Loveland Queensday

Queensday - Oosterpark Amsterdam

Jeroen Verheij has been churning out dance floor smashing tracks under his aliases Secret Cinema, Grooveyard and Meng Syndicate to name a few for almost as long as many of today’s clubbers can remember. Tracks like Timeless Altitude, Mary Go Wild (EC Records), Shake Ur Tech-Ass and Kurzweil (Cocoon) invoke warm memories in many of us. This long track record in techno leaves an audible mark on his sound today for those with a trained ear. But above all, this is the sound of a pioneer that keeps pushing boundaries and reinventing himself!

The 90’s
Verheij started producing as Meng Syndicate in 1990. His first release ‘Sonar System’ was an instant rave classic. In 1993 Michel de Hey recognized Jeroen’s excellent producing skills and invited him to release his tracks on Immaculate Music. The melodic anthem ‘Meng’s Theme’ came within a year of signing in 1994. At this point ‘Secret Cinema’ was born to vent Jeroen’s more refined side as a producer. The first track he released under this alias was his second international hit for ’94, Timeless Altitude. It sold over 20.000 copies within six months and proved to be more timeless than anyone could have expected at the time as illustrated by its successful 2011 re-release on Gem. Verheij came up with yet another identity: Grooveyard. It was under this guise that he released Watch Me Now. This energetic track also made its way into musical history, sold ten thousands of copies and was licensed to dozens of compilations in ‘95. By now Verheij had become one of Holland’s most respected producers and started playing mainstage gigs for festivals like Mysteryland and Dance Valley. The follow-up Grooveyard release was Mary Go Wild which went on to top Dutch and Belgian
charts and won Jeroen ‘Update’ Awards for Best Dutch Producer and Best Dutch Single in ’97.

The 00’s
2000 saw the production of another massive Grooveyard hit in collaboration with Michel de Hey; ‘Compound’, which again sold ten thousands of copies and is still a popular track with many DJ’s. Verheij then went on to reinvent his Secret Cinema live set. A year later his first full album ‘White Men Can’t Funk’ was released. A string of techno classics like Volt, Saccades and Another Sweater followed and the albums ‘Revenge of a Nerd’ and ‘Skunk & Espresso’ were released. The techno scene was booming at the time and Secret Cinema headlined many festivals around the globe including most major Dutch festivals and events. One of the highlights was the closing set at the main stage of Awakenings Festival. A spot that only Secret Cinema, Richie Hawtin, Adam Beyer and Dave Clarke have filled.
In 2009, after 16 years of releasing on Michel de Hey’s imprints, Verheij started to shop around for new labels that could accommodate more growth for the Secret Cinema brand. Cocoon Recordings picked up ‘Kurzweil’ and spawned one of Secret Cinema’s biggest hits since the turn of the millennium which was soon followed up by the even bigger Jazz Me EP from which Shake Ur Tech-Ass presided at the pole position of the Beatport techno charts for weeks.
The late 00’s also saw the development of Secret Cinema as a business man, establishing his own brand for music: Gem. Withholding a record label, events and an bookings agency.

The 10’s
With Gem becoming established as a strong brand in the field of electronic music, developing talents such as Egbert, Peter Horrevorts and Roger Martinez to name a few, Verheij’s profile continues to rise. New collaborations with artists such as Ramon Tapia, Psycatron, Christian Smith and Slam have been resulting in interesting projects and many weeks in the charts. Secret Cinema has become one of the most popular names in quality techno! In 2011 his new double album ‘Minerals’ was released, resulting in great reviews worldwide. Some say this is some of the best work from one of the Netherland’s top techno producers of the past 20 years!

Queensday - Oosterpark / Queensday Afterparty - WesterUnie

Egbert Van Der Gugten is currently one of the most promising talents within the field of electronic dance music.
Jeroen Verheij alias Secret Cinema, whose attention was drawn to Egbert via myspace.com, invited him on the spur of the moment to his parties and his studio last year, and thus smoothed the way for Egbert to the Dutch Techno scene.

 
After his debut on Lo-Fi Stereo, it was mainly his “Vlammen Hey’s EC Records in February 2009, which went down a bomb on the dancefloors and belonged to the basic vinyl inventory of Sven Väth’s record case in this season. With “Vreugdevuur”, Egbert Cocoon Recordings with a musical exclamation mark that sets standards in harmonic but consequently demanding TechHouse somewhere in between Dub, Progressive House and Detroit.
With many high profile releases coming up in 2010, Egbert will remember!

