Zone Magazine Issue 037 Spring 2023

Festivals, Superclubs, small clubs or
House parties, and why?
All of them as far as I'm concerned. The variation
is nice for me as well as for punters. I like festivals because
of the general atmosphere, especially when it's outside and
the weather is nice. It's like a theme park with a
soundtrack. Superclubs are very special, especially for a DJ
as you have that rewarding feeling of being really
appreciated as an artist. Especially at first when you have
that euphoric feeling of 'finally making it'. As for me that
goes for any gig, but I remember my first time at Iconic
clubs like Amnesia, Godskitchen or Ministry of Sound and it
felt very special. Small clubs are my fave from an artistic
point of view. For me it's the best way to express myself
when the audience is between 200 and 500 in numbers.
Usually I can play for longer and it's the best way to
connect with people. Look them in the eyes, have a smile
or just get totally lost in the experience. House parties as in
a house? Done quite a few of these for the past 3 years and
totally enjoy that. It is basically how I started out as a DJ
and captures that feeling of why I'm doing this in the first
place. The downside of this is that it hardly makes any
money of course.
Tell us about your radio show, 16
years now and going strong?
Yes, amazing really when you mention that
number. It really has become an archive of dance music
history. I was asked by Frisky Radio back in 2006 for
an Artist Of The Week mix and soon after I was
asked to do a monthly show. Since that time, Frisky
grew exponentially to the big player that they are
today. My 8-Track Mind show - or 8TM in short - has
always been on the same time and date which is the
1st Thursday of the Month at 7PM GMT or 20:00 CET
and that certainly helped to have over 1.2 million
listens now in 2023. I don't have guests on my show.
These days every DJ has the opportunity for some sort of
online presence to show off their sets and mixes. So if you
want to hear Lemon8 you tune in to Lemon8. I never really
got the guest mix thing.
Best event you have played and
why?
In 37 years of DJ-ing it's nearly impossible to
just pick one best gig. All gigs are special one way or
another. Sometimes it's because of the set,
sometimes it's because of certain circumstances. It
can be anything really... So many great memories
and adventures attached to gigs. I could write a book
about it. Recently I've been playing in my home country
Holland more than ever - at least since 2002 - and had
really great gigs. The Recycle Lounge in Amsterdam comes
to mind, especially as it was the first gig after the
lockdowns. Very emotional and people still remind me of
that set. Also in Holland recently was at the 'Hartstocht'
festival in which I can say we all truly experienced some
sort of spiritual lift-off into whatever you want to call it. We
all felt it.
Playing in Indonesia was very emotional too as my
father was born there and I was the first to see my family.
Stadium club in Jakarta was an amazing experience,
Thessaloniki in Greece felt like my hometown for years with
extraordinary gigs, Bucharest, Istanbul same thing... I
could go on and on. If the gig wasn't a 100%, than
something else was. I'm blessed.
Worst event you have played and
why?
Not too many of these really. It's also about
attitude I guess. I'm pretty easy going and it takes a lot to
push me into negative territory. I'm a stoic that way. But
perhaps I just forget about bad gigs. One tends to do that.
What does Harry do when he’s not
Lemon8?
I'm only Lemon8 when I'm performing. I have so
many interests. I like to philosophize and study art and
history, Magic and alchemy, megaliths... I'm very nerdy
and can really get into whatever subject. I like technical
things. And although technology can get in the way of
producing electronic dance music, I do like the technical
aspects of sound design. It's also why I started mastering
commercially. I really enjoy doing that; fiddling with things
and make it better. I sometimes wish I was living during
the Renaissance and be that polymath, a renaissance man,
according to Wikipedia an individual whose knowledge
spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on
complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems.
It's what I've always tried to achieve. Of course that goes
unnoticed even when accomplished. But it's always been
something I've been aspiring to be. making music is very
limited in itself. I could have been a published writer, did
write columns, I've acted for 3 years and was always
drawing as I wanted to be a cartoonist. DJ-ing felt into my
lap really and decided to stick with that. I love to ride my
bike. especially when the weather is good and that is not
always the case in The Netherlands. I always have podcasts
on when I do. Just something to learn from. Podcasts is
where it's at today when it comes to listening to different
voices, opinions and entertainment as far as I'm concerned.
Especially since all mainstream media is controlled.