Idriss D

Idriss D has been surrounded by music since his early childhood. His grandfather, Zerouala El Aarbi, was a big musician in Algeria, also his uncles were very prolific artists in their free time, and they met every Friday in his grandmother’s house to play Chaabi and other traditional music. Sometime later, Idriss fell in love with funk, disco, and all kinds of Black Music thanks to the radio show he was listening to and recording every evening and to the huge influence of his friend Nadir, a DJ from Constantine. In the early 90s, he discovered the club scene in Alger and especially Adel and Chafik, two DJs who were icons in North Africa with their mixtapes making the rounds in all the countries in Maghreb. And it was Chafik who asked Idriss to play for the first time, after his set at Rai Hamidou club. After moving to Italy he worked in a very big insurance company called INA in order to be able to sustain his music passion. After 3 years, Idriss opened his record shop and started to organise small parties in Mantova, where he quickly established himself among the new talented names in the game thanks to his mixing skills, his unique style, and his hypnotic dance vibes. His prowess and perseverance led him to widespread acclaim in the country's nightclubs and to play at some of the most renowned venues such as Echoes, Cocoricò, Red Zone, Angels of love, and Mafia club. He is still resident at Cocoricò Riccione, one of the biggest and most popular clubs in the European scene, and his label Memento hosts a weekly party in the precious Macarena club in Barcelona. His impressive touring has brought him to clubs such as Tresor, Watergate, and Kater Blau in Berlin, Club 4 and El Row in Barcelona, Rex in Paris, Norsdstern in Basel, Amnesia Milano, or Privilege Ibiza.

Idriss D's popularity as an artist manager grew as he founded dbArtists, an agency focused on breaking through Italian nightlife and party culture with the booking of international and national talents. His agency soon became an exclusive partner for Minus, Clonk, and Freak N Chic. Later he started representing Cadenza, and Luciano.

Beyond his busy DJ schedule, Idriss has succeeded in building a 12-year strong international reputation for his own imprint Memento, signing artists such as Carl Craig, Luciano, Ten Walls, and The Analogue Cops, and has released music of many gifted underground producers like Lino Pugliese, Acirne and many others.