Spankox
“Monday night to the club, Tuesday night to the club, Wednesday night what a headache, but I went to the club…” When five years ago the worldwide smash “To The Club” dropped on the dance world, it quickly became one of those unforgettable club anthems that achieve the rare status of “club classic”. This hit was credited to Spankox, said to be variously a “secret agent, Italian stallion, fashion model, limo driver, photographer, painter and poet”.
Despite the big fuss that ensued over this international man of mystery, it turned out that Spankox was simply an assumed identity of one Agostino Carollo, who adopted this moniker that he describes as “a name that is at the same time strong, sexy and unique”. And Carolllo was hardly a newcomer to the scene, either; in fact, he had been at the forefront of Italian dance music of all kinds since the early ‘90s, from hip-hop and electro to pop-dance and the disco flavoured house music for which Spankox quickly became famous worldwide.
Born in Rovereto, a small town near Lake Garda, in the north of Italy, Agostino graduated in Arts. He travelled the world extensively playing keyboards, singing and deejaying in small clubs before setting up his own studio and his own label, Everness. ‘Round about 1991 he started to produce and release records under several monikers for some of the finest Italian independent record labels. In 1997 he signed a record deal with EMI and he immediately scored a string of hits under the name X-Treme: first in Japan, where his productions “That’s The Way”, “My Fire” and “Wonderland”, perfect examples of hip-hop and house hybrids, reached the top of the charts; then in Europe, where his "Love Song" achieved the gold status in several countries and has also been covered by the English band Right Said Fred (of “I’m Too Sexy” fame”). Agostino Carollo released three albums under the name X-Treme: “X-Treme”, “The Love Album” and “Hip Whoop”.
In 1999 Agostino created the record that proved to be a milestone in his career: the Sylvester sampling anthem “Fly Away (Bye Bye)”. Entirely composed, performed and produced by himself, and released under the name Eyes Cream, it made a huge impact on dance floors around the world. Whilst being a commercial success (Top 40 in the UK, France and Italy, Billboard USA Club/Dance n. 1, five weeks n. 1 in Canada’s dance chart) it also showed Agostino’s commitment to the disco house sound. After the release of “Fly Away” Agostino Carollo’s name rose to fame on the dance scene and his remixes and production skills started to be demanded by artists such as Roxette and Vasco Rossi (n. 1 Italian rock star).
Other hits followed between 2002 and 2004: Eyes Cream’s "Open Up Your Mind" (Billboard Club/Dance Top 10), "Put On Your Red Shoes" (Top 20 single sales charts in Germany, Italy and Scandinavia) and "Tell Me Where You Are" (a huge radio and club hit in the USA and Canada) released under Agostino’s nickname, Ago. In 2003 Agostino also topped the UK and German single charts co-producing the track “The Power of Bhangra” by Snap! Vs. Motivo.
With “To The Club”, the first Spankox single, released worldwide between 2004 and 2005, Agostino Carollo upped his game again, this time moving straight to the funky house area and producing a track that immediately became a smash all over Europe. It was Pete Tong’s pick of the week on the BBC Radio 1 and has been featured in countless compilations worldwide. The BBC invited Spankox to play at their Ibiza Party and the videoclip, shot in Miami, reached the top of the charts on MTV and VIVA. Indeed today every clubber in the world knows the refrain “Monday night to the club, Tuesday night to the club, Wednesday night what a headache, but I went to the club…” thanks also to Fatboy Slim, who opened all his 2005 tour with “To The Club” and included the track in his album “Bondi Beach”. Spankox’s “To The Club” has quickly achieved the status of “Club Classic”: countless remixes produced by famous and unknown have flooded the Internet and you can still hear the orginal version very often in the best clubs or aired by radios around the world.
The demand on Spankox as DJ kept increasing and Agostino, who till then had always preferred working mainly in his studio as producer, started to spend more time playing slots at many superclubs and events around the world.
