Gigi D'Agostino

Italian DJ and producer Gigi D'Agostino has scored dozens of international chart hits since the early 1990s, encompassing several styles and eras of dance music. Near the beginning of his recording career, he developed a style called Mediterranean Progressive that incorporated rhapsodic melodies into stripped-down progressive house tracks, as heard on his self-titled 1996 full-length debut. His popularity exploded near the end of the decade, as he switched to a more melodic, vocal-heavy Italo dance sound, and the title track to his 1999 album L'Amour Toujours became a major worldwide hit. By the middle of the 2000s, D'Agostino switched to a dramatically different style marked by slow tempos and distorted kick drums, which he dubbed Lento Violento. He dedicated several monikers to this sound, additionally compiling these tracks on releases under his own name, such as 2007′s Lento Violento ...e Altre Storie. He revived this style near the end of the 2010s, releasing material under the names Scialadance and simply Lento Violento.
Luigino Celestino di Agostino was born in Turin in 1967. A fan of Italo disco since childhood, he began to DJ and organize events at clubs around 1987. He joined the progressive trance group Voyager in 1993, but left the project after their third single. In 1994, he released several experimental singles with Daniele Gas, in addition to founding his own NoiseMaker label. Incorporating Latin and Mediterranean melodies into his tracks, he scored several hits in 1995, with “Gigi’s Violin” and “Angel’s Symphony” (a collaboration with Mauro Picotto) both reaching the Top Ten on the Italian singles chart. Debut album Gigi D'Agostino appeared in 1996, and an album-length EP titled Gin Lemon was released in 1997.
D'Agostino’s work became more melodic and pop-influenced, often incorporating passionately sung vocals or playfully chopped-up samples. His first major international hit was the 1999 single “Bla Bla Bla,” which reached the Top Ten in Germany and Austria as well as Italy. The double CD L'Amour Toujours was released that year, including additional hits such “Another Way” and a cover of Nik Kershaw’s “The Riddle.” “L’Amour Toujours” (also known as “I’ll Fly with You”) was issued as a single in 2000 and became a blockbuster hit throughout Europe, Asia, and even the United States, where it charted in the Billboard Hot 100. The EP Tecno Fes and its lengthier sequel were both released in 2000; Vol. 2 reached number one in Austria, where L'Amour Toujours also topped the chart and was certified triple platinum.
Mix CD Il Grande Viaggio di Gigi D'Agostino, Vol. 1 appeared in 2001, and Il Programmino di Gigi D'Agostino, a collection of tracks played on the DJ’s program heard on Radio Italia Network, was released in 2003. D'Agostino also issued Silence E.P. Underconstruction 1, another album-length release that included a darker, slower track called “Ripassa,” foreshadowing the producer’s subsequent direction. 2004 full-length L'Amour Toujours II featured a mix of Euro-dance tunes and ballads, but after its release, he devoted much more time to his harder sound, for which he coined (and copyrighted) the term Lento Violento. Hinting at this sound with 2005 singles as Uomo Suono and Dottor Dag, he released the fully committed 2007 full-length La Musica Che Pesta under the name Lento Violento Man, and D'Agostino compilations such as Lento Violento ...e Altre Storie (2007) and Suono Libero (2008) included tracks in this style.
Two mixed CDs, Ieri e Oggi Mix, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, appeared in 2010, and several retrospective compilations were issued by ZYX, but the producer was largely unheard from until 2018, when he established the label Gigi D’Agostino Planet and began releasing music as Scialadance and Lento Violento. He was also co-credited as the author of Dynoro’s 2018 version of Ivan Gough and Feenixpawl’s “In My Mind,” which additionally borrowed the hook from “L’Amour Toujours.” This track was a massive international hit, topping charts in dozens of countries and earning several platinum certifications. ~ Paul Simpson