Dazzle

Dazzle has been active in the industry for nearly fifteen years. Almost immediately after Black Hole Recordings released Dazzle's first mix compilation "Freedom" in 1999, his career steadily moved upwards. Thanks to the success of the initial issue, three volumes in the "Freedom" series followed, paving the way for a new, more personal, concept entitled "Soundbox". These now seminal releases document Dazzle's outstanding taste and superb mixing skills, showcasing how he built his reputation as a highly skilled and professional DJ delivering dedicated live sets filled with a widely appealing combination of rhythmic, energetic trance and tech-house.

All this good news travels fast and requests for remixes pour in: established artists like Way Out West, Public Domain, and Andain all have their hits reworked by Dazzle. His hard labour finally leads to the realization of what had always been his dream: his own label that would release his own output. Mostly Recordings, the name of the imprint, has a clear mission statement: to release material of young, new and talented producers and of course his own productions and mix compilations. The year is 2004 and Mostly Recordings delivers Dazzle's titles such as "Pushing", "Area51", "Thin Air" and "Observe"; cuts that all have been hammered by the likes of Tiësto, Armin van Buuren and Ferry Corsten.

Other labels catch on as well and in a short period of time Dazzle's music appears on imprints like Paul van Dyk's Vandit with "Relativity", Fektive with "Traced" and most notably "Chaos Theory" released on Armin van Buuren's Armada label. The single found its way to many worldwide recognized mix compilations like "Amnesia" and "Cream — Ibiza 2008", mixed By Paul van Dyk, the John O'Callaghan "Godskitchen 10 Year Anniversary" comp and the Ronski Speed mix compilation "Worldwide Trance Sounds". It became the absolute summer slammer of the 2008 season and was played endlessly in sessions at Space Miami during the WMC, Amnesia, Time Warp and Judge Jules' "Judgement Sundays" on Ibiza. Another top-notch release by Dazzle was "Backwards", released on Detox Records which even made it to the nowadays rare format of a vinyl pressing.

With a crazy production schedule like this, Dazzle still finds the time to drop his own mix compilations and so far, he released a double CD for the internationally known Maxim Magazine, a comp entitled "Forward" and two hailed pressings for the Fast Forward Dance Parade (FFWD) of 2006 and 2007. He still considers those two the achievement of his personal investment to make it to the FFWD of 2005; a tour de force that got him his own truck, a dedicated sponsor and thousands of enthusiastic followers. All these activities show the genuine craftsmanship of a DJ working hard to make it big, especially since all this happened during a period full of live gigs where he performed alongside heavyweights like Seb Fontaine, Guy Ornadel, Cass, Armin van Buuren, Tiësto and Judge Jules, all at festivals like Dance Valley, Impulz, Extrema Outdoor, Rockit Open Air, Dancetour, Frequence Outdoor, Gigadance and Trance Energy.

All the live performances caught the attention of international booking agencies and Dazzle has so far performed in Ibiza, Poland, the Czech Republic, USA, Mexico, The Russian Federation, Norway, Cyprus, and Israel. 2008 also saw the birth of his personal concert at "De Kroon" during the Amsterdam Dance Event; an idea that he repeated in 2009 during "Threesome", also at the Amsterdam Dance Event. The best showcase for Dazzle live can be found in the video at the top of this page, which shows Dazzle enthusiastically performing at various locations on the globe. That same year, Dazzle added a few more notches to his belt: he started the production of his own "Weekly Mixes", which are now being broadcast by more than 20 internet- and radio stations. iTunes showed interest as well and now hosts them as podcasts, entitled "Forcast". His compilation "Forward II" saw the light of day and he produced the remixes for Black Dragon's "Mi Vida", JD's "The Mind", Public Domain's "Operation Blade" and David Murtagh's "Luminous".

In the two-year time frame 2010–2011 Dazzle kept delivering more and more trademark DJ sets, released the digital only mix compilation entitled "Submerge" on Fektive and released more tracks and remixes than ever before with titles like "With Them Fixers" (Sunset to Sunrise Records), "Global Forcast" (High Contrast), Re:Hab — "Shibatsu" (Dazzle Remix) and Terk Dawn — "Sunburst" (Dazzle Remix).

Enter 2012 and Dazzle is still taking giant steps in every discipline of the trade. His January single "Yub Yub" (Mostly Recordings) already harvested the acclaim of the big names in the industry, while two more singles, "Royal 69" and "Stage 11", have already been slated for release later on this year. Event wise, Dazzle will make his appearance once again at the world-famous Amsterdam Dance Event, hosting two nights in succession for Re:Birth and In Trance We Trust.

Re:Birth is also a formula with the potential to go nationwide. Dazzle — together with fellow DJ Cor Fijneman — is the driving force behind the concept, which stands for an enticing presentation of nearly twenty years of trance- and house classics with a modern twist, delivered in a state-of-the-art setting that already attracted thousands of electronic dance enthusiasts. So far, these groundbreaking nights have ignited the dance floor more than once at Mezz Breda and have currently been programmed for two more future dates.

In a recent interview, when asked about what keeps him going, Dazzle was clear in his words: "For me it's all about the love of music and the drive to share my passion with the audience. If I play the right record at the right time and if I see and, most importantly, feel the positive vibes and response coming from the dance floor, then I know that I'm doing the right thing. Whether it's a classic or the most recent chart buster and whether I'm playing a large outdoor event or an intimate club session; once you have felt the appreciation from the audience for what you're doing behind the decks, then as a DJ you have come full circle. Think of it as an addiction, but then in the positive sense of the word. This is a habit I will gladly keep in shape for years to come and if the party people continue to show their support for my live sets, then I don't have to tell you why music is my undisputed first love!"