“Today I actually write, record and produce most of my music while I’m around the world – says Agostino – I have always my laptop with me, loaded with all the software and stuff I need to transform inspiration and emotion into something good and groovy for your ears. I like traveling for DJing because this is for me a great source of inspiration”. Spankox is today requested as DJ all over the world and his fine house sets are not only musically spot on but take the audience to an unforgettable journey. He’s recently played his music in some of the best clubs on the planet such as: Amnesia (Ibiza), Felix (Berlin, Germany), Escape (Amsterdam, Holland), Lounge Gabanna (Tenerife, Spain), Nikki Beach (Portimao, Purtugal), Neo (Moscow), The Zoo (Ibiza, Spain), Pachuka (Venice, Italy), Crobar (Miami, USA), Compound (Atlanta, USA), The Docks (Toronto, Canada), Voodoo (Las Vegas)... and many others. Last summer Spankox got the Saturday residency at the famous club BCM in Mallorca (Spain), where some of the best DJs in the world, including Tiesto, Paul Van Dyk, Carl Cox and Judge Jules also appear weekly.
The increasingly prolific Agostino Carollo also kept busy starting in 2006 to work on an old master tape of “Baby Let’s Play House” by Elvis Presley. At the end of 2007 he produced a massive remix of the track, that after JXL’s treat to “A Little Less Coversation and Oakenfold’s “Rubberneckin’” became the third official Elvis remix in history, officially supported by the Elvis Estate. Elvis Presley’s “Baby Let’s Play House (Spankox Re:Mix) was released at the beginning of 2008, becoming a massive hit in several countries, reaching the n.1 spot of the single sales chart in Italy and sitting there for 7 consecutive weeks, setting the new chart record. Released also on the world’s first VinylDISC (CD and Vinyl in one), it reached n.3 in Spain, just after Madonna’s new single with Justin Timberlake “4 Minutes”, while in Sweden it remained several weeks in the Top 20: in the UK, released by SonyBMG, it hit the Top 40 and got several spins on BBC Radio. Agostino, in the meantime, was not standing still. He was secretly working on more Elvis remixes, in close cooperation with the Elvis Estate, and at the end of May, after signing an historical deal with Sony and the Elvis Presley Estate, he revealed his project to the world: the first Elvis Presley remix album in history, featuring 11 Elvis’ songs remixed in a very clever way. The album, officially endorsed by the Elvis Estate and entitled “Re:Versions”, has been released by SonyBMG UK and several other record companies worldwide under the artist name Elvis Presley vs Spankox, getting rave reviews and immediately becoming a must-have record, climbing charts in several countries. For the first time since 31 years the world has heard Elvis’ voice and songs in an unexpected, cool and and compelling new way.
With this Elvis Presley remix album Agostino Carollo has reinvented Spankox yet again, this time as a producer of credible, feel-good, rhythmic remixes that fully respect the originals of the King of Rock’n’Roll, adding a nice and contemporary touch to songs that are real classics and bringing to a new life some Elvis tracks that for several yeas had been forgotten. Indeed, although some remixes like those of “Baby Let’s Play House”, “Blue Moon of Kentucky” and “Heartbreak Hotel” still pump more than enough to satisfly dancefloors worldwide, the original and beautiful melody of the songs, the lyrics and above all the soaring Elvis’s vocals gave it across-the-board appeal.
Given the success of “Re:Versions”, at the beginning of 2009 Agostino Carollo signed a new deal with the Elvis Presley Estate for the production of a new official remix album entitled “Elvis Presley – Re:Mixes”. The album has been released at the end of 2009 on a special limited edition VinylDISC and Spankox presented the album in Italy in December with three shows featuring Elvis Presley's original drummer, DJ Fontana. Full releases worldwide will begin in summer 2010. Joining Agostino in this journey is, once again, Highpass.
“Elvis Presley - Re:Mixes” is only the first taste of the next chapter in the ever-evolving story of Spankox. In fact, A new Spankox production called "So True" is in these days one of the most played songs by the radios in Spain. Miguel Bosè, top Spanish singer, is credited alongside Ago as writer of the track, that is rapidly becoming a huge floorfiller, while its videoclip, shot and directed by Ago himself, is receiving rave reviews worldwide. Spankox has also another bomb ready: "To The Club 2k10", set to be released in June 2010. Agostino Carollo and Spankox, it seems, are both at the peak of their powers.
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