Pierre Pienaar, for some better known as P.H.A.T.T, is one of the most prominent names in the Hard Trance scene of late, appearing on respected labels like Nukleuz, Tidy, Monster Tunes, Waterworld, Planet Traxx, Dave Joy’s Phoenix Recordings and playing at events around the world including prolific clubs like The Fridge in London and Gas in Sydney. He is also one of the most sought after remixers currently, and have been commissioned to remix tracks for the likes of Lost Witness, BK, Ratty, CRW, Mario Piu and Ralph Novell among others. Currently he is with the mighty label Nukleuz, as the Head of Nukleuz Green which is has released prolific productions from the likes of Mauro Picotto, Alphazone, ATB, Paul van Dyk, Gigi D’Agostino and many others.

Simon Eve at DJ Magazine was recently quoted as saying that Pierre is now one of the A-Listers, with his tracks being playlisted by music heavyweights from such as Above & Beyond, Paul van Dyk, The Thrillseekrs, Sean Tyas, Adam White, Dave Pearce, Judge Jules, Darren Tate on the Trance tip, and Lisa Lashes, Tidy Boys, Warp Brothers, Dave Joy, Paul Glazby, Alphazone, Cosmic Gate, Dumonde and Technikal on the harder tip.


HISTORY
Pierre started taking an interest in DJ’ing at the age of 15, doing weddings and birthday gigs to generate enough money to buy himself a pair of decks. However that dream almost came seemingly to an end when all his equipment burnt down at a matric farewell function. Insurance only paid out a small amount but Pierre decided to just buy a pair of decks and a mixer to train himself the basics of mixing and to try and blag gigs at clubs, which turned out to be more of a problem than he expected because of his young age. However, once promoters listened to his demos he got a chance to shine at Pentagon Entertainment and from there on things just went from strength to strength.

In the meanwhile Pierre started to dabble with music production, getting himself a copy of Fruity Loops and reading tutorials on the internet and on music production forums. During the same time there were 3 other young producers doing exactly the same thing, posting samples of their latest productions for people to give feedback on. Gaz West (Dark By Design), Guy Mearns (Guyver) and Alf Bamford (Technikal) along with Pierre built up a small fan base among members of the upcoming production community and people started talking. Pierre and Alf Bamford decided to put their heads together on some tracks and from that spawned their first track “Darkside” which started getting DJ support from big DJ’s in the Hard Dance scene.

Pierre finished his matric year at the age of 18 and enrolled at SAE (www.sae.edu) to study Audio Engineering in Glasgow, Scotland, working on his own productions when he had free time. He started to send out demos and it wasn’t long until he got a call from Kevin Energy who offered to sign Darkside as well as Stratosphere from Alf and Pierre on his Dynamix label. This was the start of big things to come. At this stage Pierre and Alf have never actually met in person, all of their productions were done over the internet.

A few months after the release of Darkside, Pierre got his first solo production signed to the highly respected Audio Rehab label, one of the in-house labels at Alphamagic under his ReBirth alias. Working closely with A&R Manager Lee Stacey he released a string of successful solo singles on Audio Rehab and Execute as well as the follow up release from himself and Alf, this time featuring a remix from the legendary Anne Savage. The first single under Pierre’s new P.H.A.T.T. alias also got released on Alphamagic’s Phantom Trax label. Unfortunately Alphamagic went into administration which was a huge setback not only for Pierre, but the whole scene.

After taking some time off to re-think his role and position in the scene Pierre started working on new ideas and new sounds, and decided to concentrate more on his P.H.A.T.T. productions. This ended up to be a very good decision and soon Pierre was contacted by Simon “Brisky” Brisk, who heads Monster Tunes (www.monster-tunes.com). He signed “The Gift Of Melody” and “Levitation” and also gave Pierre tracks to remix on his label, including Sundawner – Krystal Dreams (The Theme Of Wildchild), Sunblind – Believe and the now legendary “Ratty – Sunrise".

Meanwhile, Pierre and Alf collaborated on their biggest track to date…Global Panic. Tidy Trax quickly signed it and hype of the track started to build and spread throughout the clubbing community. They were toured to Australia and New Zealand and played in Sydney, Canberra and Auckland. This was also the first time that Alf and Pierre actually met each other in person.

Since then Pierre’s career has just gone from strength to strength. Global Panic entered the UK Dance charts at the number 10 position, Pierre got booked to play at the first Overdrive event in Cape Town, South Africa, he’s remixed big names like BK, Ratty, Sundawner, Sunblind, Sol Ray & Dark By Design and his productions have received support from top DJ’s including Judge Jules, Cosmic Gate, Johan Gielen, Dumonde, Alphazone, Lee Haslam, Lisa Lashes, Dave Pearce, Woody van Eyden and many more.

