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Paul Elstak is together with DJ Rob [Parkzicht Rotterdam] the godfather of the Dutch Hardcore/Gabba/Gabber scene.
(The Rotterdam sound is wellknow -> nice fact: Paul Elstak doesn't come from Rotterdam, he's born in Den Haag/The Hague)
He started as DJ in a local youthcenter in Den Haag: De Kreade.
His fame as DJ started in Rotterdam, in clubs like The Bleutiek Inn and Parkzicht (the hardcore club of Holland in that days).
» Paul Elstak first success was under the name: Holy Noise (together with Rob Fabrie aka Headbanger/Waxweazle and Peter Slaghuis: he died in 1991 in a car accident). In 1990 they had a club hit with "Father Forgive Them" (released at Hithouse), but their big breaktrough was with "James Brown Is Still Alive". This was a reaction at the track "James Brown Is Dead" by LA Style (Wesel van Diepen later formed the Vengaboys)
» Paul Elstak also made music under the names:
- E-wax
- Too Fast For Mellow
- Bald Terror
- Hard Attack
- Forze DJ Team (together with Lars & Panic)
- Tekno Warriors (together with Neophyte // Hardbass/hardstyle music)
Teamed up with:
- Euromasters (wellknown for the noise hit: "Alles Naar de Klote")
- Rotterdam Terror Corps (until 96)
He made also some remixes, like : Westbam "Mayday (The Rotterdam Gabber Mix)" [Low Spirit Recordings 1992], Masters Of Ceremony "Hardcore To The Bone (Paul Elstak Remix)" [Forze Record 1997].
In that period he also compiled the cd`s "A Nightmare Of Rotterdam". A cd-line kinda like the "Thunderdome" and "Rave The City" cd's. "A Nightmare Of Rotterdam" was based on the A Nightmare Of Rotterdam raves (Energiehal Rotterdam) that was based on A Nightmare On Elm Street (classic Horrormovies).
» The radio mixes of the happy hardcore tracks of DJ Paul Elstak were made by the Ultimate Seduction (nowadays known as DJ Boozywoozy/Klubbheads)
» As label manager for Rotterdam Records (a division of Mid-Town) he "found" hardcore acts like Neophyte [aka Bodylotion and Masters Of Ceremony], The Stunnedguys (Italian act wellknown for their Traxtorm Records) and Rotterdam Termination Source, the last one had a massive European hit with "Poing!". He also did the same for Terror Traxx and Forze Records.
At Terror Traxx names like Ferry Corsten (as Scum in those days, now a big trance producer) and Omar Santana (USA hardcore artist) started their careers.
The commercial DJ Paul Elstak started in 1995 with his first big hit called "Life Is Like A Dance" which went straight into the Dutch top 10. "Life Is Like A Dance" was one of the first commercial happy hardcore songs to enter the charts after Mark'Oh's "Tears Don't Lie" and Charlie Lownoise and Mental Theo's "Wonderfull Days". Paul Elstak's first commercial hitsingle didn't feature the vocals of Lindsay and the raps of MC Irvin. Instead a voice-sample was used. "Life Is Like A Dance" was the first of many of the following singles to be produced by Dutch producer trio Digidance (a.k.a. The Klubbheads).
The second DJ Paul Elstak single was called "Luv U More". This track is a cover of the Sunscream single with the same title. The vocals were done by female singer Shaydee, a student who had worked with DJ Paul Elstak as a dancer on his tours. Paul Elstak discovered that Shaydee could sing so he asked her to sing on "Luv U More" and boy... was that a great move!!! "Luv U More" went on to be an even bigger hit than "Life Is Like A Dance" going to the number 2 spot in Holland.
"Rainbow In The Sky" is the title of the third consecutive top 10 single. This one went on the sell even more then it's predecessor "Luv U More"!! "Rainbow In The Sky" is a hi-nrg happy hardcore track which for the first time features the raps of MC Irvin. MC Irvin had worked with Paul Elstak before at his hardcore/gabba performances at large houseparties like Thunderdome and Hellraiser.
At the same time "Rainbow In The Sky" was released, a female singer called Berri released a single called "Sunshine After The Rain" which had the same melody but different lyrics.
People who thought that DJ Paul Elstak would be a one hit wonder were proven wrong as his fourth single did the same as the previous releases. "Don't Leave Me Alone" also went straight into the Dutch top 10. The video which comes with the single sees Shaydee, Irvin and Paul on a graveyard surrounded by zombies. But no worries... Shaydee and Paul really kick some ass and the zombies are back were they belong... 6 feet under!
