Darko Esser

Darko got infected by the house virus first in 1993 at illegal parties in and around Den Haag. But it wasn’t untill late 1994, early 1995 (when he moved from Den Haag to Groningen), that he took on a more active roll by starting to DJ at small events in local popcentres Vera and Simplon. In late 1996 he applied for a job as program-director at Simplon and became their first dance-promoter. In this period he learned a lot about the ins and outs of the musicbizznizz (behind the curtains and on stage). The work was voluntary and in exchange he got a monthly residency at the club. Within a few years he build a reputation for himself and was asked to play in clubs and events nationwide such as Doornroosje, Effenaar, Lowlands and Eurosonic, as well as in internationally well known clubs like Tresor, House of God and Moog. As a result from his promoter efforts, he was frequently asked as an advisor for events such as Eurosonic, Noorderslag and Bevrijdingsfestival Groningen and to participate in panels at music conferences.

In october 2000 he switched jobs and moved to Nijmegen to become the promoter for the legendary club Doornroosje. There he promotes their succesfull nights Planet Rose (Techno) and Jungle Galaxy (Drum & Bass) a.o. The status of Doornroosje in the European techno scene is impeccable. Now worldfamous artists like Daft Punk, Jeff Mills, Dave Clarke and Ricardo Villalobos made their Dutch debut on the Doornroosje stage. The clubnight Planet Rose is about to hit it’s 11th birthday in january 2006.

During his first years in Nijmegen he moved away a bit from DJ-ing and focused more on his work for Doornroosje, the start of the label Wolfskuil Records in 2003 (together with his good friend Ger Laning a.k.a. LL, discography below) and the tricks and trades of studiowork. The first 6 releases on Wolfskuil Records received good reviews in the magazines Groove, De-bug and Raveline and DJ support from Josh Wink, Charles Siegling, Derrick May, Dave Clarke, Laurent Garnier, Ben Sims and John Selway a.o.

His studio efforts also paid off and Darko put out some well received releases on imprints such as his own Wolfskuil Records, Veto (UK), Fingers Ltd (NL) and Flux Recordings (UK). Darko’s records receive DJ support from Josh Wink, John Peel (R.I.P.) Laurent Garnier, Dave Clarke, Funk D’Void, Deetron, Angel Molina and Benny Rodrigues. The future looks even better with a release on none other then Josh Wink’s OVUM label confirmed and a series of singles to be released on Frankfurt based Unleash Records (from ELP Medien). Other labels have shown interest as well, but most negociations are in a premature stage right now.

As a result his DJ carrier got a spontaneous impulse. This year alone he played at big events & clubs such as Awakenings , Awakenings festival, Poema, Tresor, Moog and Free Your Mind festival. Darko preferably plays a mixture of house, techno, minimal and progressive. He always stays on the funky and sexy side of things. It’s all about exploring borders. In 2006 he will be performing live again with a brand new liveset on special occassions.

Watch this space!
Wolfskuil Records

WOLFSKUIL RECORDS is founded by Darko Esser and Ger Laning (DJ LL). Both are familiar faces in the Dutch dancescene as promotors, producers, deejays and dancemusicfanatics pur sang. Darko is the promoter of Planet Rose, the best technoclubnight in the Netherlands, every saturdaynight at Doornroosje in the city of Nijmegen. Planet Rose was founded some 10 years ago by Ger Laning. During this 10 years Planet Rose built quite a reputation by introducing artists like Jeff Mills, Dave Clarke, Daft Punk, Surgeon, the Youngsters, John Tejada, Heiko Laux, Dj Funk and many others to the Dutch audience.

As producers of electronic music they still have to prove themselves, though both have a lot of experience in the world of popmusic. Ger Laning (DJ LL) for example made some much appraised cd’s with the undergroundact Poppi Uk during the late eighties. Even the famous John Peel was a fan of the group, which led to a BBC Peelsession for Poppi Uk. Darko Esser played in a number of hardcore/noise bands like Cell Communication, having an underground status in the North of the country.

Their divers musical background is reflected in the releasepolitics of the label. WOLFSKUIL RECORDS releases are based on funky techno, but there is always room for experimentation and noises from unexpected zones in the musical universe. WOLFSKUIL RECORDS is the platform for productions by Darko Esser and Ger Laning (DJ LL), but also for Nijmegen based deejay/producers and the international dancescene.