| DJ Sets ::Hernan Cattaneo
N0. 76 RATED DJ IN THE WORLD ON THE
DJ LIST
Hernán Cattáneo was born
in Buenos Aires, where he grew up listening to bands like
Simply Red, Level 42, Depeche Mode and New Order while carefully
studying Billboard magazine, the only source of information
that was readily available at the time. In 1987, one of his
friends visited Vinylmania in New York and returned with some
vinyl records. These records were to be Hernán’s
first exposure to Chicago House. During that period, Frankie
Knuckles, who would have a huge influence on Hernán
and his blossoming career, broke into the scene and quickly
became an icon of the burgeoning House genre. The way Frankie
Knuckles and artists like Inner City and Derrick May brought
together the energy of European electronic music with the
soul of North American music left an impact on Hernán
and set the foundations for his career. His elemental understanding
of dance music might be the reason why he has firmly positioned
himself amongst the most respected DJs in the world.
Career
Hernán became a DJ after being inspired by a collection
of Chicago house records brought back from the United States
by a friend, featuring artists such as Frankie Knuckles and
Inner City. This music played a role in the music he now plays.
Hernán describes the music he plays as deep, progressive,
funky and tribal house.
In 1996, he won the residency at Clubland Pacha in Buenos
Aires. His performances were a great success and led to Cattáneo
being invited to DJ at clubs around the Americas. Clubland
eventually attracted big-name DJs, such as Sasha, John Digweed,
Dave Seaman and Paul Oakenfold who played alongside Hernán.
Oakenfold was impressed and signed Hernán Cattáneo
to his Perfecto Records label and they toured together in
Europe and the United States from 1997 to 1999.
By 2000, Cattáneo was becoming a major name on the
world club circuit. Underground releases entitled Clubland
Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 created an underground buzz. Also, Ministry
magazine released one of his mixes called Funky, Deep &
Tribal in 2001. In 2002 he produced the international hit
"Deep Funk", released his first mix compilation
entitled "Perfecto Presents South America" on Paul
Oakenfold's label, and won the "Best Newcomer DJ"
at the Pacha Ibiza Awards. Since releasing his first compilation,
he has played about 120 shows a year on every continent around
the world.
As a DJ with an ever increasing fanbase, he rose to #22 and
then to #6 on the DJ Mag poll of the Top 100 DJs. In addition
to appearing repeatedly on John Digweed's Kiss 100 Show, Hernán
started a weekly residency show in London which also enjoys
great success. Entitled Sequential (like two of his mix compilations)
it has been broadcast on Metrodance 95.1 FM every Saturday
since 2002. In early 2004, he followed up his first mix compilation
with the Renaissance Master's Series Volume One, after which
he toured extensively promoting the album on the Renaissance
Master's Tour. In early 2005, Hernán released the Renaissance
Master's Series Volume 2.
Cattáneo is a major supporter of other South American
producers and DJs that have been influenced and inspired by
him, including: Oliverio, MOS, Deep Mariano, and Martín
García. He is also known for bringing relatively unknown
tracks to the forefront in his mixes; this is usually because
the producers of these tracks allow him access to them before
they are even released through their own labels. 2005 included
a major production release by the name of Warsaw (on John
Digweed's Bedrock Records), remixing work on numerous tracks
with John Tonks as well as extensive worldwide touring. His
fourth compilation and his third for the Renaissance imprint,
entitled Sequential, was released in April 2006 to positive
reviews. As with previous compilation albums, Cattáneo
embarked on the Sequential world tour. In May 2007 he released
Sequential Volume 2, which was once again followed by another
worldwide tour to promote the compilation. Due to a very busy
schedule, the creation of Hernán Cattáneo's
own label has been put off for quite some time. According
to Cattáneo, this label would feature producer and
DJ talent from around the world reflecting the diversity of
his compilation albums.
On the first of May in 2008, Metrodance 95.1 FM which had
been airing Cattáneo's Sequential show for approximately
six years, dropped the program based on the decision of new
ownership to change the musical direction of the station.
No new outlet for the show has been made available.
In 2009, to celebrate the release of their 50th album, Renaissance
Recordings chose Hernan Cattaneo to headline the album. The
album, Renaissance: The Masters Series, Part 13, came out
in June.
N0. 76 RATED DJ IN THE WORLD ON 
