cross in London and Plexi in New York. 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
as he embarks on a solo career alongside his continuing work as
Fade. The summer has seen the release of “Whateveritis”
a slice of big room house directed at those that choose to pidgeonhole
every genre of dance music. The follow up, “Believe” has
been road tested for the past few months while on tour and looks
set for a release in the coming months, along with the unreleased
“Losing Wait” and remixes of Kristine W, Lovesky and PQM.
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
pioneer DJ of the US circuit, 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 club's 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 six 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 in 2001) to her record label, Chris was
offered a remix of a Delerium track called “Silence”.
The remix created a frenzy with such limited quantities being pressed
by the label. 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.
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