Joost van Bellen

Born in Leiden in 1962, Joost van Bellen has been a notable figure in the history of Dutch club music as a DJ, event programmer and promoter active since the mid-1980s. His career spans electro, house and more hybrid forms of electronic music designed for the dancefloor, with a consistent attention to emerging scenes. Van Bellen notably shaped Amsterdam’s nightlife as resident DJ and artistic director of the club RoXY from 1991 to 1995, at a time when house was becoming firmly established in the Netherlands. Before and after that period he ran several club nights such as OHAF, Fucque les Balles and Speedfreax, and later Rauw, a travelling event that passed through venues like Trouw Amsterdam, Tivoli in Utrecht and the Effenaar in Eindhoven, where electro, danceable rock and club pop crossed paths with artists like Erol Alkan, Boys Noize and Soulwax. Alongside his DJ work, Joost van Bellen has produced music with Richard Cameron under the name Cowgum and developed, with DJ Sanyi, the project Star Studded Studios, focused on musical direction and soundtracks for fashion.