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Funkstar De Luxe is Denmark's king of house music. Breaking into the industry on the back of his 1999 remix of Bob Marley`s `Sun Is Shining`, he has since proved himself to be a consistent and high-quality remixer and a producer with great ability.
Funkstar De Luxe was born Martin Ottesen in the Danish island of Funen. Martin played keyboard in a funk band throughout the 1990s but tunes like Kraftwerk`s `Electric Café` opened his eyes and ears to the potential of synthesisers... Read more
Funkstar De Luxe is Denmark's king of house music. Breaking into the industry on the back of his 1999 remix of Bob Marley`s `Sun Is Shining`, he has since proved himself to be a consistent and high-quality remixer and a producer with great ability.
Funkstar De Luxe was born Martin Ottesen in the Danish island of Funen. Martin played keyboard in a funk band throughout the 1990s but tunes like Kraftwerk`s `Electric Café` opened his eyes and ears to the potential of synthesisers and samplers, leading to him quitting the group and forming Pretty Damn Quick (PDQ) with a long-time friend. The duo`s first two singles, `Eu Fonk` and `Rock De House`, enjoyed modest success but it was Martin`s debut as Funkstar De Luxe in 1999 that saw him scale the heights of the dance music industry.
His remix of `Sun Is Shining` blew up around the world. During its production, Martin decorated his humble studio with palm trees and all the work on the remix was done only when the sun was shining. It sold over 1 000 000 copies worldwide, went Gold in South Africa, Belgium, Sweden and Denmark, Silver in France and the UK and was licensed to dozens of compilation albums including those from Ministry of Sound, EVA, Jive and Italy`s Time Records.
The single stayed at #1 for 3 consecutive weeks on Billboard's Dance Chart and remained on the chart for more than a year. When it went directly into the commercial charts at #3, `Sun Is Shining` became the biggest Bob Marley hit ever in England, eclipsing `Buffalo Soldier` which entered at #4 in 1983. `Sun Is Shining` was named `Track Of The Season` on Ibiza and Martin performed the track at the 2000 World Music Awards in Monaco where he was also presented with an award for `The World's Best Selling Reggae Single`.
Such unprecedented success is hard to sustain but Martin quickly followed up with another remix of a Bob Marley track, `Rainbow Country`. While it didn`t match the astonishing sales of `Sun Is Shining`, it did extremely well and lead to Martin being approached to remix the work of James Brown, Grace Jones and Mary J. Blige. These remixes and more were included on his 2001 remix album `Keep On Moving (It`s Too Funky In Here)`, the success of which lead to more remix work for the likes of Boy George and Ricky Martin.
Martin meanwhile bunkered down in his studio and worked on a debut artist album. 2002`s `Funkturistic` was the result, a mature offering which drifted between house and down tempo sounds. Featuring an array of collaborators, the album was a totally original effort with the exception of `Blinded By the Light`, a Bruce Springsteen classic re-spruced by Manfred Mann`s Earth Band and remixed on the album by Lenny Ibizarre. It was released as a single, as was `Itch It Up` and `Saturday`.
Martin toured extensively across the UK and US and played several gigs in Ibiza on the back on `Funkturistic`. 2004 saw the release of `When I Think Of You` on Disco:Wax and Martin`s remix of Tom Jones` `She`s A Lady` on BIG. Both singles were included on several compilations in 2005 including `Ultimate Dance Remixed`, `Club Hits 2006`, `Hed Kandi World Series 2` and `Disco Kandi 05.04`.
2006 will see Martin continue his remix and production schedule with his homeland in mind. As he explains, `I want to be an artist who helps draw attention to Denmark. I really think Denmark lacks high-profile artists. There haven't really been too many who have put Denmark on the map. It's always been a personal goal to create something that's still there when I'm gone.`
Despite his many successes and his label as `King of the Remix`, Funkstar De Luxe remains modest, preferring to think of the scene as an interesting court with a lot of `princes`. Show less
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