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Dutch Dance Agenda: April

Your monthly update on who is spinning when and where in the US!

Do you want to know when your favorite DJ will be playing some tracks, or are you curious about new Dutch voices in town? In “Your Dutch Dance Agenda,” we will post monthly updates on who is playing when and where, and highlight different Dutch DJs that are spinning their decks in the US at the moment.

Let’s face it: the best party is a Dutch party. As a brand, a passion, and a movement, “Dutch Dance” has been dominating the international dance scene for years. Many Dutch DJs have gathered a worldwide following, and fly all around the globe to move from one enthusiastic crowd to the other. Proving that established dance icons and fresh talent do not need to stand in each other’s way, Dutch legends like Tiësto and Hardwell have been taking the new generation underneath their wings.

From underground talent to household names, the Netherlands’ party scene has built the reputation for harboring everyone’s kind of DJ. However, with so many successful and famous DJs from such a small dot on the map, it is almost impossible to keep track of all the Dutch DJs that are performing in the United States. So for the latest updates tune in on our Twitter page!

 

Afrojack

Afrojack

Nick van de Wall, better known as Afrojack, started his career at the age of 14, as he performed at local pubs and clubs, and earning additional income with designing websites for fellow musicians. In 2007 he released “In Your Face”, the first recording under the Afrojack name. He received international success with the song “Take Over Control” featuring Eva Simons, which charted in 10 different countries. He took part in Episode 2 of ‘Behind The Speedo’, which is a comedy series by Redfoo. Currently, Afrojack is listed as number ten in the DJ Mag Top 100.

 

Bassjackers

Best friends since high school, DJ, Marlon Flohr, and producer, Ralph van Hilst came together in 2007 to create the Dutch duo known as Bassjackers. The duo exploded onto the scene and in 2011 their dancefloor bomb “Mush Mush” was picked up by Tiësto and released on his label Musical Freedom. 

Since then, Bassjackers have reached massive new heights in their career with numerous chart-topping bangers and hit collaborations with the likes of Martin Garrix, Afrojack, KSHMR, and Showtek, to name a few, as well as remixes for A-list artists including Rihanna, Enrique Iglesias, and Ne-Yo.

 

Bingo Players

Maarten Hoogstraten wasn’t like other kids his age. When he was 10, his friends were buying toys to play with, but Maarten was already spending his cash on vinyl and CDs.“You know how it starts,” he said with a chuckle. “I was the one who bought records when I was young, I bought lots of vinyl, seven-inches, twelve inches, and when CDs came about I bought a lot of CDs, growing up, I spent all my money on music.”

When he was a teenager, two events would change his life. An early music software program called ProTracker was released, and he would meet Paul Baümer, who would become his musical partner for the better part of the next 15 years until he suddenly passed away from cancer in 2013.  Though they didn’t start out as DJs, once the demand grew for them to play out live, they learned how to mix on CDJs. Soon, they became regulars on the EDM circuit, playing massive festivals, like Electric Daily Carnival, Tomorrowland, and Coachella.“I think we started to become better producers once we started to DJ,” he said, noting that they would bring new tunes on the road and play for a crowd to gauge their reaction.

But in June 2013, at the height of their success, Paul suddenly fell ill. Maarten was stunned and didn’t know what to do. But Paul’s last wishes were for his best friend and his musical partner to keep making music. “He always said to me, ‘If you can find solace and continue what we started, please do so. Please continue the music. Carry on the Bingo Players flag,’” said Maarten. 

 

Chuckie

Chuckie’s leading mixing skills and distinctive productions not only show an indispensable complement to the Dutch dance industry, the international dance-scene has also been giving him a warm welcome. Driven by ambition, enthusiasm and pure passion for music, his characteristic set makes the crowd go wild and his many productions reflect his true visionary in his craft works. Nowadays, Chuckie still continues to surprise the crowd with his mind-blowing style and his story is yet to continue. 

 

Dannic

Dannic, the highly prodigious DJ and producer from Breda in the Netherlands, is one of the hottest acts to have emerged from the new generation of Dutch artists breaking through in recent years. His phenomenal rise to take the #26 spot in the 2015 DJ Mag Top 100 DJs Poll confirms to tastemakers that he is set to remain a driving force within the scene. 

This talented selector drew the attention of the spotlight early in his career thanks to a series of amazing mash-ups. He has since gone on to demonstrate a natural understanding of audio arrangement and structure, alongside possessing an impressive prowess as a peak-time performer, whose technical ability leaves club and festival audiences wowed each and every week. 

  • April 20 | Mosaic | Kansas City

 

Dash Berlin

Dash Berlin, Courtesy of the Artist.

Dutch DJ and producer Dash Berlin is recognized as one of the leading names in Trance music. As a true icon of the electronic world, Dash Berlin is no stranger to the DJ Mag Top 100 poll and was able to secure a place in the Top 10 for three consecutive years. He is well known for his breakthrough track “Till the Sky Falls Down” and has received several International Dance Music Awards. Dashers! Get ready to dance until the sky falls down with Dash Berlin.

