John Acquaviva

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John Acquaviva
Born 1963
Orsara di Puglia, Italy
Genres Techno, tech house, disco, house
Occupation(s) Musician, disc jockey, musical entrepreneur
Labels Plus 8, Definitive Recordings
Website www.john-acquaviva.com

John Acquaviva (born in 1963) is an Italian-born Canadian DJ, producer, artist, and musical entrepreneur.

John began his international career in 1989 with Richie Hawtin by founding one of the world's best known and influential techno labels,[1] Plus 8 Records. The founding of Plus 8 Records put John Acquaviva and Richie Hawtin at the vanguard of the emerging international electronic music movement and DJ culture. In 1993, Acquaviva and Hawtin also founded Definitive Recordings and the label is now celebrating 20 years of club and underground anthems. An acknowledged pioneer of new music and ideas, John was one of the first people to take notice and embrace electronic music’s digital future at the dawn of 2000 by championing Final Scratch. And following that success, John took another step to help found and launch Beatport.com, the largest dance-music download site in the world.

He currently runs Definitive Recordings, a label that he began in 1993 with Richie Hawtin and Karl Kowalski. After the label's hiatus in the late 1990s, Acquaviva relaunched Definitive Recordings in 2005 with an entertainment attorney, Mark Quail. Since then, the label has carved out a name with its distinctive, driving but funky tech house sound and six number one tunes on Beatport.com.

Not satisfied with just his own work, John started fostering new artists for his Definitive label, djs and producers such as Olivier Giacomotto, Simon Doty, Damon Jee, DJ Tonio, Jan Van Lier and Dan Diamon.

Having been on the international dj circuit since the founding of Plus 8 in 1990 and on a perpetual world tour ever since, John achieved his commercial pinnacle in 2006, with Acquaviva reaching No.22 on the DJ Mag 2006 list. His international career has spanned well over two decades at the very highest level, throughout thousands of parties with millions of people having heard him play, keeping him in high demand. John has had, both personally and with his label, six number ones and narrowly missed a seventh when his track Sofa King, made together with Olivier Giacomotto, peaked at number two on the overall Beatport chart.

In December John Acquaviva released an official music video for the underground track "Good Music" made together with Alex D'elia, Nihil Young and the US based singer Dan Diamond. Official Music Video For Good Music

Number one Beatport entries

Olivier Giacomotto - Gail In The O (Damon Jee & John Acquaviva Remix) Definitive

John Acquaviva presents Sven Webber - First Stroke (Original Mix) Great Stuff

Mantra - Feedback With Madox (Original Mix) Definitive

Bass Kleph - I'll Be Ok (Superskank Remix) Definitive

John Acquaviva & Lutzenkirchen - Zombie (Original Mix) Blufin

Olivier Giacomotto - Guacamoli (Original Mix) Definitive

Robot Needs Oil - Volta (Olivier Giacomotto remix) Definitive

External links

Notes

  1. According to Butler (2006:33) use of the term EDM "has become increasingly common among fans in recent years. During the 1980s, the most common catchall term for EDM was "house music", while techno became more prevalent during the first half of the 1990s. As EDM has become more diverse, however, these terms have come to refer to specific genres. Another word, electronica, has been widely used in mainstream journalism since 1997, but most fans view this term with suspicion as a marketing label devised by the music industry".