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Lost & Found Artists, Episode #1: An interview with Ron Van Zelst, founder of JoyLuv Records
Revibed Editorial Team
Our 'Lost & Found Artists' series is an effort to track down the original artists responsible for the wonderful sounds of the world, and revive their music, which was only ever released on vinyl or cassette during an era when digital databases did not exist. For this first episode, we traveled up north to Holland to meet with Ron Van Zelst.
Back in the early nineties, Ron was an emerging DJ and producer in the budding Amsterdam House scene, where he would spend all of his spare time digging through the crates with US import records to prepare for his residencies in some of the city’s most well-respected clubs.
Having seen first hand the mythical status those records from across the pond would garner among Dutch DJs, a young Ron jumped on a plane to New York with one mission in mind: setting up a transatlantic connection with the ‘Who’s who’ of the NYC House music movement.
And that’s how Joy Luv Records was born. All of a sudden, Ron found himself hanging with a young Louie Vega who would play out Ron’s productions in the Big Apple or being offered a beer by Frankie Knuckles, while regularly travelling back and forth between the States and the Netherlands with a suitcase filled to the brim with heavy tapes and even heavier music gear.
Now, almost 30 years later, Ron still lives and breathes music just like he did in his younger years, with his original releases and incredible stories sure to strike a chord with anyone with a love for classic House.
Back in the early nineties, Ron was an emerging DJ and producer in the budding Amsterdam House scene, where he would spend all of his spare time digging through the crates with US import records to prepare for his residencies in some of the city’s most well-respected clubs.
Having seen first hand the mythical status those records from across the pond would garner among Dutch DJs, a young Ron jumped on a plane to New York with one mission in mind: setting up a transatlantic connection with the ‘Who’s who’ of the NYC House music movement.
And that’s how Joy Luv Records was born. All of a sudden, Ron found himself hanging with a young Louie Vega who would play out Ron’s productions in the Big Apple or being offered a beer by Frankie Knuckles, while regularly travelling back and forth between the States and the Netherlands with a suitcase filled to the brim with heavy tapes and even heavier music gear.
Now, almost 30 years later, Ron still lives and breathes music just like he did in his younger years, with his original releases and incredible stories sure to strike a chord with anyone with a love for classic House.
Stay tuned for Ron's music reissues coming up, available only on Revibed. In our next episode, we'll explore the eclectic world of Latecomer (aka Dusty Baron). Not to be missed!
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Read on:
- What is our role in the historical preservation of music?
- History of music recording and reproduction
- The evolution of record players: from early beginnings to modern times
- DJ mixers: Technology adapted to the artist’s perspective
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