  • April 20 | NOTO | Philadelphia, PA

 

Don Diablo

Don Diablo. Courtesy of the artist.

Dutch DJ / producer Don Diablo was born and raised in Holland and is currently working on rapidly expanding his discography in between his global touring schedule. After scoring multiple number one hits on Beatport he became the third bestselling artist of the year in 2015 and also managed to rack up over a hundred million views on Youtube in the same year. In the meanwhile the Dutchman also became an in-demand remixer, adding names like Madonna, Ed Sheeran, Rudimental, Birdy and many others to his portfolio.

 

Dyro

Dyro

Jordy van Egmond, professionally known by his stage name Dyro, is a Dutch DJ and EDM producer. Since 2010 he has released original singles and remixes on labels such as Revealed Recordings, Musical Freedom, and Def Jam. He has also released official remixes for tracks such as ‘right Now’ by Rihanna.

Dyro recently released his hit single Amsterdam (feat. HAILZ), which is a killer future bass track. This month he will play on Bloom 2 Festival together with Showtek.

 

Ferry Corsten

Ferry Corsten. Courtesy of the artist.

Hailing from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Ferry Corsten’s lustrous career is exemplified by a passion for music that began as a hobby and spiraled into a full-blown profession. Today, as it was in the beginning, Corsten’s skills lie in his ability to coax the maximum emotional impact from electronic dance music of all genres, not just trance, but also progressive house and electro. He remains and has always been ahead-of-his-time, making music that becomes a template for others to follow.

 

Jay Hardway

Jay Hardway, Courtesy of the Artist

Starting with small gigs in pubs on his 18th, Jobke Heiblom soon played for bigger crowds in clubs. Inspired by Tiësto because of his ideas about DJ-ing, as wel as by the productions of Afrojack, Laidback Luke and Vato Gonzales, he developed his own skills. Collaborating with Martin Garrix, Jay Hardway now has two big releases on his name: “Error 404” and “Wizard”. His “Inspire” podcasts are frequently online and Jay Hardway did some succesful remixes for Norwegian singer Margaret Berger and Dutch duo the Opposites.

 

Laidback Luke 

Laid Back Luke. Courtesy of the artist.

Born in Philippines, raised in Holland, Luke van Scheppingen, known as Laidback Luke with no exaggeration is the reference point of the dance scene for the thousands of clubbers these days. His unlimited energy brightly results in both stunning live sets and ongoing anticipated studio hits.

The Dutch heavy weight house master is loved all over the globe: they worship him in Amnesia on Ibiza, they sell out his Super You&Me event wherever it goes to, and they put him on the 20th place on By-All-Means-Wanted TOP 100 DJs list. With the crazy energy that Luke conveys and the martial arts that he practices, rest assured his future will be out of this world!

 

Martin Garrix 

Courtesy of Martin Garrix

Part of the explosion of Dutch EDM DJs who emerged during the 2012-2013 season, Martin Garrix kicked off his career in a high-profile way, first landing on the dance charts with his 2012 remix of Christina Aguilera’s “Your Body.” Born Martijn Garritsen, the then-16-year-old DJ spent 2012 remixing Aguilera, signing with Spinnin’ Records, and releasing the “BFAM” single in collaboration with Julian Jordan.

In 2013 he released his solo single “Animals,” which hit number one in the U.K. and reached the Top Ten in eight other countries. His Gold Skies EP rounded up those tracks, adding two more charting songs: “Tremor” and the title track. Garrix also found time to perform and mix the world over, resulting in being the number 1 DJ in the world today.

 

Martyn

Martyn

Throughout the many layers of his winding 16+ years in electronic music, Holland native (now Washington DC resident) Martijn Deijkers, aka Martyn, has always stood in a genreless scene of his own. Though his influences are wide-ranging, Martyn’s music is deeply inspired by the futuristic and melodic aspects of Detroit and Chicago.

His rhythmically diverse sound floats across D&B, dubstep and various strains of bass music, just as smoothly as it traverses house and techno, and encompasses abstract ambient soundscapes. Based on musicality and energy in equal parts, Martyn’s layered tracks are a rapt exploration of melancholy, futurism and dancefloor hypnotism.

 

Menno de Jong

Menno de Jong, courtesy of the artist.

Menno de Jong is primarily known as a Trance DJ and producer with an international following. Based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, de Jong was born on March 17, 1984 and was interested in music — classical as well as modern — at a young age.

Being classically trained on the piano and incredibly passionate about music led to him taking up DJing and producing in his early teenage years. he first established himself as a producer with the release of ‘Guanxi’ on the British label Anjunabeats in 2004. In the years that followed he took the Trance scene by storm with singles such as ‘Tundra.’ He went on to perform at major clubs and festivals worldwide, including EDC. 

