Steve Porter | |
|---|---|
| Born | Stephen Porter |
| Origin | Amherst, Massachusetts |
| Genres | Mashup,progressive house,EDM |
| Occupation | Disc jockey |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Labels | Porterhouse Media PH Recordings |
| Website | http://djsteveporter.com |
Steve Porter (bornc. 1978) is an Americanmusic video producer,remixer andDJ originally fromAmherst, Massachusetts. He is best known for his pop-culture mashup remixes and studio work as aprogressive house producer.
Porter began producing music while attendingWilliston Northampton School, and was discovered byChris Fortier in 1999, when he was signed to Fortier's Fade Records. Since that time, he has toured as a DJ and has released remixes and original music. In 2009, Porter placed second in theDJ Times "America's Best DJ" poll. In the same year, Porter foundedPorterhouse Media, an audio/visual marketing company that createsviral videos. Porter has won several awards for his videos, including twoWebby Awards and oneDaytime Emmy Award nomination.
Steve Porter was born inAmherst, Massachusetts, around 1978, the son of Catharine and Roger S. Porter. Catherine was anombudsman at theUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst,[1] and Roger founded the school's polymer science and engineering department.[2][3]
Porter was interested in sports from a young age, in part because of theNHLPA Hockey '93 video game for theSega Genesis.[4] He attendedWilliston Northampton School, where he was part of a club for "budding DJs". He graduated from the school in the 1990s.[5]
As a DJ, Porter was discovered byChris Fortier and signed to his label, Fade Records.[6] Throughout the early 2000s, Porter toured North America, Asia, and Europe as aDJ.[5] His touring included festivals such asLollapalooza andCoachella.[7] During this time, he released severalprogressive house albums, which received mixed to positive reviews from critics.[8][9][10] In 2009, he ranked number 2 in theDJ Times "America's Best DJ" poll.[5][11]
Interested in branching out from traditional DJing, Porter began working on video remixes of commercials and celebrities. One of these remixes was a music video called "Rap Chop", which remixed theSlap Chop infomercial usingauto-tuning.[12] Porter posted it toYouTube on April 25, 2009, and soon afterward the video wentviral, garnering over 12 million views within two years.[5] AGuardian article compared the video to the similarCillit Bang remix,[13] while Jason Lutz, in an article written forBillboard, compared Porter's mashup to similar viral video works byMike Relm andThe Gregory Brothers.[14]
In June, Porter released another remix entitled "Press Hop", which featured footage of basketball playerAllen Iverson and his "practice" press conference, as well as a controversial rant by American football coachMike Gundy.[15] The "Press Hop" video was viewed over 3 million times.[4]
In July 2009, because of the success of the "Rap Chop" video, Porter partnered with Vince Offer to produce official commercials for Offer's products. Porter was also contracted byFedEx, and the "Press Hop" remix aired onESPN.[12] The "Press Hop" remix also helped Porter gain attention from other sports associations.[16]
Because of the success of his early remixes, Porter founded a production company,PorterHouse Media, in 2009. Porterhouse Media is amulti-media company based inHolyoke, Massachusetts. The company's main service is creating viral media remixes as advertisements for sports teams and leagues and television networks such asESPN,ABC, andNBC. By 2012, the company had produced approximately 100 video remixes, each of which takes between 100 and 250 hours to create.[7] Most of them are about 30 seconds long.[16]
In 2010, PorterHouse Media partnered withGoodby Silverstein & Partners to produce advertisements for theNational Basketball Association's "Where Amazing Happens" campaign. They produced four commercial spots, "Where Defense Happens", "Where Clutch Happens", "Where Determination Happens", and "Where Stepping Up Happens", which each remixed footage of basketball players intorap songs.[17] In the same year, PorterHouse Media also produced a series of advertisements for ESPN'sSunday NFL Countdown andCBC Television'sHockey Night in Canada.[4] Although Porter's remixes are generally well received, fans of his early work as a DJ are often critical of his commercial work.[18]
Porter's remix of "Put Your Faith In Me" byKonami in-house artist UZI-LAY appeared inDance Dance Revolution Universe and his own song "Somebody In Da' House" appeared inDance Dance Revolution Universe 2. Porter contributed two remixes to the 2014 video gameFantasia: Music Evolved. In 2015, he created a musical "supercut" of clips of the rapperEminem, to celebrate the artist's birthday. The video was featured inRolling Stone.[19] This led to a series of subsequent collaborations with the magazine.
Porter also did a mashup ofJeff Dunham'sNBC-specialUnhinged in Hollywood.[20]
| Year | Work | Category | Award | Result |
| 2006 | DJ | DJ | Top 100 DJs, DJ Magazine[citation needed] | |
| 2009 | DJ | DJ | America's Best DJ, DJ Times[citation needed] | |
| 2011 | Press Hop 2 | Video Remixes/Mashups | Webby Award | Nominated[21] |
| 2012 | Most Creative People | Ranked number 60 onFast Company's list[citation needed] | ||
| 2012 | All He Does Is Win (Remix) | Best Video Mashup | Webby Award | Won[22] |
| 2013 | So Disrespectful (Remix) | Best Video Mashup | Webby Award | Won[23] |
| 2013 | Mashups forGood Morning America, ABC | Outstanding Promotional Achievement | Daytime Emmy Award | Nominated[citation needed] |
| 2013 | Team USA Tribute | Video- Best Editing | Webby Award | Honoree[24] |
