“When choosing music partners the most important thing is that the person has the commitment, the passion and is ready or already has this lifestyle”
Dan Ghenacia, Dyed Soundorom, and Shonky – vibe brothers in the studio, DJ booth and in life, came together in 2012 to create a musical phenomenon called Apollonia. The three originally met in the Parisian after-party scene of the late 90s, where Ghenacia was a resident at the infamous Batofar. Apollonia have cultivated a creative synergy that sees them connect and work as one artist.
After over ten years of music and friendship, the three French artists decided the natural progression was to collaborate and form the DJ outfit and label, Apollonia. What they describe as a meeting of “black music and white soul”, they have showcased their electric b2b2b sessions in the best clubs and festivals the world offer. Apollonia have cultivated a creative synergy that sees them connect and work as one artist instead of three.
This February and March, Warehouse Elementenstraat will be transformed into an underground music mecca for another HYTE series, with house and techno heavyweights gathering for eight nights across four consecutive weekends. On the 21st of February Apollonia will be one of many headliners, next to colleagues Loco Dice, Benny Rodrigues, Boris Werner and Djebali.
We had a chat with the French trio and found out more about their new album, some great memories from major events, and what connects them the most.
Can you tell us the story of the first time you played as Apollonia together with Dyed and Shonky? Must have been an exciting moment.
It was at Amsterdam Dance Event in 2013. It was great, indeed a very exciting moment for all of us. We appeared as Apollonia for the first time and had our first showcase. It was just after a crazy summer in Ibiza, and the great thing was that after Ibiza, ADE was a bit like coming to the real world even though it is a crazy week, it is more corporate and a meeting point for artists and people form the industry.
Last year we didn’t play ADE unfortunately because we were busy with our album world tour, but we would love to do it again this year for sure!
To what extent does your long time friendship together and relatively common roots play a role for a successful collaboration at present?
We are best friends for about 15 years. We share the love and passion for music. It is simply amazing to be able to do all these things with your two best friends. Going forward together. So we’d say that actually this is the main thing for our successful project Apollonia.
What is the most important thing for you when choosing your music/business partners?
When choosing music partners the most important thing is that the person has the commitment, the passion and is ready or already has this lifestyle. The music, the party, the travelling. Music partners must be like-minded. As for business partners, we are working with an excellent agency and we trust their opinion, but of course reliability is very important.
What is the one thing that connects the three of you the most, except the love for music?
The thing that connects us is friendship. Simply friendship. This is the main force behind Apollonia.
[gallery_bank type=”images” format=”filmstrip” title=”false” desc=”false” img_in_row=”5″ animation_effect=”bounce” image_width=”600″ album_title=”false” album_id=”23″]