Queensday - Oosterpark Amsterdam

Monika Kruse was born 1971 in Berlin, but grew up in Bavaria’s capital Munich. Her passion and love for music came at the age of four when she started taking piano lessons. A love that would never leave her and that she expressed in these simple words: “Music just makes me happy.

Monika started her DJ carrier 1991 in Munich while she was studying sociology and working for a well-known record label as a product manager. Funk, Hip Hop and House influenced her early DJ sets.
Monika’s great talent and sensible musical feeling to choose the best record at the right time and to create an amazing and fantastic party vibe brought her fast recognition and national bookings outside of Munich. In 1993 she became a member of the Ultraworld Crew.

The group organized Techno Parties and opened the legendary “Ultraschall” Club in Munich in 1994 – where Monika was resident DJ right from the start. In 1995 Monika produced her own events called “Housetram” in an abandon Munich streetcar. Around the same time she started touring international from Australia to New York and at nearly every place on the planet.

Aside from her DJ’ing, Monika began to create her own musical productions. She released her first track in 1996, before she meet her “partner in crime” Patrick Lindsey. With whom she shared a very successful collaboration with more than 2 artist albums, 14 single EP’s record releases and various remixes. After moving back to Berlin Monika formed two record companies: Terminals M and Electric Avenue Recordings. Two label imprints that offer a platform for well-known and unknown, young and creative artists and producers. On Terminal M – among one of the many great tunes – Monika Kruse’s most successful release so far: “Latin Lovers”. A fusion of Latin grooves and electronic beats that reached the number #1 in Netherlands Dance Charts and hit the Top 20 the Spanish Sale Charts in 2003.

Apart from her busy DJ and producing schedule, in 2000 Monika founded the charity organization “No Historical Backspin”. A platform for Electronic Artists to spotlight a voice and make a stand against racism, intolerance and xenophobia. With more than 20 events produced, electronic musicians have donated their entire fees to the victim fund “Cura” of the Amadeu Antonio foundation, which helps and supports the victims of right and racist motivated violence.

Beside her seven DJ-mix albums – including Monika Kruse “On The Road Volume 1, 2, 3 & 4” Monika Kruse’s DJ-Schedule has taken her from Japan’s largest indoor Rave “Wire”, to the “Loveparade closing ceremony” in front of 1,5 million people. In Berlin her home base – she is a regular at the world-renowned clubs “Berghain/Panorama Bar” or “Watergate”.

Her national and international success is visible in various DJ Charts or magazines polls over the last couple of years. The more recent one in Germanys Raveline Magazine, where the readers voted Monika in the Top 4 of the national DJ Polls 2009.

Monika Kruse together with producer Gregor Tresher finished Monika´s first solo album “Changes of Perception” in spring last year. The album was released in September 2008 and was voted as Best Album of 2008 on number 2 in Germany´s Raveline Magazin.

In 2009 three remix EP ́s of “Changes of Perception” are being released on her label Terminal M. They contain Remixes from Heartthrob, Mark Broom, Broombeck, 2000 and One, Erman Erim and Luca Morris and had dropped in spring, summer and fall of 2009.

Queensday - Oosterpark / Queensday Afterparty - WesterUnie

In 2008 Patrick & Frederic started their marvelous career as Kaiserdisco and made it to one of the most interesting acts in the global underground scene. They are not only a techno or minimal act, Kaiserdisco is fascinating people all over the world cause they are producing music from lazy deep house to groovy techno, always with the right sense for the dancefloor.

In the last years they remixed artists like Booka Shade, Kosheen, Extrawelt, Sebastien Légér, 2000 & One …, and had releases on legendary labels like Drumcode, 100% Pure, Strictly Rhythm, My Best Friend, Global Underground etc.

Beside their big future plans and already signed releases on Drumcode and My Best Friend in February and April 2012 the boys have started their own imprint KD Music. The first release “La Familia EP” was released in December 2011 and is played by Loco Dice, Marco Carola and many more.. Be prepared for more!

Queensday - Oosterpark / Queensday Afterparty - WesterUnie

Queensday - Oosterpark / Queensday Afterparty - WesterUnie

Wherever you are in the world and you hear someone say “HEY!!” you turnaround and immediately pay attention. It’s been the same international reaction for award winning DJ Michel de HEY since his arrival at the club turntables back in 1986 – a year that recognises him as one of the first techno artists to emerge from The Netherlands.

