Quick Facts
Biography
Marcus Füreder (born November 27, 1974 in Linz, Austria) better known by his stage name Parov Stelar, is an Austrian musician, composer, producer and DJ. His musical style is based on a combination of jazz, house, electro and breakbeat. He is known as one of the pioneers of electro swing.
Biography
Marcus Füreder first appeared as a DJ at nightclubs during the mid-late 1990s. He got involved in producing and publishing in 2000. Having released his first maxi singles on Bushido (still using his real name and his stage name Plasma), Füreder founded the record label Etage Noir Recordings in 2003. A year later, now with the stage name Parov Stelar, the EP Kiss Kiss was immediately picked up by the influential Austrian radio station FM4. KissKiss, soon followed by the LP Rough Cuts, provided him with a breakthrough on the international electronic music scene.
Parov Stelar was among the first who produced electronic swing music in Europe. With his album Shine the BBC named Parov Stelar as one of the most promising producers active in Europe today. His specific approach to music production, combined with a proven sense of sound aesthetics, led to a reaction from audiences and colleagues all around the world, giving him a reputation as the founder of a new genre: Electro Swing.
In November 2005 Parov Stelar had his first appearance together with a Live-Band. This kick-started a concert series in various European cities and prompted appearances at music festivals like Glastonbury, Eurockéennes, Rock Werchter, Solidays, Sziget, and Zürich Openair as well as performances in Istanbul and Mexico City. The cast varies from the Parov Stelar Trio up to the full cast of the Parov Stelar Band consisting of Parov Stelar (Programming), Cleo Panther (Vocals), Marc Osterer (Trumpet), Sebastian Grimus (Saxophone), Jakob Mayr (Trombone), Michael Wittner (Bass/Guitar) and Willie Larsson Jr. (Drums).
He won 7 Amadeus Austrian Music Awards: Electronic/Dance (2012, 2013, 2015 und 2016), Album of the year for The Princess (2013), Best Live Act (2013 und 2014). Parov Stelar worked with Lana Del Rey, Bryan Ferry and Lady Gaga. He released six albums, more than twenty EPs and sold more than 250,000 albums independently. The track "Booty Swing" reached top chart positions in the electronic US and Canadian iTunes charts. "Booty Swing" samples a 1938 song by Lil Hardin Armstrong called "Oriental Swing".
His tracks have been used on hundreds of compilations worldwide as well as in TV shows, TV series, movies and advertising spots which brought him international recognition.
He is married to Barbara Lichtenauer, better known by her stage name Lilja Bloom, and the two have created many songs together, including "Step Two" and "Coco."
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | Details | Peak chart positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUT | FRA | GER | GRE | NLD | SWI | |||
| 2001 | Shadow Kingdom | 2×12" Vinyl & CD, Bushido Recordings, as Plasma | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2004 | Rough Cuts | CD, Etage Noir Recordings | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2005 | Seven and Storm | CD, Etage Noir Recordings | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2007 | Shine | CD, Etage Noir Recordings | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2008 | Daylight | CD, Rambling Records | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2009 | That Swing – Best Of | CD, Etage Noir Recordings | — | — | — | 7 | — | — |
| 2009 | Coco | CD, Etage Noir Recordings | 65 | — | — | 10 | — | — |
| 2010 | The Paris Swing Box | CD, Etage Noir Recordings | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2010 | La Fete | CD, Etage Noir Recordings | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2012 | The Princess | CD, Etage Noir Recordings | 4 | — | 35 | 8 | 86 | 9 |
| 2013 | The Invisible Girl (Parov Stelar Trio) | CD, Etage Noir Recordings | 18 | — | — | 4 | — | 40 |
| 2013 | The Art of Sampling | 2 CDs, 2 LPs, CD, DD Etage Noir Recordings, Island Records, Universal Music Germany | 6 | 117 | 35 | — | — | 27 |
| 2015 | The Demon Diaries | CD, Etage Noir Recordings | 1 | 93 | 8 | 1 | — | 9 |
| 2016 | Live @ Pukkelpop | CD, Etage Noir Recordings | 9 | — | 89 | — | — | 64 |
| 2017 | The Burning Spider | CD, Etage Noir Recordings | 1 | 66 | 23 | — | — | 9 |
EPs
- 2001: Shadow Kingdom EP (12" Vinyl, Bushido Recordings, as Plasma)
- 2002: Lo Tech Trash (12" Vinyl, Bushido Recordings, as Marcus Füreder)
- 2004: KissKiss (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
- 2004: Move On! (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
