Peter Presta

Peter Presta ­ chances are that even if you've never heard the New Yorker on the decks, you'll have probably heard one of his records tearin' up the dancefloor. In fact, with Peter it's almost a case of just who hasn't he worked with ­ Masters At Work, Danny Tenaglia, Moby, Joey Beltram, Cevin Fisher, Ray Roc, StoneBridge, Peter Rauhofer & Victor Calderone are just a few of the artists hešs either collaborated with or remixed. In fact, he has over 300 productions and remixes to his name already.

What's more, 2005 looks like being Peter's best year yet. Following the international success of 'We Got Him' and a string of other high profile releases in 2004, you're certain to be hearing more of Peter both as a DJ and a producer where he specializes in energetic pumpin' house covering everything from disco-tinged house anthems to tribal dancefloor bombs.

'We Got Him' first came out on Swiss label Houseworks and went on to be a big international club smash as well as being licensed to three Ministry of Sound compilations. Such was the buzz around the record, in fact, that the remix work started coming in thick and fast for the likes of Duran Duran, Sade, Anastacia, Usher and many more. Peter also remixed 'Popular' by Darren Hayes which went on to become a chart-topping record in the UK and his remix of Cindy Mizelle's 'Shine On' was used for the video. With a pedigree like that it's no wonder that his production skills are more and more in demand, but how did Peter's career get started?

Growing up in Brooklyn, he knew that he wanted to be making music from day one. By lucky chance an elder cousin owned The Funhouse, the legendary club where John "Jellybean" Benitez and Madonna started out. Despite being so young, Peter was able to sneak in courtesy of his cousin and quickly became enraptured by the whole experience.

This was the early days of hip hop and the film 'Beat Street' with every kid getting into breakdancing, graffiti and DJing. It was Jellybean who proved the greater inspiration, however, and Peter would steal his school lunch so he could keep the money his mother gave him and spend it on vinyl. These were the days of freestyle and songs like 'I.O.U.' by Freeez, producers like Arthur Baker and John Robie, and labels like Streetwise Records. Around 1986 The Funhouse closed, however, and the only way Peter could hear this music was to buy it.

"Right after I would come home from school", he recalls, "I would shut my door and practice DJing. In fact, I didn't do too well in school because music was on my mind constantly. If I got into trouble I didn't mind being sent to my room ­ I used to love getting punished!"

After leaving High School Peter set up his own record shop, Unreel Records, stocking early house and freestyle. This proved to be the perfect tool for getting DJ dates as he would offer to promote their nights in the store in exchange for a chance to play. Not surprisingly, they took up his offer and Peter was soon playing in just about every club in town six nights a week. Places like The Tunnel, Club USA and The Limelight.

He would also sell his own mix tapes at Unreel and one of these found its way into the hands of the Aleem brothers, famous for tracks like 'Release Yourself', who invited him to put his mixing style onto vinyl. Creating these medley mixes was fine but what Peter really wanted to do was make his own music and he released his first record, 'Dancing on the Fire', under the name A New Trend in 1991. He was actually playing techno at the time and Unreel would stock all the latest releases. A chance meeting with Joey Beltram soon followed and the two became close friends with Joey giving Peter his first break by releasing his tracks on Rhythmatic Rage, Beltram's own label distributed by Nu Groove.

Since Peter was recording for Rhythmatic Rage he would end up hanging round the Nu Groove offices and hearing all the latest house records by people like Todd Terry and Masters At Work. Soon Peter was making both house and techno. It was 'Who Could Dance' as Mix of Trixx on Cutting Records that put him firmly on the map, however, and he soon began to DJ more and more, not just all across the USA but throughout Europe and the Far East.

When Nu Groove closed down, Peter was without a permanent label for around a year. In fact, he would haunt the doors of Maxi Records hassling them to take his tracks. In the end, someone said, "Let's just sign this kid already!" and 'Car Alarm' was released under the name Viper in 1996. It ended up giving him his biggest break and selling close to 60,000 copies. Peter stayed with Maxi for the next four years, while, ever the hustler, he also released records on all the big New York labels like Strictly Rhythm, Nervous and Emotive.

Following the success of 'Car Alarm' remix work came flooding in with Danny Tenaglia, Moby, Crystal Waters, E-Smoove and the Jungle Brothers among those getting the Peter Presta treatment. He also collaborated with Ray Roc as Roc & Presta on 'Everybody Over There (Getting Robbed)' which was picked up by Masters At Work for their label in 1997. It sold nearly 10,000 copies in the first week.

Spurred on by Joey Beltram, Peter began to find a home for his music outside of the US, particularly in the UK where Subversive Records released 'Nu Chant' in 2002 followed by 'Changes' with vocals by Ron Carroll in 2003. There was also a highly acclaimed remix of Cevin Fisher's 'Somebody' for the label which was a big favourite with Tall Paul. Meanwhile, techno imprint Bush has long championed his sound on their house subsidiary Boo with singles like 'New Style' and 'Say Goodbye' along with the tougher 'Krash Kourse' on Bush itself. There have also been releases on Sound Division in Italy and Richard Grey's G-High imprint in France as well as 'Find Myself' on Peter Rauhofer's Star 69 label.

2004 saw the release of 'Inside & Out' on Kinky Vinyl and 'O'Rox Drums on Honchos Music with the latter going on to be a big club hit and played by all the top DJs. It was also a good year across Europe for Peter too with releases on labels like Houseworks in Switzerland including a remix for DJ Antoine & Stonebridge, Antoine Clamaran's Fine Tune and Royal Drums in France, and Tribal Spain all releasing Peter Presta records in 2004.

Peter also launched his own label, Apple Jaxx Recordings, in the UK in 2004 with singles from artists like Raoul Zerna, Bryan Cox, Little Carlos and The Club Punks as well as himself. Not surprisingly, DJs across the board have been playing his tracks out including Carl Cox, Tall Paul, Dave Clarke, Seb Fontaine, Pete Tong, Chus & Chubellos, Tony Thomas, Roger Sanchez and Robbie Rivera. So, what is the Peter Presta sound?

"Everything from tough pumpin' disco to European-style tribal house", enthuses Peter. "I try to put a lot of energy into everything I do. All my records are about non-stop energy but I also love vocals ­ they're my specialty. When I'm DJing I behave like I do in the studio, jumping around like crazy and dancing as if I was in the crowd. I love music ­ it's part of me. When I DJ I want to give people the freedom to let go and be themselves on the dancefloor."

It's a sound that has made his DJing skills in increasing demand with dates in Moscow, Milan and London recently as well as back in New York. Carl Cox has also signed up Peter's 'Tailgate' as the debut release on his new Australian label Preacher Records. Peter lives for music 24/7 and is renowned for only sleeping three or four hours a night ­ this man is a veritable Mix of Trix (which also happens to be the name of his production company.) What's more, we've still to see the best from him.

"I have a lot of good things up my sleeve", he promises. "I want everybody to hear the best of me; I'm a package thatšs ready to be ripped open!"