Latin American Eddie Amador was born and raised in the Southwest U.S. His earliest influences included Latin music, smooth soul, and post-disco. In the 1980s, he began spinning turntables at hip-hop parties. However, the dance club culture of the early '90s known as house captivated him. Holding a mechanical engineer degree from the Arizona State University, Eddie Amador moved to Los Angeles, CA, in 1996. His first track, simply called "House Music," became an underground dancefloor anthem. Good enough to be picked by Deep Dish's Yoshitoshi, who released it in the U.S. and Europe. The German chart-topping and U.K. Top 20 "Rise" followed in 1999. ~ Drago Bonacich