Born and raised in the historical centre of Venice, Italy, Spiller started DJing in 1990. He was 15 years old and already 6’9” tall. He released his first record as Laguna with Tommy Vee, and the track “Spiller From Rio” reached the top of the US Billboard Dance charts.
In 2000 he became one of the best-known Italian DJs and producers thanks to his single “Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love)”, featuring vocals by a very young Sophie Ellis-Bextor, who had just left the alternative UK group The Audience.
“Groovejet” was arguably the biggest club tune of the year and won the top spot on singles charts in the UK and many other countries, as well as platinum sales in Australia, New Zealand, and Italy. In the UK, it was the song with most radio plays of the decade (2000–2010) and the best-selling vinyl of the millennium.
Apple’s head designer Jonathan Ive chose Groovejet to test the first prototype of the iPod in Cupertino, California, with Steve Jobs’ reaction being documented as:
“Oh my god, this is gonna be so cool.”
Spiller also explored different influences with his many singles, such as the Brazilian Batucada, the electrofunk Cry Baby, the French-touch Sola (feat. Theo), the deep Jumbo, and the funky Urastar (feat. Nina Miranda).
He applied his touch as a remixer to tunes from the likes of Gloria Gaynor, Cerrone, St Germain, Bob Sinclar, Matt Bianco, Run DMC, Digitalism, and Smoke City. His work has also been remixed by numerous high-profile artists such as Todd Terry, Röyksopp, Boris Dlugosch, The Supermen Lovers, Bottin, and Dominique Torti.
He started the label Nano Rec in 2003 and, with his business partner Rubini, Degustibus Music in 2011. The latter has released 33 vinyl releases to date.
Via Degustibus he releases music with two “secret” aliases: Batongo and Ditongo, merging his most obscure music productions with unreleased artworks and videos by his father and artist, Giorgio Spiller. Also on this label, he has produced the first release of the artist Fango, followed by two albums and numerous other singles, making him one of the most iconic acts of the new techno scene.
In 2019 and 2020, he was the tutor of the DJ workshops of Venice Biennale’s electronic music centre CIMM.
In 2021, he signed to iconic UK label Defected, and in 2022 Groovejet was re-released after 10 years of being unavailable due to legal issues. The new release included 4 new remixes by Purple Disco Machine, Breakbot & Irfane, Harvey Sutherland, and Riva Starr. The double vinyl quickly sold out and was repressed four times.
Spiller is currently working on various sound design and studio productions, as well as producing disco and electronic events in his hometown Venice alongside the collective “Crocodiles in Venice”, which brought some of the best artists of electronic music to the city.
He became a frequent player at Glitterbox events in Ibiza and around the world, and in the past year, he’s been touring in Europe, USA, Brazil, and Australia.
