This post is also available in: Nederlands (Dutch)
Edwin Rutgers (NL): “Waiting for the sound equipment”
We met at the opening of the Recycle Lounge Gallery Club in Amsterdam, where he was playing in the garden area. Not much later I asked Dutch DJ Edwin Rutgers about his first gig. “Our goals with Drie Nul Drie was to organize small-scale, beautiful and intimate events at special locations.”
Felix Kröcher (DE): “Within 20 minutes the floor was packed”
In 2006 German DJ/producer Felix Kröcher was elected Best New DJ by the music magazine Raveline. In 2020 he’s still going strong! In 2015 we had a chat about his DJ debut. “Did I make any mistakes? Where to start?”
Damion Pell (AUS): “That performance went terrible!”
The Australian Damion Pell performed mostly in the UK and Europe and is the managing director of Decoded Magazine. In 2016 we spoke about his DJ debut. “It’s an honor to DJ, not a right.”
Calm Chor (IND): “Music was my lifeline”
Our first real conversation took place while walking through Amsterdam during ADE 2016. Later the Indian Calm Chor aka Ashvin Mani Sharma told me about his surprising DJ-debut. “I had two faders per channel and small fiddly EQ knobs.”
Buddy Suwijn (NL): “Rum-coke on the side and I was on!”
Buddy Suwijn was a latebloomer in music, but when he returned to his old love in 2012, there was no stopping him. I’ve seen his career take off and develop and I’m happy for him, because besides his talent Buddy has a heart of gold. In 2015 we talked about his first gig. “I was the only DJ. Huh?!”
ZaVen (NL): “Even then, networking was key”
Sven Dekker aka DJ/producer Zaven was born and raised in Alkmaar, The Netherlands. In 2016 he told me about his first gig. “When I saw how the crowd was dreaming away on my music, it tasted like more.”
