Introducing VIKTOR VAN STROOMF // The industrial side of DJ Smurf
Smurfy is now available for bookings playing industrial hardcore under the name VIKTOR VAN STROOMF.
Please read below for how all this came about and a short biography ...
DJ Smurf started spinning at party’s in the UK in 1992 mostly playing heavy Belgium/German/Dutch techno. As the tempo’s increased and the music got harder, Smurfy pops stuck with this and was playing the hardest & fastest Dutch & German ‘gabber’. By 1995 he was playing all around the UK and this is the style he is most known for today. His unique hardcore techno/terror/speedcore sets are filled with a comedy twist, frequently dropping pop songs & hip hop acapella’s over frantic 200 BPM+ beats, sometimes to the crowd’s bewilderment, eg - 6ft skinheads suddenly realising they are dancing to Kylie Minogue’s latest pop anthem ;). By around 2004, Smurf was playing all around in Europe almost 3 times a month at 100;s of big & small party’s including Thunderdome, Masters Of Hardcore, Megarave, Hellraiser, Hellbound, Decibel, Ground Zero, Nightmare Outdoor and many many more.
However, in the UK (mostly in Scotland), Smurf was also playing ‘mainstream’ hardcore/gabber in 1998 – 2001, then from 2004 to the present.
In around 1997, Smurf noticed that the hardcore techno/speedcore scene going a bit stale and the party’s weren’t like they used to be. People were getting old and tired from years of partying and instead of giving up hardcore like a lot of DJ’s did, he looked for other hard styles to try and inject a new passion and something different to the nations dance floors. Always a lover of big kick drums, Smurf became interested in the new Dutch ‘newstyle’ sound, which reminded him of early gabber trax. It was the same tempo as the original gabber of the early 90’s but with a harder kick drum. So, he also started playing ‘newstyle’ sets at the legendary Judgement Day parties in Newcastle England, together with Bass Generator in some crazy marathon 3 hour sets. He started to get more bookings all around the UK playing this style and was one of only a few ‘big name’ DJ’s pushing this style. As it got popular and dancefloors started to fill again, more new up and coming DJ’s started to play it, events and organisations seeked his advice on what international artists to book who played this style. Many Dutch artists got there first UK/English bookings on the advice of the small blue machine around this time!
In 2001, happy that he had helped introduce this sound to so many people il the UK and also noticing that the ‘newstyle’ sound was getting a little boring (too many squeaky squeaky trax), Smurf sold all his ‘newstyle’ records and was 100% back focused on hardcore techno and the new ‘Frenchcore sound’.
For the next 3 years the hardcore scene in the UK started to die again. Too much bad happy hardcore and hardly any venue’s allowing hardcore party’s to take place. Record shops had closed, so it was hard to find out about party’s unless you had the internet. Lots of the old ravers had gone crazy and were in mental hospitals or had family’s now.
Scotland, once the best place in the UK for hardcore party’s (ask any international artist who played there in the 90’s !) was stuck in an oldskool time warp with lots of oldskool party’s. Although there was a new generation of ravers, they were being exposed to the same DJ’s playing all the same Scottish bouncy techno from the mid 90’s and no gabber/hardcore techno.
So in 2004, with the gabber ‘newstyle’ sound being re-invented with more catchy melody’s, Smurf took this opportunity to rekindle his love for slower big kick drums and to try and get the new generation listening to harder sounds once again. He only played this in his hometown of Newcastle & Scotland, first playing it at the end of oldskool sets to get people hearing it at parties, then full sets soon followed all around Scotland.
Smurf was once again asked by promoters on which artists to book for their events and also re-launched the legendary Judgement Day parties in Scotland. During this time he was responsible for bringing many artists to the UK/Scotland for the first time, including Angerfist, Endymion, D-Passion, Dione, Negative A, Art Of Fighters, Partyraiser, Peaky Pounder to name just a few and also getting many artists to submit guest mixes for his monthly radio show, to give them more exposure to the UK. Check http://www.geordiegabbamafia.org/main.php?page=radio
Now, in 2009, ‘gabber’ is once again massive, particularly in Scotland where the rave scene is back to where it was 15 years ago. Big events with hardcore DJ’s playing alongside happy hardcore & oldskool DJ’s, even the legendary Masters Of Hardcore are doing an event in Scotland in 2009 and a lot more smaller party’s booking more artists outside the UK.
Smurf still continues to get many bookings in Scotland playing this sound, but with so many up & coming talents playing gabber, it’s time to move over and give them a chance !
So, over the past few months, Smurf has been introducing more and more industrial trax into his gabber sets to give them more variety and get the kids once again, hearing something different and harder. There has been a great response to this and in the next few months I will be playing full industrial sets in the UK under the name VIKTOR VAN STROOMF and will be adding his unique blue humour to the sets with silly pop samples and rap acapella’s.
Here you can download a live mix from Cause & Effect in Newcastle in March 2009
NOTE: Smurf’s main and most loved style is still hardcore techno/terror/speedcore and will never give up on this !
