DJ Eye-D - DNB.NL Podcast 022 - May 2009

Biography of DJ Eye-D

Eye-D is a Dutch DJ/producer who spins and produces both drum 'n' bass and hardcore. This results in some unique flavoring for both of the genres. Eye-D plays straight sets of each style, but he's also one of the few who will go so far as to mix the two styles up in what has become known as a 'GabberJungleWar'. Expect his drum 'n' bass sets to be hard-edged but still very effective on the dancefloor. Eye-D's hardcore sets range from slow to faster material, with a dark feel resounding throughout. An often heard compliment about Eye-D's sets is that they work well even when played to a crowd that normally isn't into either hardcore or drum 'n' bass.

Eye-D started out as a producer in 1992 and didn't get serious about DJ-work until 1996 when a promoter asked him to play a DJ set at an event in Amsterdam. Although he had done live PAs before, Eye-D initially wanted to stay away from spinning, but he was instantly hooked after his first set. Click here for a list of events Eye-D has played at.

While spinning is a big part of his life, Eye-D is still mostly a producer at heart. Because of the diversity of his projects, spanning all spectra of drum 'n' bass and hardcore, Eye-D is signed to a wide variety of labels: Piruh Records (The Netherlands, drum 'n' bass); Ruff-Teck Records (The Netherlands, drum 'n' bass); Mokum Records (The Netherlands, hardcore); Def Wish Records (UK, drum 'n' bass); Coolman Records (The Netherlands, hardcore); Fear Records (USA, hard-edged drum 'n' bass); Ghetto Safari (USA, hard-edged drum 'n' bass); Low Res Records (USA, hardcore); Semiconscious Media (USA, drum 'n' bass); Black Monolith Breaks (USA, drum 'n' bass), and Kultbox Records (USA, experimental drum 'n' bass).

DJ Hidden - DNB.NL Podcast 022 - May 2009

Biography of DJ Hidden

Coming up with a clear cut answer as to what inspires DJ Hidden is not easy. Sure, certain things come to mind. The night, his favourite part of the day, for instance. Possibly cities and their urban decay. Or perhaps a little insanity. Maybe even simply just other music. What drives him to do what he does is not so hard to figure out though. The constant desire to create has always been in his blood. As a kid, he would fill his time with drawing, playing musical instruments, messing around with reel-to-reel recorders - anything he could get his hands on. Computers with less memory and power than your everyday cellphone gradually became capable of producing sounds and although he didn't give up his classical guitar training for years, machines increasingly became more interesting to experiment with.

The process of sound creation evolved and it became possible to sequence entire compositions just by using a computer. That degree of control was very appealing and resulted in the first couple of structures some might call songs. Back in those days, the electronic music scene was still in its early development stages but that only made it more interesting. Although genres like acid and even industrial were already around, the degree of freedom was still limitless, enabling the composition of... whatever possible.

Coming from a small city in the Netherlands, it did not seem like there were many people around doing the same stuff. But maybe that's what they were all assuming when they were writing music in their bedrooms. Luckily, mutual friends kept going on about 'this guy that also does stuff with a computer' and that's how DJ Hidden met Eye-D. They decided to team up and back in 1996, had the nerve to send out some cassette taped demos to a few labels. It came as a complete surprise when two record companies actually had a positive response. A dream became reality when the first Outside Agency and the first (and last) X-Factor hardcore records found their way to stores.

Although DJ Hidden had been spinning at various parties (meeting more musical friends such as One Ear Bass, Vodka and Sandstorm), releasing records provided a welcome boost in the amount of bookings - and besides playing vinyl, The Outside Agency even decided to do some live shows - which were recorded into a videoclip that was aired multiple times on national television. The initial glory days of hardcore then came to an initial end with certain companies tirelessly commercializing anything imaginable. This resulted in a shift in attention to different genres - and although DJ Hidden kept making hardcore, he now also started to experiment with drum n bass, breakbeat and idm.

Years passed and a multitude of records and cds on a lot of different labels in all aforementioned genres were realized. Drum n bass had become both a lot darker and harder, making it a good genre to explore and combine with hardcore, which was making a darker, more experimental comeback. At exactly the right time, The Outside Agency received a call from DJ Ruffneck. After a pleasant day at Cardiac HQ, it was decided that Eye-D and DJ Hidden were going to run a label for the music group. The duo just had to come up with a good name. It took them a year to do so and Genosha Recordings saw the light of day.

Nowadays, DJ Hidden's main focus are the two things he's best at: music and art - the first a completely self-taught ever ongoing learning process, the second with an education as a director and a history in the graphics and videogame industry. Almost every weekend, he's on the road promoting his music at a wide range of clubs, events and festivals. During the week, he spends most of his time behind computer screens - trying to come up with stuff that he hopes will stimulate, entertain and maybe even inspire.