Background
Baauer was born in Philadelphia to a father of Portuguese descent and a Jewish mother whose grandparents were originally from Austria. He grew up in several countries, because of his father"s work.
Baauer was born in Philadelphia to a father of Portuguese descent and a Jewish mother whose grandparents were originally from Austria. He grew up in several countries, because of his father"s work.
Here, he attended Staples High School up until 2006, before returning to live in London for one more year, studying at The American School in London.
He has been producing dance music from the age of 13, mostly making house music and electro. He previously produced a track under the name Captain Harry, which was played by Kissy Sell Out on British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 1. His influences include hip hop and dance music
Baauer has produced remixes for Nero, The Prodigy, Flosstradamus and Number Doubt.
He lived in Germany from age four to seven, London, United Kingdom from seven to thirteen, then returned to the United States, where he lived in Westport, Connecticut from 13–17. He later moved to New York City to study audio technology at City College.
After living in Harlem for two years, both on and off campus, he settled in Brooklyn in 2009, and currently resides in Bushwick. Baauer was signed to the LuckyMe record label in August, and made his debut with the three-track 12-inch European Parliament Dum Dum.
Baauer"s single "Harlem Shake" was released on Mad Decent/Jeffrees on May 22.
The track received critical acclaim with Pitchfork claiming "it"s hard not to marvel at how awesome those growling-lion samples sound". "Harlem Shake" created a viral video craze online, inspiring fans to upload their own videos for the hit from February onwards, often featuring those involved remaining still for the first buildup of the song, and dancing erratically or humorously afterwards. Baauer collaborated with hip hop producer Just Blaze on the track "Higher".
Both producers toured together throughout January and February.
He has been working on an European Parliament which will be released on LuckyMe Records in. In March, Baauer was named one of Fuse television"s 30 must-see artists at SXSW.