Together with the release of "Don't Leave Me Alone" DJ Paul's first full-cd's were released. "May The Forze Be With You" comes in 2 versions.. the commercial version and the hardcore versions for his hardcore/gabba fans.
The 5th commercial Paul Elstak single made history as the most expensive video ever made in Holland. "The Promised Land" video sees Paul, MC Irvin and a hundred ravers at a secret meeting where they are awaiting the arrival of aliens. And then suddenly there she is... Shaydee appears from a spaceship and comes with one message... "...Let Me Take You To The Promised Land..." Where they can rave and dance all night!!!
"The Promised Land" equals "Rainbow In The Sky"'s salesrecord and is one of the songs to get the most airplay on key-radio stations in Holland. "The Promised Land" was also the last single to feature Shaydee. She left DJ Paul Elstak to continue her studies. But 1 year later she's was back with a eurodance single called "Always Forever.
The new female vocalist was called Lindsay. Lindsay had worked with Paul Elstak as a backingvocalist on the "May The Forze Be With You" album.
The first single with Lindsay's vocals was called "Rave On", which, as the title already suggests, is an upbeat happy hardcore tune.
"Rave On" went top 10 in no time. The catchy lyrics and melody were always a guarantee for filled dance floors: ... Everybody leave your worries behind. You've got to open your mind and just rave on, rave on! The future is ours because we are the young. Together we're strong and just rave on, rave on!....
"Rave On" was followed by "Unity" the first single to be produced by DJ Paul without the help of Digidance.
After the release of "Unity" DJ Paul Elstak announced that he would no longer be performing live on stage together with MC Irvin and Lindsay. He wanted to devote all of his energy to producing and mixing. He also announced that Lindsay and MC Irvin would continue in the same formation, but under a new name and that they would go on to make hi-nrg happy hardcore tracks!
June 1997 is the month in which the new single was released. The single was called "Get This Place" and well... as you can see on the single-cover they just made a slight change in the name... The new name was DJ Paul Elstak featuring Lindsay & MC Irvin.
"Get This Place" was again produced by Digidance and it is a slightly slowler happy hardcore track, which starts with a breakbeat but that doesn't make it a lesser tune!
» Paul Elstak quit making Happy Hardcore in the end of 97: the underground hardcore scene didn't like his "commercial" happy hardcore sounds and he wanted to stay down with his "hardcore fans" and the real hardcore music.
His first hit in the underground hardcore scene was "Brohymn" [1997]. This track is a cover of a Pennywise classic (Pennywise is an American punkgroup). The vocals where done by Teenage Warning (Dutch punkact). Paul Elstak called himself DJ Paul, just like he named in the good old days of the underground hardcore scene.
» Paul Elstak started in the end of 98 a own party organisation (together with 2 other lads): Back 2 School.
They started with small oldschool raves (old techno music from 1990 till 1994) that were a success... In 2000 they decided to give bigger raves like Hardcore 4 Life [hardcore], Hardbass [hardstyle] and bigger editions of Back 2 School.
In 2002 the first Decibell was given (huge openair rave) and in 2003 they gave Hardbass Extreme (hardstyle rave for 15 000 visitors) for the first time.
» In 2001 he founded his own recordlabel: Offensive Records (www.offensive.nl)
His first release was "Rage", a big hardcore anthem.
Offensive Records is a "mainstream" hardcore label.
» From Hardcore A State Of Mind (released in 2003) a videoclip was made in the beginning of 2004.
It reached the number one spot of the Box Dance Charts (a Dutch television station where you can phone/sms which clip you want to see).
Nowadays he plays a lot on massive hardcore raves in Holland (Masters Of Hardcore, Hardcore 4 Life, Megarave), Germany (Hellraiser Germany, Hardcore Gladiators, Nightmare in Germany: the last one is spinoff of A Nightmare in Rotterdam), Belgium (Project: Hardcore), Switzerland (Sonic), Italy...worldwide !
» about DJ Paul's Happy Hitmix.
Mid-Town released a videoclip and cd-single without his permission, but Mid-Town (the owner of Rotterdam Records) has the rights of this all. DJ Paul don't want to make happy hardcore, Offensive Records ("real" hardcore) is his future. So the "Happy Mix 2004" release isn't his thing.
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