Head honcho and founder Mischa Van Der Hieden aka DJ Misjah of Dutch underground techno label ReRun is touring Australia and Indonesia next March.
He’s been on the lips of practically every electronic music artist, whether its under one of his many aliases like DJ Misjah or AMbassador or as part of a group of artists recording as Dyewitness, Groove Generator, Bad Guys, Kinky Plants, Team Deep, X-Conection, Misjahroon, Special Acid Edition and Digital Express to name just a few!
DJ Misjah has made a significant contribution to the world dance music scene with over 16 years of continual dj-ing, world tours and producing his unique blend of original tracks and remixes for many well respected major and underground labels. He has countless tunes signed to literally hundreds of dance compilations around the world.
_ “I was always playing around with my dad’s tape deck ever since I was a kid. When I got a bit older I bought a drum machine, sampler etc. that’s how I slowly started to make tracks.”_ He explains.
It all began in Holland back in 1991, Mischa Van Der Hieden and Piet Borvoets (Rank 1) teamed up as hard techno group Dyewitness making their explosive entry into the dance scene with hard techno hits Observing your Earth, What would you like to hear again?, The Future, Masterplan and Battlefield for your Mind.
“All the years I have been performing as Dyewitness I have very good memories… the parties, the people, the travelling. It’s all been good fun.”
When asked if he was surprised about the impact Dyewitness has made on the the new generation of hard techno lovers he replies “A little bit yes coz the tracks are so old, but on the other hand not really. I mean with all due respect I don’t think there is much new under the sun when it comes to hardcore tunes nowadays. If I hear tracks that have been produced this year they might have a better sound quality but in terms of arrangements, sounds etc not much has changed.”
He’s one of the scene’s hardest working djs touring around the world to some of the biggest music festivals, dance parties, clubs, and events. He’s a regular in countries like: Germany, Holland, the U.K., Australia, Japan, Canada, Italy, Spain, France, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, Russia, Portugal, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and the U.S.A. and he’s also one of few DJs to break into the non traditional dance music nations like: Chile, Brazil, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Poland, Croatia, Macedonia, Belgium, Finland, Austria, Malta, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Luxembourg, Czech Rep., and Slovakia.
Currently as a performer he’s quite a diverse DJ playing a variety of styles from minimal, hard, funky and even pumping. He prefers using his records as tools instead of just simply playing them, manipulating 3 turntables, Final Scratch and a loop machine in order to create a truly unique sound and to give a more live feel to his performances. He points out “I play house to electro to funky techno. I usually try to skip the hard techno (old school hardcore sets) but lot of people still ask me to play it.”
How did the idea to come about to start Dutch acid and techno label X-Trax? Was this the defining moment when you stoped making the hardcore? “I did a release with a friend of mine in 1994 under the name Misjahroon. This was quite a popular release. When midtown asked me to start a label and release this kind of sound, X- Trax was born.” He also adds “I don’t think I ever really made hardcore. I mean if you listen to Observing the earth that’s definately not a hardcore track, not by the standards of that time and not by the standards of today. I guess my sound got a bit more mature and it gradually morphed into “techno”. The first X- Trax records were not really “techno” records either…everybody played it from house to hardcore djs.”
X – Trax then started producing tunes with help from some of Misjah’s close friends: DJ Tim, Jeroen (Groovehead) artists such as Ferry Corsten, Umek, and Piet Bervoets (Rank1) all had releases on X-Trax. Some classics from this label include: Trippin’ Out, Access, The Club, Special Acid Edition, Watch them dogs, and Funky drive. Due to the increasing success of X-Trax Misjah was sought after by renowned artists like: Josh Wink, Jam and Spoon, Reflect, Format One, Finitribe, Denki Groove, etc to produce remixes for them. X-Trax then started a sub label appropriately named “X-Trax Sub” releasing mostly experimental and minimalist tunes.
By the end of the century, December 1999 in fact Misjah stopped running X-Trax due to a dispute with distributor Midtown Records. This gave him a period of reflection and a chance to plan his next big projects. By 2001 he started his own techno label “ReRun”. He explains “I needed a label on which I could release my own sound. Many djs would play my tracks but wouldn’t release it on their label coz it wouldn’t fit the style of their label. So I started Rerun.” With ReRun beginning to get so much attention Misjah’s production skills were also highly sort after commodity with a number of underground labels, some of them were: Zync, Mankind, Zync Grooves, Jericho , Pocket and Wetmusik just to name a few.
When asked if you could produce a tune with any artists in the world past or present, who would it be and why? He carefully answers “Afrika Bambaataa, George Clinton, Arthur Baker, James Brown (RIP), Bobby O, Ben Liebrand, Grandmaster Melle Mel & Furious Five, Quincy Jones, Nile Rogers, Stevie Wonder, Cerrone just to name a few…”
Around the same time ReRun Records began he also started running “ReRun Booking Agency”. Misjah decided to use his experience and contacts in the music industry to shape ReRun into what he though a good agency should be all about: prompt, reliable and honest. The agency is now responsible for booking some of the world’s major players in the techno scene such as Hardcell, Trevor Rockcliffe, Ade Fenton, Devilfish, Space DJZ, Acid Junkies, etc he’s even started adding more mainstream DJs to the list with trance sensation 4 Strings added to the bill.
When asked what advice can he offer for aspiring djs and producers? He says “Do what YOU like. Don’t listen too much to other producers/records if you want to keep your own style. You can look at it as a hobby (like me)...or you can look at it as a business.”
DJ Misjah has a busy year ahead with plenty of exciting new projects coming up in 2007. He’s just finished a remix for Hertz on ELP and is doing a remix of 70’s band Supermax for Universal. He’s also remixing Black Strobe’s ‘Shining bright Star’ and has just released ‘Luck Pusher EP’ on home-grown Aussie label Wetmusik. If this isn’t enough to keep him busy, he’s been licensed to do some work for ‘Great Stuff Records’ (David Guetta etc) and finally ReRun 16 will be out soon…he’s claiming “its going to be a bomb”.
DJ Misjah’s current top ten
1. Hardcell n Grindvik – Rattler (Gain07)
2. Misjah – What is…(Rerun 15)
3. El Sam n David Droid – Fuck Me (MP3)
4. Hi9 – (ELP)
5. Baffa – La Kaya (Flux)
6. Collin n Begi – Untitled (MP3)
7. Budai n Vic – Can u Feel (Ego Trax)
8. Hertz – Big Bang (Sway),
9. Elton D – Bass Boom rmxs (Kazoo),
10. Ray Kajioka – Let things Slide (Kanzleram1)