Two decades later, HEY! has evolved to encompass two labels [HEY! Records & EC Records], regular HEY! parties, the HEY-Muzik radio show, as well as a string of awards and chart soaring productions. With performances taking him around the globe each week from Time Warp to Tokyo to Ibiza, Michel’s career and accomplishments show no signs of stopping – just like the global clubbing crowds that he moves on the dancefloor. Funky, sexy & smooth. This is the techno and techhouse sound that defines Michel De Hey. A sound that can be heard scorching the global club systems each week as well as frying the radio waves, courtesy of his show HEY-Muzik. Broadcast nationwide every Friday on Fresh FM it won the top prize in 2009 for Holland’s best ‘dance radio show’. Michel is no stranger to dance music awards though, he’s received a string of nominations for best Techno DJ over the years, claiming the prize an impressive four times. With this in mind, it’s no surprise to know that since 2003, London based agency Litheum has been managing all his performance dates outside of Benelux, alongside the likes of DJ greats Carl Cox and John Digweed. But it was already in the eighties that he started to mix and DJ. His first producing break came in 1992 with the aptly titled release “Break” where he shot into the top 10 of the US billboard Dance Charts.
Now living in Amsterdam, the charts have been a second home to him since then, residing there across the years as both a solo artist as well as his genius collaborations with artists such as M.I.R.K.O. Together they co-created The Fast Forward Anthem “Be My Guest” [EC Records] which soared to the number 1 spot in the 2004 Dutch Pepsi charts as well as Beatport welcoming them back to their top ten last year, with “Be My Love” on imprint Noir.
As well as being a clubclass producer and international DJ, Michel champions the Dutch techno and techhouse sound through his involvement as an ambassador and anthem maker for Holland’s annual festival FFWD, the Dutch equivalent of Love Parade, as well as his mixes on an impressive list of compilations. These mixes so far include the ‘Essential Elements’ series, the ‘Technological Elements’ series, Dance Valley on Ibiza’ ‘Dance Valley Main stage Edition’, ‘Syntec’, ‘MDH 01’ ‘Two faces’, ‘Recorded in Rotterdam’ and ‘No Nonsense’. His latest release is just out on his own label, HEY! Records Above all though, it’s his DJ sets that have branded him a pioneer of the underground techno scene and sent his status soaring to Holland’s #1 techno and tech house DJ, guaranteeing him a summer residency in Ibiza every Friday (SuperGround by SuperMartxe, PrivilegeIbiza) as well as a stage each week on the global club circuit (including party hotspots: Ibiza’s Space, Japan’s Womb and Wire Festival, Time Warp in Germany and Holland, Monegros in Spain, Circo Loco at DC10, Cocoon, Creamfields and many more). From Ibiza to Indonesia – Michel de Hey guarantees quality long sets that entertain, engage and cook the dancefloor. In 2011 the successful HEY! club nights, which already has seen guests like Ricardo Villalobos, Gaiser, Karotte, Paul Kalkbrenner, Josh Wink and many more, continue their party crazyness. This year HEY! will host its own area at Free Your Mind festival, next to their monthly nights. Still Michel has found time to do some more productions after his successful release for Paul Ritch” Quartz imprint and his second release for Circle records in Germany. new releases for HEY! and EC will followSo if you’ve missed Michel’s sounds and performances in the past, then “HEY!”

Queensday - Oosterpark / Queensday Afterparty - WesterUnie

Remy Unger has been one of the driving forces behind the electronic music scene in the Netherlands. With bookings on all continents under his belt, Remy left his mark on the worldwide scene. Recent years have been treating him well with high profile gigs like Timewarp NL, A Day At The Park, closing sets at Awakenings and of course his wildly popular residency at the ‘Click’ club nights and festival. His latest venture the ´Fone Audio´ record label, in collaboration with Patch Park, is taking him back to his roots releasing a unique mix of pumping energetic techno and tech-house.