 

 

Nicky Romero

Strike up a conversation about the current state of electronic music and it won’t be long before Nicky Romero gets an emphatic mention. And quite rightly so—because at the age of just twenty-six and in the space of only a few prolific years, the Amsterdam-based superstar has managed to build nothing short of a remarkable musical empire.

Celebrated the world over for countless chart-topping records and his electrifying energy in front of hundreds of thousands on the world’s most distinguished stages, the loveable Dutch performer, producer, Protocol Recordings chief and global brand ambassador has already carved an international reputation for himself as one of the most exciting and industrious artists of his generation.

Perpetually dedicated to growing and maturing the Nicky Romero brand at every turn the Protocol don continues to vindicate his position as one in just a handful of the most influential and venerated forces in the international music arena today.

 

R3hab

R3hab, courtesy of the artist.

Performing and recording under the name R3hab, EDM artist Fadil El Ghoul started his career in 2008 producing the track “Mrkrstft” for Hardwell. He teamed up with Hardwell once again in 2009 on the single “Blue Magic,” and worked with Afrojack in 2011 on “Aces High (Prutata).” 

He subsequently garnered prestigious 2014 slots at Tomorrowland, Future Music, Creamfields, and Summerburst, and that same year he put out the 12″ “Androids,” “Flashlight” with Deorro, and “Ready for the Weekend,” which were among some of his biggest-selling singles. 

He also landed a featured spot on Calvin Harris’ 2014 album Motion, and a DJ set at the Coachella Music Festival followed in 2015. In 2016, he teamed with the R&B vocalist Ciara for the single “Get Up.”

 

San Holo

San Holo

Sander van Dijck commonly known by his stage name San Holo, is a Dutch DJ, musician, record producer, and composer. He gained international recognition for his remix of Dr. Dre’s “The Next Episode”, which currently has over 150 million views on YouTube. He has released music on several record labels including Spinnin’ Records, OWSLA, Barong Family, and Monstercat.

He also founded bitbird, a label which has released several of his singles including “Still Looking” and “Light”. San Holo’s first EP, Cosmos, was released via Heroic on 18 September 2014 and was in the Top 100 Electronic category of iTunes.

This year he will be the only Dutch artist at Coachella festival, but luckily he pays two sets.

 

Sander van Doorn

Sander Van Doorn, Courtesy of the Artist

Sander van Doorn got in touch with the musical scene in the year of 1995 when he was sixteen years old. His brother’s latest gadget, a “Groovebox 303”, caught his attention. He was astounded when he first experienced the amount of creativity that could be put into creating music. Time and time again, Sander would borrow his brother’s Groovebox and his nephew’s vinyl records and he played the life out of those records. Since then, Sander’s heart belonged to music and it still does today.

Today, Sander has performed thousands of shows in every corner of the world and released numerous solo records, yet Sander is still part of a group of innovative and progressive artists. Sander’s creative process exists of re-inventing musical styles, taking risks in regards to the sound he creates and most importantly staying ahead of the masses.

With two full-length albums, numerous hit-singles, remixes of the worlds biggest artists, sold out gigs in all major venues and festivals worldwide, his own successful record label Doorn Records, and a weekly radio show named Identity, Sander van Doorn continues his musical journey into the heart of fans around the world.

 

Showtek

Over the past two years, Showtek has become more than an act; it’s a movement, a tribe formed by the producer duo and its fans that is united in its love for music, excitement, artistic freedom and adventure. Wouter and Sjoerd Janssen, aka Showtek, two brothers from Eindhoven have been making music for over a decade.

Two rebels kicking against the shins of the establishment, speaking a language the party crowd could believe in. It was in 2012 when they truly exploded onto the global dance scene with the release of ‘Cannonball’. Countless new fans joined, new productions got recognized and reached all corners of the planet.

The dynamic duo has a busy month in the US, even playing two shows on April 20th. That day they will play Bloom 2 Festival alongside Dyro.

 

Tiësto

Tiësto. Courtesy of the artist.

Highly regarded by both DJ Magazine and fans of electronic dance music, Tiësto launched his career as one of the world’s foremost trance DJs, due in part to his legendary six-hour live sets, and went on to embrace a more pop-oriented EDM approach. 

The fifth Tiësto studio album, A Town Called Paradise, appeared in 2014 on Casablanca. It featured the most pop-oriented productions of his career and a slew of guest vocalists who included Ladyhawke and Icona Pop. Tiësto appeared on DJ Mag Top 100 2016 as number 5.

 

Yellow Claw

Yellow Claw may not be a household name outside of the Netherlands but have a look at their YouTube channel and you’ll be hard-pressed to find one of their singles with less than 2,000,000 views. They take the newest sounds from the club and drive them off a cliff.

Hailing from Amsterdam, the trio first exploded into the scene after founding the Yellow Claw Thursday night party at the Jimmy Woo, which quickly gained a reputation as being one of the wildest and most unique parties in the city.

 

Stay tuned on Twitter & Soundcloud for the latest news on Dutch dance!

DutchCulture USA
 

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