Aberdeen dance music producer Chris Burke has been headhunted by the record label that launched superstars Calvin Harris and David Guetta.
Having quit his career in recruitment during the Covid pandemic to focus on music Chris says it is a “dream come true” to sign to Spinnin’ Records, the world’s biggest dance music label.
Electronic producer Chris released track 999, a collaboration with Felix Schorn and FIVE, on the label on June 28.
The Granite City dance music star is closing in on a remarkable half-a-billion online streams for his tracks as his reputation goes global.
Chris said: “Being signed to Spinnin’ Records has been a goal of mine for the past five years, so to finally achieve that is a dream come true.
“Spinnin’ Records is the biggest dance music record in the world and has released music by Calvin Harris, David Guetta and Tiësto.
“I was scouted for this release about 18 months ago.
“It was by a DJ and producer called KSHMR who has done songs with Tiësto and headlined festivals.
“KSHMR is a pretty famous guy and I got an email from him in January 2023 asking if I’d like to get a song on Spinnin’ Records.
“I sent him a few demos and the one he liked was 999.
“KSHMR put me in touch with a German producer called Felix Schorn and an Italian producer, FIVE.
“When I initially sent the package in 2023 I only had the vocals and a very basic instrumental.
“The other two producers and myself fleshed it out and made it into the song.”
The influence of Calvin Harris
Chris’ global reputation has led to a host of collaborations with high profile artists.
Last year he released track Safe Haven in collaboration with acclaimed Grammy award winning producer Damon Sharpe.
Los Angeles based Sharpe has worked with global chart sensations Kylie Minogue, Ariana Grande and Jennifer Lopez.
And in the next step on his meteoric rise the Aberdeen producer is on the label that released music by his biggest inspiration, fellow Scot Calvin Harris.
Harris has racked up nine number one singles in the UK and is a Brit Award and Grammy winner.
Chris said: “I have listened to music on Spinnin’ Records artists such as Calvin Harris since I was 16.
“Calvin Harris has been the number one person I have looked up to in music.
“The others are great but y9u can relate to someone from your own country.
“He has paved the way and shown what is possible.
“I would love to get as big as Calvin Harris but he is a diamond in the rough and one in a million.”
Closing in on 500 million landmark
Chris’ hit single Bad Girl, released in 2021, was recorded with Italian producer Audiosonik and influential German DJ and producer Klaas who scored a worldwide smash hit with Infinity 2008.
Now Chris is closing in on a landmark half-a-billion streams.
He admits that number is hard to comprehend, especially when he puts it in context with how many times it would fill Pittodrie – 25 .
Chris said: “I now have 360,000 million on Instagram with people using my songs and their videos get views.
“I recently hit more than 100 million on TikTok and my Spotify is at 30 million now.
“It is totally bizarre and I always do download figures in terms of football stadiums.
“Pittodrie holds just over 20,000 which is a lot of people.
“Then I think about my figures closing in on half a billion, it is difficult to wrap my head round.
“It shows the power of the internet.”
‘I never imagined I would be in this position’
Chris took a leap of faith during the pandemic in 2020 when he moved away from a career in recruitment to focus full time on music.
It has paid off beyond his wildest dreams.
He said: “I never imagined I would be in this position.
“I would have been happy with one million (streams) and even then that seemed out of reach.
“However the numbers just went crazy.
“I used to be in recruitment and decided to go for music because I thought the path was possible.
“It was also the start of covid and there wasn’t a lot of recruitment opportunities.
“In some ways it was a blessing in disguise because it made me focus more on music and I had to make it work.”