Remy has always been actively involved in all aspects of the record industry as a label boss, producer, remixer and compiler. His first successes as a producer came from collaborations with Sven van Hees on Wonka Records. Sven and Remy then went on to found the widely respected Global Cuts bringing forward classics such as ‘Piano Power’. His work with Roland Klinkenberg also resulted in some classic material like, ‘Ignite’, ‘Mexico Can Wait’, ‘Till Ya Drop’ and their remix of Eye Wall – Bad deal on his own labels Taste and 68 Recordings. Big solo tracks on these labels included ‘Backstabber’, ‘Mano’ and Serious Damage under his own name and many hits under his alias Wavecatcher. Many of these tracks were licensed by EMI who got artists like Nathan Fake, James Holden, Jark Prongo and Mike Monday on the remix.
In 2003 Remy released his album ‘Bang!’ which brought forth his hit records Dustsucker, Scrambled and of course the title track Bang! which all made it on to many compilations.

All eyes are on Remy now with big releases on Fone and Gem coming up!!

Queensday - Oosterpark / Queensday Afterparty - WesterUnie

Dimitri Kneppers (1967) music career reads like an encyclopaedia. A house encyclopaedia. After 23 years of spinning records you could call this DJ a true veteran. This man knows -or should we say feels- what he is doing, not only behind the decks but also when producing.

SUMMARY & HIGHLIGHTS
In 1988 Dimitri obtains his first residency at club Richter in Amsterdam and starts spinning in the legendary RoXY, where he distinguishes himself from the rest through his bold and innovative mixing techniques.  He is one of the first DJs to mix a house record with breakbeats or drum ‘n bass, proving he is not only capable of mixing those two records together by tempo and rhythm effortlessly, but also just by melody or tune/pitch creating real-time compositions. At that time this was very exciting and groundbreaking, a style that has been copied ever so often, although never truly coming close to the master himself.
By 1991 He brings out his first record and starts his own label BE.S.T. (Beautiful Soul Techno). The first release on this label was called ‘Alice D in Wonderland’.
From 1992 onwards he continues to take over the club world with gigs from Brussels to NYC and from Paris to Detroit, and starts his famous “Hi-tech Soul Movement” club night in RoXY on Thursday nights. In the meantime he also starts a new record-label and store, with Eric Nouhan, called Outland Records on which three very successful compilations are released: Static Tracks, that has become a collectors item, and Spiritual Tracks l and ll. He makes instant fame with his record ‘Don’t be a prisoner of your own style’. Dimitri keeps adding more and more countries to his list and with his soulful house sound he is able to impress the likes of international stars as Derrick May & Carl Craig.
By 1995 he is voted best club DJ in the Netherlands. The first edition of Chemistry, one of the most successful parties in Amsterdam is being held in the Escape in 1995 where Dimitri is involved as a resident. He also becomes a resident in the U.K. Renaissance Club. In 1996 he is listed number 4 in Muzik Magazine’s International DJ of the Year Competition and he gained himself a residency at New York’s legendary club TWILO. In 1998, for four years in a row, he wins the prize of the best DJ in the Netherlands.
In 1999 Dimitri performs a self-composed music play together with Hubert Jan Hubeek, the Symphonic Orchestra and video performances of VJ 00Kaap, during Heineken Night Live in Ahoy Rotterdam. And in 2000 he starts a new project with computer artist and VJ Danielle Kwaaitaal called HI&LO. As a duo they exhibit in Art Factory, Tokyo and perform during the Golden Horse Film festival in Taipei. The show is seen in many different galleries throughout Europe and -for example- in Torch Gallery Amsterdam.
In 2004 Dimitri travels to the United States to play at the Detroit Movement Festival, the biggest free open-air techno festival in the world where he performs on the main stage.
By 2006 he collaborates in a project called ‘Matthäus Passion the remix’ were a few of the country’s best DJ’s and VJ’s work together to make an electronic version of Bach’s musical piece.
After 23 years of DJ’ing, in the summer of 2007, he spins his official last record at a big festival called 10 years Meubel Stukken, and ends his DJ career. He starts working as a volunteer with mentally disabled children at a farm.
Halfway 2009 Dimitri Kneppers installs his studio at home and starts producing and collecting music again. In the 16th of June 2010 this legend is back. Moving forward in this process Dimitri started his ‘ Allnighter’ residency at club Trouw, played at prior festivals in the Netherlands this summer: Awakenings, Loveland, Mysteryland just to name a few. In November 2010 he released his first EP on Planet E with remixes of Carl Craig and Orlando Voorn. More is yet to come so stay tuned.

