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Artist (Switzerland)
Summit Session: Keynote Interview - Adriatique
Close to 15 years after meeting in a Zurich nightclub to start their joint musical journey, Adrian Shala and Adrian Schweizer have firmly made their mark on the industry they once envied. Since 2008, the pair has been inseparable, both in friendship as well as in artistry. Connected by a shared vision, energy and boundless creativity, they united to become the iconic duo known as Adriatique.
The crux of a lasting partnership lies in the art of complementing one another, a principle that the two Adrians excel in. Musically, their diverse preferences merge into a singular and distinctive sound, while their individual inclinations towards studio work and live performances ensure the highest of quality in both respects.
In recent times, the Adriatique name has become a highly regarded brand in its own right, distinguished for consistently strong artistic output and a visionary take on electronic music and event conceptualisation. Notably, industry-leading names such as Afterlife, Awakenings, Circoloco and Diynamic have embraced Adriatique over the years. All the while the foundations were laid for their own platforms Siamese and X, the former being their record label and the latter their futuristic events concept.
Soon after bursting onto the scene in 2012, Adriatique found a home at Solomun’s celebrated Diynamic Music. The duo built up a strong reputation and saw their music being released on a variety of industry leading record labels including Afterlife. 2016 ultimately saw Adriatique adding their two cents to the record label landscape, fulfilling a life-long dream by launching their own imprint, Siamese. Siamese blossomed into a haven for burgeoning talent, serving as both a platform for emerging artists as well as a creative outlet for Adriatique themselves.
Not Siamese, but Afterlife ended up releasing Adriatique’s eagerly awaited and only full-length studio album to date, Nude, in 2018. The album marked a pivotal moment in the Adriatique narrative. Acclaimed by critics, Nude heralded a new era for the duo, expanding beyond their established style and charting new territory as artists. In 2022, Adriatique was asked to remix not one but two of the biggest releases of recent times. First in July by RÜFÜS DU SOL for their single On My Knees and second by Swedish House Mafia
and The Weeknd for their monster hit Moth To A Flame in August.
Now, through X, Adriatique is pioneering new frontiers once again. The new event series materialised in December 2022 in Zurich after years of meticulous planning. In its first year, X touched down in Tel Aviv, Ibiza, Beirut, Sao Paulo and Amsterdam, quickly strengthening its footprint within the scene. Beyond events, the vision for X extends to creating an expansive platform, offering room for music releases as well.
With every passing year, the Adriatique brand steadily solidifies their presence, extending its creative influence more and more. Albeit through their carefully curated X events, fostering talent through Siamese or simply by DJing the world’s most esteemed stages, Adriatique’s impact on the industry is undeniable.