As well as getting his productions aired on radio stations including BBC Radio 1, Ministry Of Sound Radio, DI FM and countless others, he has also done guest DJ mixes for shows like DJ Tiesto’s Club Life, Trevor Reilley’s “Underground Sessions”, Judge Jules’ “International Show” as well as “MAXIMUM RADIO” (Hard Dance Channel on DIFM), “HERTZ” (Hard Dance Channel with Trance.nu’s Mark Riddler as host), “CANADIAN CULTURE” (With Darey Products producer DJ Kristoff as host) and "Future of Hard Dance" on Ministry of Sound radio among others.

Currently Pierre has his own weekly show called Euphoric Sessions which airs on Radio SA (www.radiosa.co.uk) and Derek The Bandit's "Sound Republic" web radio station alongside host Stephan Hoffman and a special guest DJ. Guests that has appeared on the show includes the likes of Matt Darey, Adam White, Sean Tyas, Mike Koglin, Warp Brothers and Andy Whitby among various others.

Not contempt with only being one of the leading names in the Hard Dance scene, Pierre has also broken into the Trance scene, with his uplifting remix of JoBabe's "Follow Me Away" which got massive support from Dave Pearce on BBC Radio 1 and got licensed to the 7th installment of the big-selling German compilation "Welcome To The Club" and Nukleuz Trance Sessions 3. His vocal trancer with Jennie Rix called "Broken Angel" also got signed and released by the highly respected Australian label, Trancetribe Recordings.

Pierre got his first mixed compilation released in June 2007 on Nukleuz Records. Trance Sessions Solstice has been a big seller, and even climbed higher in the charts than Above & Beyond’s “Anjuna Beats vol 5” compilation and Tiesto’s “Elements of Life” album. Not bad for a debut release !

He signed on with ReBirth Artist Management (www.rebirth-productions.co.uk) with which has artists like Lost Witness and iDJ's Charlie G on the roster to handle is UK bookings, and Icon Management for all his European bookings which also hosts Airbase, Mike Foyle, Sean Tyas and The Flash Brothers.

2007 has seen Pierre being signed up by the mighty Nukleuz Records (www.nukleuz.com) to head their Nukleuz Green imprint.


Quotes from other producers / DJ's :

"In an era of rehashed and recycled uninspiring tunes Pierre always delivers something fresh and the scene is all the better for it." - Anne Savage
"Since I picked up up my first P.H.A.T.T. track, it was clear that Pierre was going to be a force to be reckoned with. With such an array of quality productions coming through, there is always a Pienaar track for every occasion!" - Kutski (BBC Radio 1)

"Pierre's mixes always go down a storm in my sets" - Dave Pearce (BBC Radio 1)

”Pierre certainly has an ear for a killer riff, and this combined with the energetic dancefloor qualities and crisp production values in his tracks make his work a cut above the competition in hard trance.” - Simon Eve (DJMag / Eve Records)

“I’m a big fan of Pierre’s material, be it the tougher end of hard-dance or the uplifting side of trance. He has a rare talent that always keep dancefloors packed and DJs excited” - Andy Whitby (Voted Best DJ & Best Resident @ Hard Dance Awards 2007)

"PHATT is a king of hard trance. His music empowers you and yet simultaneously make you feel as if your about to cry. I had him in on the show a few weeks ago - a true master of hard trance” - Nikki Elise (Kiss FM)

"Pierre's slamming releases always travel with me when I'm touring!!!" – Dave Joy

"Pierre has established himself as one of the leading hard trance producers of today. His notoriety is well deserved and he has a glittering career ahead of him." – Lee Haslam

"Pierre continues to be one of the leading exponents of anthemic driving trance, his tracks are always a permanent feature in my record bag!" – Ian Betts

“Pierre is making us proud, as an African taking the Trance World By Storm! It’s a privilege and honour to play his tunes!” - DEREK The Bandit :

“Pierre and I have gone through various of first experiences together in the music scene, like our first signed record and our first Australian tour. All I can say is the guy oozes talent and charisma, and will be in the scene for a long long time to come.” – Alf Bamford (Technikal)

"Pierre has been part of the Music Industry for as long as I can remember and this is for a good reason. His catalogue of releases speak for itself, and what a lovely bloke too!!! Rock on, Pierre." – Amber D
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Pierre Pienaar, for some better known as P.H.A.T.T, is one of the most prominent names in the Hard Trance scene of late, appearing on respected labels like Nukleuz, Tidy, Monster Tunes, Waterworld, Planet Traxx, Dave Joy’s Phoenix Recordings and playing at events around the world including prolific clubs like The Fridge in London and Gas in Sydney. He is also one of the most sought after remixers currently, and have been commissioned to remix tracks for the likes of Lost Witness, BK, Ratty,... (read more)