Queensday Afterparty - WesterUnie

Arjuna breathes music. already at a young age this unrestrained pure-bred amsterdam producer found his way to his parents’ new age shop, discovering experimental world music and ambient. fueled by his experiences with electronic music, thanks to artists like johannes heil, anthony rother and der dritte raum, he laid the foundation for his own distinctive melodic and energetic music style. in the meantime, after some years filled with critically acclaimed releases and live shows, arjuna managed to fullfill his reputation as musical talent by far.

His first release already delivered him a top 5 hit, when he and rapper willie wartaal (from popular dutch band jeugd van tegenwoordig) formed one-off duo aka the junkies and came up with the lovely gem ‘konijntje’ (little rabbit). easy to say, the song got the whole of holland wobbling on its foundations. for arjuna this also meant the start of a series releases on labels like gem records, wolfskuil records, all is one records, manual music and international imprints like traum, trapez, mbf and einmusika recordings. all were met with raving reviews, renowned online music editorial 365mag even recommends his records to everyone who wants to know how electronic music will sound in the future.

Arjuna’s style moves on the borders of ambient and tech-house, containing parts of classical film music, but remains danceable at all time. his productions are saturated with intense synths and melancholic melodies in which dark electronic elements get alternated with warm sentiments. a description perhaps most fitting comes from amsterdam ‘night mayor’ isis, claiming arjuna “makes the human sound through the machine”. like no other he knows how to stow a particular feel out of the speakers, seeping in your ears, unleashing emotions.

With his live sets arjuna already made fame on venues and events like mystery land, valtifest, time warp holland, loveland, paradiso, amsterdam dance event, all is one, studio80, stubnitz and welcome to the future. right now, nothing seems to stop this amsterdam skulker sharing his passion for music with the rest of the world.

Queensday Afterparty - WesterUnie

Dedication, passion, and natural born skills have established Juan Sanchez as a sovereign tastemaker within the international electronic music community. Together with a sound that is best described as a sophisticated blend of nasty jacking house and techno mutations packed with twists and turns to assure complete floor annihilation, it is this refined musical vision that have made him one of the most sought after artists in his genre and a preferred pick for numerous dance promoters across the globe.

On the DJ tip, Juan has graced peak time spots at the world’s best clubs and festivals. Taking the definition ‘back by dope demand’ to a new dimension, Juan has rocked floors from Sao Paolo’s famed D-Edge club to Ibiza’s prestigious Blue Marlin, and from Mysteryland Chile to the Barcelona and Copenhagen editions of the world renowned Sensation events. Next to quickly building up a respectable international fan base, Juan’s still a much in demand performer on native soil with multiple gigs every weekend in the nation’s best venues, including Amsterdam’s Air and Studio 80. 2012 promises to become another big year for the passionate artist, with numerous national and international gigs and a batch of new releases already having been confirmed. We can already reveal that Juan and his party posse will rock their own stage at this year’s two-day edition of the beloved Amsterdam Open Air festival…

In between his heavy touring schedule, Juan can also frequently be found on heavy studio lockdown. A natural born craftsmanship and never-ending quest for the perfect beat has already lead to a vast array of bombs on labels such as, Kling Klong, 100% Pure, BangBang!, Neorotraxx, Rawthentic, Break New Soil, Bla Bla and Wolfskuil Records amongst others. His beefy slices of dynamic house and techno mutations continue to receive critical acclaim from names such as Dubfire, Josh Wink, Marco Carola, Laurent Garnier, Karotte, Timo Maas, and Joris Voorn to name but a few. Among the many new studio output you can expect to hear from him this year is a new track on 100% Pure (the label of famed Amsterdam fellow 2000&One) which will be released next April, as well as a remix of a classic cut from legendary Dutch house act House Of Venus (watch out for this one!), which is slated for release through BangBang! shortly.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg: Juan doesn’t limit himself to just DJing and music production only. As the founder of one of Amsterdam’s leading club nights, FORMAT, Juan is responsible for packed and utterly wild stints headlined by firestarters such as Sandwell District, Octave One, The Advent, Alex Under, Extrawelt, Slam, Gaiser, and Len Faki. The international appeal of the concept has already lead to a successful edition in the world’s epicenter of all things dance, Berlin, and the future will see the Format nights taking place in other European cities as well. To top things off, he and his equally hard rocking brother Daniel will be taking their Inner Space concept on a tour across the globe…  more news on that soon!

Queensday - Oosterpark / Queensday Afterparty - WesterUnie