Around 2000 Richard the Mildt’s career as a dj developed at an
accelerated rate, which has lead to the fact that this uncrowned
king of hardstyle is now to be rated among the most popular dj’s in
the Netherlands. In 2003 Luna came fourth in the Top 100 of best
dj’s in the world during the Dutch Dance Awards, overtaking big
shots like Carl Cox, Dave Clarke and Sven Väth.
A year later he even moved to the second place. This shows that Richard made the
most of his talents and reached the top in no time. “It was quite
bizarre to end second in the list behind Tiësto and the ultimate
prove that I was on the right track.
” Luna was born in Den Haag and at the age of 3 moved to
Sassenheim where he spent the first 21 years of his life, and
currently lives in Den Haag. Shortly before the turn of the
millennium he came in contact with Q-dance, the world’s leading
dance-organisation for the harder styles of dance. Q-dance offered
Luna an opportunity to play to the masses at events including
Qlubtempo, Qlimax, HouseQlassics and Mysteryland. One time,
when his fellow dj Pavo was unable to spin, Richard just picked up
the phone and called to ask whether he could perhaps stand in for
him. Q-dance had already heard a very promising demo of Luna and
therefore let him fill in the vacancy left by Pavo at The 1991/1992
Golden Edition. ‘I like working with a quality organisation as Q-
dance, although I do want to stress that I’m an independent dj and
that I spin wherever I’m asked to spin’, Luna explains. After some
very successful performances at events like Houseqlassics,
Qlubtempo, Mysteryland, Qlimax, etc. It soon became clear that
Luna is an up-and-coming star, which is due to his unique talent to
combine his impeccable track selection, his excellent technique,
such as backspinning and scratching, and his energy and
enthusiasm behind the turntables. It was as early as the mid-
nineties that the music lover Luna acquired a passion for hardcore
and oldschool, which explains why he is later to become one of the
icons of hardstyle. As a rave fanatic and a devotee of harddance,
Luna to buy himself two turntables and to master the art of dj-ing
back in 1994. ‘Hardcore and oldschool are both loves that will never
rust and I decided to play those styles more often in the future.
’ Some highlights include superb performances at Qlimax, Sensation
Black, and Shockers, where he had to fill the gap between techno-
stars Speedy J and DJ Rush and truly rocked the house all night
with a combination of Hardstyle and Techno. Lately Luna explores
his deep passion for techno – and hardtechno in particulair – with
blistering sets at Rotterdam’s Nighttown where he blew off the roof
completely. ‘I just hate that typical Dutch way of thinking that now that I’m labelled a hardstyle-dj should keep away from other styles. That’s why I’m not afraid to just sometimes spin a popular techno
or hardtrance-track. But I absolutely do love to spin loud and
bangin’ techno for a few hours as well’, Luna explains
Now that Richard has established himself as a DJ he spends more
and more time in the studio alone or with his partners Trilok and
Chiren, who as a threesome go by the name of DHHD. Together
they produce tracks for StraightOn Recordings, a label which is co-
owned by Luna himself and his friends dj Pila & The scientist. They
started up the label in 2003. Richard has released several
successful tracks, including ‘So Many More’/The Anthem, ‘We
Control The Sound’/’Hear Me Now’, ‘Rush’/’Funky Shit’, and ‘The
shockers Theme In Control’, which were released on Id&T ? Q-
Dance records and StraightOn Recordings. Besides producing tracks
he co-produced and mixed the mix-albums such as ‘Qlimax’, ‘X-
qlusive Holland, ‘X-qlusive Luna’ and ‘ Hardbass’. ‘It is my ambition
to expand my label, to concentrate on my international career and
to further establish my reputation as both a DJ and a producer’.
In addition of the succesful X-Qlusive Luna party Luna reached an
absolute milestone doing a Luna One Man Show in the massive
Geldredome stadium Arnhem in 2005. He was the second dance-
artist after Tiësto who played in such a huge arena. And especially
for this occasion he produced the pounding themesong ‘Now’s The
Time’. That year Luna also did Sensation Black for the third time
and played major events like DefQon, Mysteryland, In Qontrol and
Impulz. A main part of the summerseaon he spent abroad
performing in countries like Greece, Poland, Spain, Germany, Italy,
South-Africa, Australia and Estland.
At the end of 2006 Luna stopped with StraightOn Recordings. It was
time for a change. In 2008 he started the label Minus Is More. The
goal is to bring a different sound. Besides his own productions, new
talent also gets the chance to release their tracks. The label has
grown to be one of the main players in the scene. In the near future
the planning is to do worldwide label tour. So keep your eyes open.