DJ Hidden

A bit of a story...

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 favorite 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, and record players - anything he could get his hands on. Computers that were initially only capable of producing monophonic bleeps gradually became sequence tools and, although he didn't give up his classical guitar training for years, these machines increasingly became more interesting to experiment with.

The process of sound creation evolved and it became possible to write entire compositions just by using a computer. This appealing degree of control eventually 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 such as acid and even industrial were already around, the degree of freedom was still limitless... anything was possible as long as it was either danceable, experimental or a bit of both.

Coming from a small city in the Netherlands, it did not seem as though there were many people around doing the same stuff. Mutual friends kept hinting about "this other guy that does stuff with a computer" and eventually DJ Hidden was introduced to Eye-D.

They decided to team up and, back in 1996, the two aspiring producers had the nerve to send out cassette taped demos to a few labels. It came as a complete surprise when two record companies actually responded. That year the first Outside Agency and the first (and last) X-Factor hardcore records made their way to stores and both records became "underground hits".

Although DJ Hidden had been performing for quite some time, releasing records provided a welcome boost in the amount of bookings. Besides playing vinyl, The Outside Agency even decided to do some live shows which were edited into a videoclip that was aired multiple times on national television.

In the late nineties, the initial glory days of the darker side of hardcore/gabber came to an end with certain companies tirelessly commercializing and parodying the genre. Drum n bass, breakbeat and IDM became more appealing and, while DJ Hidden kept producing and releasing hardcore, he now also started to experiment with these "different takes" on electronic music.

This proved to be a very educational and stimulating route and resulted in a slew of drum n bass records, pioneered by the joint release "We Eat Tulips For Breakfast". Over time drum n bass became 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 and it only took them a year to do so. In 2003 Genosha Recordings was born and ever since, the duo (along with various highly talented producers from all over the world) has been using the label as an output for their unique blend of industrial hardcore mixed with drum n bass and idm elements.

These days DJ Hidden's attention is equally divided by the two things he is best at: music and art. The first is a completely self-taught ever ongoing learning process, the second a result of an education as a director and a history in the graphics and videogame industry. This multi-angled approach has given him a track record of over 90 releases including lots of vinyl 12" singles and two full-length CD albums, not counting a large number of compilations featuring licensed tracks.

New plans include projects such as DJ Hidden (drum n bass/breakcore/IDM), Semiomime (IDM, experimental) and of course The Outside Agency (hardcore); all exploring and expanding a soundtrack of thoughts and emotions by combining elements that are dark, cinematic, atmospheric, melodic, and percussive. Almost every weekend, he's on the road promoting this sound 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.