Zone Magazine Issue 037 Spring 2023

What affect did lockdown have on
you, good bad, or both. Did you
learn anything from it, on a personal
and pro level?
At the start of the lockdowns, I only recently got
out of a severe depression and was ready to tour again. So
as that didn't happen I knew I didn't want to return to that
darkness and did everything I could to stay positive. If
anything, it made me feel stronger. I started live streaming
that same month and that not only helped me, but other
people too. It was the only entertainment at the time and
kept it positive; no politics whatsoever and all I ever said
was 'Stay sane'. People look back at it now as an emotional
and yet happy experience. It gained me some real world
connections, love and friendships. Before that, it was hard
to find anything visual about me on the internet so many
people got to see and hear me live for the first time or
reconnected since a very long time. Especially here in
Holland where I've been under the radar as I only did gigs
abroad for 20 years. I'm playing in Holland now as much or
more as I ever did. I'm very grateful for that as I'm not
that much into flying these days.
I read you had some struggles
dealing with the pressure of the
working artist. Tells about this if you
can? I know from my own
experience with mental heath, and
talking and reading about others, it’s
a hard thing to deal with when you
need to DJ and perform.
Being on stage is really my happy world. If
anything it makes for even better performances and
gigs, as you really give it your all. It's the big escape
from whatever is bothering you. At least for me.
Music gave me so much in life, but also took a lot from me.
It seems to be a very commonplace thing. As if to sacrafice
something of yourself. As an artist you have to deal with
the ultimate highs and loneliness. So I go from total bliss to
a lonely hotel room and it's very hard to share it with
others. Even the people who are closest to you. To others it
translates to either bragging or being overdramatic while
it's non of these things. So you keep quiet. Dealing with
success is another thing. Many are afraid of being
succesful. Not failure, but being successful. I was too. It
can get you into shock, into complacency, you come to a
standstill. It becomes too big and even daunting. Hard to
explain really. I guess most artists are the emotional kind
of people. The most succesful ones are those that are more
business minded and not always about self expression but
they get depressed too one time or another.
You mainly produce what would be
called Progressive House, but you
do have some techno, house, and
trance releases. What is it about the
Progressive House sound you
prefere over the other styles?
I've never attached any label to my music. I,
myself, always just call it House Music. But back in the
early 2000's all of a sudden you've had that non gimmicky
sound and it happened to be named Progressive House. By
non - gimmick I mean that, in the 90's, house music was
very hook driven. my 1993 'Model8' had that and 'The Bells
of Revolution' for example had that too. Next to that, the
new wave of progressive house music encompassed all
styles of house music which to that point have been very
seperated into all kinds of styles. Prog brought all these
elements together and that was the appeal for me. I no
longer had to fit myself into a certain genre. I mean, as a
DJ I played that way too so it made sense. It really brought
back a sense of freedom. Back then Prog had elements of
tribal, house, techno, trance, breaks... everything! Now
Progressive House is nothing but another Beatport label. It
was never a style but now it is. I fall asleep with much of it
and with those that play it. It's one beat away from lounge
muzak. No progression in arrangement, lazy loop
productions and not dancefloor based as you can see the
punters wiggle a bit but never get to that extacy level. Not
all music of course; That what does get released and is
really good is even better than back then. It really is. And
the funny thing is that it's often labeled 'alternative' or
'Indie' rather than progressive. So it's basically back to
where it started: Progressive, not conservative.
" 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 "