Proteus

Proteus is the name used by several different acts, including a Finnish hard dance DJ, a progressive metal band from Croatia, an extreme metal band from Massachusetts in the United States, and a UK minimal techno artist.

Finnish hard dance DJ

As a DJ from Finland, Proteus is Harri Andersson, born in 1977. He starts DJing in underground free parties in Finland, at a time when hard NRG and hard trance are not widely played there. Together with friends, he helps organise underground events so that they can play that sound, and he becomes one of the key figures in building the hard NRG and hard trance scene in Finland.

He gains a permanent residency at Logic at Fridge in the UK in 2000 and plays widely in Finland and abroad, including in the United Kingdom, Holland, Australia, Japan, Switzerland, Germany and Estonia. In Finland he appears at major clubs and events such as Säde, Laserpoint, Rush, Labyrinth, Hallmark, Millennium, Fantasy, Storm, Vertigo, Pacifique, Trancehouse meets Lab-4, Celebration Generation, Reactor, Turbulence and Koneisto.

In the UK he plays and headlines major events including God’s Kitchen’s Global Gathering, Creamfields, Hardhouse Academy at Brixton Academy, Antiworld, Lab-4’s Laboratory Experiment 2, Tidy Summer Camp, Tidy Magna Revolution, Transmission at Alexandra Palace, Frantic, Lashed, Slinky, Polysexual, Goodgreef, Bionic, Helter Skelter, Bulldog Bash, Heat vs. Logic, Logic, Tranzaction, Eyecon Dance Academy, Atomic Energy, Ying Yang and Seed. He also plays Torture Garden on New Year’s Eve 2001, and at Dance Valley’s tenth anniversary in Holland he closes the HQ arena in front of a large crowd. He later also appears at Dance Valley, Dance Valley Winter Edition, Impulz Inside, Impulz Outdoor, HQXL, HQ club in Amsterdam, Defcon 1 Festival, Matrix, Nightlive and Beachpop.

Proteus uses scratching and backspinning in his sets and presents his performances with theatrical elements such as special clothing, make-up, masks and whips. He receives the Hard Dance Awards title of Best Hard Dance DJ in the world in 2004 and again in 2005. In 2004 he is listed at number 90 in DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs, becoming the first Finnish artist in that chart alongside Darude. He also appears at number 3 in a Mixmag list of hardest DJs in an article about “40 hardest records ever”.

His releases include London Helsinki Underground with Kevin Energy, which reaches number 17 on the Finnish singles chart and is voted best single of 2004 at the Finnish Club Awards, along with Metal, Venla and the mix CD Hard Nrg - The Hellfire Club. He also runs the Helsinki clubnight Säde with friends; that event is voted Best Club in Finland at the Finnish Club Awards 2003. He is also involved with the industrial event Inferno and the underground fetish clubs Tuska and Hellfire Club.

Proteus from Croatia

Proteus is also a progressive metal band from Split, Croatia. The line-up is Ratko Letilovic on vocals and violin, Antonio Milina and Marko Pazanin on guitars, Goran Milic on bass, Zvone Reljic on drums, and Luka Androya on keyboards. The band lists Opeth, Katatonia, Cynic and Mastodon among its influences.

Proteus from Massachusetts

Proteus is a four-piece extreme metal group from Massachusetts in the United States. Its sound combines brutal slam-style grooves, technical playing and emotional elements. The band’s debut full-length, Personal Narrative Of Cognitive Dreamscapes, is released in 2007.

UK minimal techno artist

A UK artist also records as Proteus under the name John Witts and releases material on Tegleg Records.