Luna

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.