Ten Walls
Marijus Adomaitis (born 19 January 1983), better known by his stage names Ten Walls or Mario Basanov,[1][2] is a Lithuanian producer who is best known for his 2014 single "Walking with Elephants", which peaked at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart. In June 2015, Ten Walls was dropped from several festivals and by his booking agency after making controversial comments comparing gay people to pedophiles in a Facebook post, and referring to the LGBT community as a "different breed".[3] Career2009–12: Mario BasanovIn 2012 under the name Mario Basanov Adomaitis won Best Electronic Act at Lithuanian M.A.M.A. music awards. 2013–15: BreakthroughOn 10 May 2013 Ten Walls released his debut EP Gotham.[4] On 9 December 2013 he released his debut single "Requiem".[5] On 7 September 2014 he released the single "Walking with Elephants". On 10 September 2014 the song was at number 3 on The Official Chart Update in the UK.[6] On 14 September 2014 the song entered the UK Singles Chart at number 6.[7] The song also peaked at number 3 on the UK Dance Chart and number 8 on the Scottish Singles Chart. Homophobia controversyIn June 2015, Ten Walls posted a rant on his Facebook pages condemning homosexuality and comparing it to pedophilia.[8] As a result of his comments, he was dropped from several festival line-ups. His booking agency, Coda Music Agency, announced that they no longer represented him. Fort Romeau pulled his support for him at London club venue Koko.[9] Ten Walls' posts were later deleted after a backlash, and he put out an apology claiming that he cancelled the festival dates himself.[9][10][11] Organizers of Dutch festival Pitch, Belgian festival Pukkelpop, the German festival Dockville, British festival Creamfields,[12] and Spanish festival Sónar publicly confirmed that they cancelled Ten Walls performances due to his homophobic statements.[9][13] Ten Walls also received criticism from Lithuanian LGBT activists.[14] Three months after his post, in September 2015, Ten Walls issued a formal apology for the incident, calling it "completely out of character".[15] DiscographyStudio albums
Extended plays
Singles
AwardsOn 30 January 2015 at M.A.M.A. awards Ten Walls won awards for best electronic act and best music video ("Walking with Elephants").[23] References
NotesA ^ Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts. Added 50 position to actual Ultratip position. External links |