- 2004: Wanna Get (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
- 2004: Primavera (12" Vinyl, Auris Recordings)
- 2005: Music I Believe In (12" Vinyl, ~Temp Records, as Marcus Füreder)
- 2005: A Night in Torino (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
- 2005: Spygame (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
- 2006: Parov Stelar EP (12" Vinyl, Big Sur)
- 2006: Charleston Butterfly (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
- 2007: Jet Set EP (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Special)
- 2007: Sugar (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
- 2008: The Flame of Fame (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
- 2008: Libella Swing (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
- 2009: Coco EP (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
- 2010: The Phantom EP (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
- 2010: The Paris Swingbox EP (Etage Noir Recordings)
- 2011: La Fête EP (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
- 2012: Jimmy's Gang EP (Etage Noir Recordings)
- 2014: Clap Your Hands (Etage Noir Recordings)
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album / EP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUT | FRA | GER | SWI | |||
| 2010 | "The Phantom" | 69 | — | — | — | The Phantom EP |
| 2012 | "Jimmy's Gang" | 43 | — | — | — | Jimmy's Gang EP |
| "Nobody's Fool" (featuring Cleo Panther) | 60 | — | — | — | The Princess | |
| 2013 | "The Mojo Radio Gang" | — | 72 | — | — | Coco |
| "Keep on Dancing" (featuring Marvin Gaye) | 45 | — | — | — | The Art of Sampling | |
| 2014 | "All Night" | 42 | 46 | 35 | 57 | The Princess |
| "Clap Your Hands" | 52 | — | — | — | Clap Your Hands | |
| "The Sun" (featuring Graham Candy) | 31 | 110 | — | — | The Sun EP | |
| 2015 | "Hooked on You" (featuring Timothy Auld) | — | 126 | — | — | The Demon Diaries |
| 2016 | "When I Find My Love" (as Stelartronic and Anduze) | — | 97 | — | — | |
| 2017 | "Step Two" (featuring Lilja Bloom) | — | 90 | — | — | The Burning Spider |
Other singles
- 2000: "Synthetica/Stompin' Ground" (12" vinyl, Bushido Recordings, as Marcus Füreder)
- 2001: "Guerrilla" (12" vinyl, Bushido Recordings, as Marcus Füreder)
- 2004: "Get Up on Your Feet" (12" vinyl, Sunshine Enterprises)
- 2005: "Faith" (Maxi-CD, Etage Noir Recordings)
- 2007: "Rock For/Love" (12" vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
- 2007: "Shine" (Maxi-CD, Etage Noir Recordings)
- 2017: "State of the Union" (featuring Anduze)
- 2017: "Beauty Mark" (featuring Anduze)
- Coco and The Princess: Discographie Parov Stelar (in German). austriancharts.at. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
- The Invisible Girl: Discographie Parov Stelar Trio (in German). austriancharts.at. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
- Coco: Discography Parov Stelar. greekcharts.com. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
- The Princess and The Invisible Girl: Parov Stelar – Chart history. Billboard.com. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
- The Princess: Discographie Parov Stelar (in French). hitparade.ch. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
- The Invisible Girl: Discographie Parov Stelar (in French). hitparade.ch. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
In popular culture
- In 2016 the song "Clap Your Hands" was used in a TV Commercial for the iOS and Android game Shuffle Cats.
- In 2014 the song "Catgroove" was used in a TV commercial for the Belgian telecom operator Proximus.
- His song "All Night" was featured In a television commercial for Paco Rabanne Eau My Gold perfume.
- Portuguese right-wing politician Paulo Portas is a known fan of his work, having shown it to Judite de Sousa, a famous Portuguese journalist, saying "I think it's excellent!" even though he thought he was Russian and mistook his song "Love" for "A Night in Torino".
- His songs "All Night" and "Millas Dream" were used as soundtrack of Turkish motion picture İncir Reçeli 2.
- His song "Chambermaid Swing" was featured in the Bacardi "The Party 1957" commercial in 2012. This was his first major exposure to the United States pop scene.
- The Klingande remix of "The Sun" was featured in the video game Forza Horizon 3.
- His track All Night from the album The Princess has been chosen for a TIM commercial (Telecom Italia Mobile) in 2017.
- The song All Night reached Double Platinum Status for more than 100,000 tracks sold in Italy in May 2017.
- Parov Stelar’s song The Princess has been chosen for the 2017 Lexus global brand campaign “Shift”.