Darkraver

[NL]

Darkraver is The Hague- born, Curacao-raised Steve Sweet. For over twenty years, he has been one of the biggest names in The Netherlands's high-octane rave scene. His unique blend of early house, old school, early rave, hardstyle, jumpstyle, and hardcore has earned him mainstay status at mega-festivals and raves worldwide.

Sweet worked as a security guard, stripper, and bartender in the late 1980s and began DJing in the early 90s. He found himself behind decks for the first time in 1988, in a small club called Cornische in Scheveningen (a suburb of The Hague), but his nascent career first ignited when he headlined the infamous Rave The City events, also in The Hague. There he did back-to-back performances with partner in crime Ferry “Gizmo” Salee, using props like rubber hammers, wigs, and batman costumes. This idiosyncratic approach to the decks earned Sweet a residency at the legendary Parkzicht club, a venue considered sacred ground by the early rave generation and hardcore lovers at large. Massive events like A Nightmare in Rotterdam, Megarave, Thunderdome, Eurorave, Ghosttown, Mysteryland and many more followed soon after that, as did international engagements across the European, American, and Australian continents.

Darkraver’s versatile taste and skillful mixing have been captured digitally on various compilations for EVA (1993 and 1996), ID&T (1997 and 1998), Universal Music (2004 and 2006), and Mid-Town Records (2008). “One fucked up...”, his debut release as a producer appeared on the Dance International imprint – the title track was adopted as the official anthem of the Rave The City Part II event. His collaborative & solo tracks “Intelligent Hardcore”, “Thunderground”, and “Kom Tie Dan Hè” are all considered early rave classics. Twenty years later, Sweet’s international jetsetting has hardly slowed; he remains a regular at events like Sensation, Masters of Hardcore, Reverze, Complex, Q-Base, Decibel, Defqon1, Emporium, and In Qontrol.

Adrenalin

Berghain, Fri 02.02.2018, 22:00

Kilbourne, KABLAM, DJ Panic, HAJ300, Marc Acardipane, HDMIRROR, Darkraver, WIXAPOL S.A., Philip Vermeulen – "Physical Rhythm Machine_Boem Boem" with Lakuti, Sam Barker

Hardcore Talks I

Kunstquartier Projektraum, Sat 03.02.2018, 15:00

DJ Panic, The Darkraver, Marc Acardipane, Alexis Waltz