Otto Knows is somewhat of a mystery man in dance music circles. He doesn’t do things the orthodox way. He doesn’t have the same promotional machine as Avicii or the same volume of productions as Alesso however he has still managed to carve out an indelible niche in the mainroom house game. It appears he likes to keep his presence below the radar and focus on his studio time. He isn’t one to rush out a tune if it isn’t ready. His output is carefully limited. Each release is a gift to his adoring fans. Sometimes he can go months without offering up a track but then a quality gem will arrive to bring joy to earbuds all over the world. Carefully guided by his friend Sebastian Ingrosso the Refune Records man has carved a quality reputation for himself as both a producer and DJ and it’s exciting to see him playing his first Residence show this Friday.
There can be no doubt that Otto Knows has become a part of a new royal line of Swedish producers stepping up to the top table of dance music. Brought to the attention of Swedish House Mafia’s Ingrosso thanks to a chance meeting in their native Stockholm, his development as a DJ and producer came through the first hand experience of touring alongside the Refune head honcho. Debuting alongside none other than Tim Berg (Avicii) and Swedish peer Oliver Ingrosso, the time between his first release ‘iTrack’ and his breakthrough single ‘Million Voices’ was a period of considerable development under the watchful eye of his mentor Sebastian. Created in the back room of the studio whilst Ingrosso and Alesso penned festival favorite ‘Calling’, ‘Million Voices’ released via Ingrosso’s Refune records was arguably the biggest tune of summer 2012 and spent the past eighteen months hovering about the charts and wayward drunken hollers throughout every venue and festival imaginable.
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His latest release, a remix for Don Diablo of the anthemic Starlight is another bonefide banger from the Swede and a sign that he isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. Having heard nothing but glowing reports following his debut Irish performance at Oxegen it would seem Irish mainroom fans are in for a treat, and judging by the hype surrounding this show more of the same is expected. The virtue of a club show is that it allows you to really get a grasp on how talented a producer/DJ is. The big open-air festivals leave a lot of room to maneuver however there’s no room for mistakes within the confines of an intimate club. That said we’d willingly wager our life savings on Otto making light work of the Residence crowd this coming Friday night at The Village.
