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In 2014 I had a chat with dance pioneer Jerome Outland. About his first gig he said: “It was all about the music.”
Jeroen Krom a.k..a Jerome Outland still had a vivid memory of his DJ debut. It was 1988 and just like many other colleague dance pioneers he kicked his career of with hiphop.
Pop temple
“I was seventeen and, off all imaginable places, my first gig took place in pop temple Paradiso in Amsterdam. Of course, I was nervous as hell!” Despite these nerves he did not prepare his set weeks in advance in order to meticulously determining his set on beforehand. Down to earth: “In my whole DJ career I have never prepared a set at home.”
Holy Amsterdam soil
The fact that Jerome Outland was allowed to experience his debut on almost holy Amsterdam soil – well, he has his brother Ro Krom to thank for that. Ro always supported him. A mentor in dance music is something Jerome never had or can remember. Nor did he want to impress a date during his first performance. “Nope, it was all about the music.”
Inexperienced
Cheerfully he continues his story by telling that the set went well. “I was still pretty inexperienced, but in retrospective I don’t think that I did something to be embarrassed about. Of course, there also was still room for improvement.”
So, as far as Jerome Outland’s memories reach, there were no unforgivable mistakes. He did learn from his initiation. “You learn from every set you play. This never ends.”
This interview with Jerome Outland is originally published on DJMag.nl on Tuesday,
June 17th 2014.
Who is Jerome Outland?
As a DJ, Jeroen Krom a.k.a. Jerome Outland started spinning at the Fresh to Impress hip-hop nights at Paradiso. When house music emerged, Jerome Outland’s musical interests shifted, and he began spinning this genre. From then on, Jerome Outland played at major parties and festivals worldwide including Sonar (Barcelona), I Love Techno, Awakenings, and The End (London). As a producer, he has also made significant contributions, boasting nearly 50 releases and remixes for artists such as Vince Watson, Laidback Luke, and Steve Rachmad & Djinxx.
Jerome Outland has produced and remixed various tracks for labels like 100% Pure, Outland, MusicMan, Bio, Honchos, Artform, and also performs live sets. Nowadays, techno is also part of Jerome Outland’s repertoire.
