Charly Lownoise

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Charly Lownoise is the stage name of Ramon Roelofs, a Dutch DJ and producer from The Hague, born in 1968. He began as a teenager as a DJ at school parties with a mobile disco. From 1989 he played in Hague clubs such as Sandokan, Tahiti and Marathon. Because he could not yet make a living from DJing, he also worked as a driver for a bank. In 1991 he broke through with Rave This Nation under the name RJ's Rule. Shortly afterwards he changed his name to Charly Lownoise. Under the name Fluxland he made a successful EP in 1993.

Music and breakthrough

In 1992 he played for six weeks in a club in Mallorca and afterwards met Theo Nabuurs, better known as Mental Theo. They wanted to go in the same direction in house and continued as a duo: Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo. Their big breakthrough was Wonderful Days, a track with a sample of Help Get Me Some Help by Tony Ronald. It was the beginning of the popularity of happy hardcore in the Netherlands. Well-known tracks by the duo also include Stars and Live At London, and Revolution sounds in Alkmaar after a goal by AZ. The duo played their last show in 2022 in the Ziggo Dome.

Influence

After the duo Roelofs had successes in Germany with Topmodelz and Starsplash. His music consists of a high tempo, hard basses and cheerful, almost childlike melodies. In this way he belongs to the Dutch dance scene of the 1990s, in which gabber and happy hardcore grew into a popular culture of their own.

Listening