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Paul Elstak

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

Paul Elstak was born in 1966 in The Hague and grew up in a musical family. His father played rhythm guitar in a band, and the well-known jazz musician Nedly Elstak was also part of the family. The money he earned as a teenager picking tomatoes and working at McDonald's he spent on records, which he practised with for hours behind the turntables. In 1987 he became a DJ at the Rotterdam discotheque Bluetiek-In. There he learned a great deal from the house pioneer Peter Slaghuis.

Music and breakthrough

In 1991, as Holy Noise with Rob Fabrie, he had a top hit with James Brown is still alive. He specialised in hardcore house with very hard beats. In 1992 he started Rotterdam Records, the first hardcore label in the Netherlands. With it he reached number two in the Top 40 with Poing! by Rotterdam Termination Source. At the end of 1994 happy hardcore emerged, with fast, cheerful melody lines and vocals. That variant suited the radio and brought him a string of hits. In 1995 he had a top ten hit with Life Is Like A Dance, made with the Klubbheads. That year he also received the Zilveren Harp. The album May the Forze Be With You was released in 1995.

Influence

Elstak is one of the best-known Dutch DJs of the hardcore scene. With his label Offensive Records, from 2001, he was able to focus fully on gabber music again. In 2024 he co-wrote and co-produced Europapa by Joost Klein, the Dutch entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. The course cites his track Luv U More from 1994 as an example of the happy hardcore with which he reached a large audience.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Luv U More. Notice the high tempo, the hard bass and the cheerful melody singing over the beats.

Discography

Studio albums

See also

Categories: ArtistsGabber and happy hardcore