Italy’s Gabry Ponte has been a name in pop-dance since the late '90s, though he’s broken through to the Top 100 for the very first time this year, a move that he says represents a new stage in his career.

“I grew my fanbase a lot in the past year, due to the amount of shows and festivals I’ve played at, as well as a few YouTube DJing videos where I’m mixing live, 25 songs in only two minutes, which have had millions of views. I’ve received a lot of support from all over the world.”

The key to Ponte’s appeal is how he combines dance culture with pop music, and they’re two musical forms that he says intersect quite naturally. “People like to dance, people like to sing songs. A good song is a good song, whether it’s performed by a rock band or it’s ‘dressed’ for the dancefloor. DJs and producers like to dress their songs with electronic sounds since forever. And when they create good songs, this is where pop and dance meet.” 

An example of the broad nature of Ponte’s appeal was his 2012 single ‘Beat on My Drum’ that featured Pitbull on vocals. We’ve heard several singles since, though he says his focus has been on studio experimentation over the past year.

“I’ve been producing lots of demos, trying to come up with something original, in terms of songs that sound different from everything you can hear in the Beatport charts. And last February I presented my new live show The Prestige, which is a project I’ve been working on for years now, and I’m very happy that it can finally start touring.”