Parov Stelar on Tour
It's impossible not to be charmed by Parov Stelar's smooth, vintage-hued "electro swing," a heart-pumping, sample-dense mix of swing, jazz and house music. But it took several years and a few aliases for the Austrian musician to fine-tune his signature sound. Born in the northern Austrian city of Linz, Marcus Fuereder started out DJing in clubs in the 1990s, before expanding into the worlds of production and publishing as a cofounder of the Bushido label. At the turn of the century, he began focusing on his own music, releasing a few singles under his own name before taking up the moniker Plasma and dropping his 2001 electronic album Shadow Kingdom.
In 2003, Fuereder founded his own record label, Etage Noir Recordings, then transformed from Plasma to Parov Stelar, debuting under the new name with 2004's Rough Cuts. With the new alias and label, Fuereder would prove to be one of Europe's most prolific artists, releasing at least one new album on Etage Noir nearly every year since. But it was his feel-good track, "Booty Swing," from the 2010 mini-album The Paris Swing Box, that helped his name spread quickly around the world as one of the pioneers of "electro swing." It's a sound other major artists have wanted a taste of — in fact, he's given his magic remix touch to tracks by Lana Del Rey, Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett.
When he's not releasing new music, he's on the road. Since performing Parov Stelar tracks live requires a full band — especially given the music's heavy use of samples and instrumentation — Fuereder is often alongside fellow musicians, sometimes as The Parov Stelar Trio or The Parov Stelar Band for his wildly entertaining shows that fuse bubbly retro sounds with modern club energy. As such, they've toured extensively around the world and taken part in several major European festivals like Glastonbury and Lollapalooza Paris. If you've yet to see Fuereder and co. live, just listen to his 2016 Live @ Pukkelpop release. You'll understand why Parov Stelar has become one of the hottest concert tickets in Europe and beyond.