Olivier Portal

Influenced by artists and producers ranging from Jimi Hendrix..Miles Davis..George Duke..Marvin & Stevie..Funk Brothers..The Mizell Brothers..a lot of Brothers and Sisters!..Quincy Jones..Steely Dan..Fela..James Brown..Prince..to..Larry Heard..Lil Louis..Ron Trent..a.Tribe.called.Quest..Me'Shell..Jazzanova..4 Hero..(and i love Joni Mitchell, too..)... i released my first maxi under the moniker Playin' 4 the city in 1996. As a means my love for a certain kind of House-drenched in Soul & funk and influenced by the godfathers from New York, New Jersey, and of course Chicago, i created Straight-up Records with my pal Betino Errera. Among the artists that can be found on the label are The Deep (Dj Deep & Julien Jabre), Next Evidence, Republic 61 (Cyril K & Mike L), Funk Force Project (Dj Deep & O Portal), Frank Roger, Sun Orchestra, T Boys, Dj Roy, Atsilut, Shades of Soul and Playin' 4 The City....In 1998, following the invitation of Cyril K, i made my first live appearence at the What's up Bar(Paris), the success of witch led to a residency at the What's up alongside Dj Mike L called "Atmosfear". During the same period i co-hosted the Future Funk and Vynil Maniak shows on Radio Nova with Loik Dury and Karl the Voice and set up the Playin' 4 the City collective. Notably consisting of Karl the Voice, Frederic Melosax, Nicole Graham, Mandel Turner, Janice Leca, Marilyn David, Leddie Garcia, among many others, the collective toured around the world and start a residency at the Mad Bar in Chicago. it also gave me the opportunity to released 2 records on the Chicago-based Music 101 label and to meet some great people like Arman, Dj Mel Hammond, Frank Orr (8fat/Poi Dog), Kenny Carvajal, Kahil el Zabar, Diz, Derrick Carter and more..more.. TBC.....