The Moderator | ja

The Moderator, aka Klaas-Jan Jongsma, is one of Hollands most talented producers in the field of electronic dance music. He has a very personal, melodic and soulful style of music that combines the past with the future.

Klaas-Jan caught on to electronic music at an early age, listening to a broad range of developing styles. He was thrilled by the emergence of house music and techno and fully immersed himself in these new musical forms. As a consequence he got interested in the creation of this fascinating music. He bought his first pieces of equipment and started experimenting.

KJ also connected with a few other music enthusiasts in his area, the somewhat remote area of Almelo in the north-east of Holland. All the creative impulses amounted to KJs first releases under various guises such as Dash (Acid Djax-Up-Beats), Peninsula (Detroit-influenced Eevo Lute) and Megapurlz (Acid). Musical collaborations also surfaced, such as East Island, an ongoing project together with Peter and Tonie Vanderloon.

KJ subscribed to 313, a mailing list for the fans of electronic music from Detroit, techno in particular. He connected with like-minded souls from all over the planet. He also was the moderator of the Dutch counterpart of 313, the Lowlands list. This is where his artist name The Moderator originates.

In December 1999 KJ made his first visit to Detroit, together with some Dutch friends such as Hans Veneman (TV99AD). At the 313 party the Dutch crew met tons of people they had spoken dozens of times in cyberspace, but never in real life. They were also lucky to hook up with some of their favorite artists. On one of these occasions an influential, but rather enigmatic figure of the music scene referred to them as Techno tourists because he realized that they came to Detroit purely for the music and the city. The name stuck and a new chapter opened up in KJs musical journey, always following the beat

On their return KJ and Hans decided to register Technotourist.org and put their pictures of Detroit online. The trip also inspired them to start bringing out music themselves. Otto Koppius started the label Ground Zero (later changed to Keynote) and a first Technotourist release featuring The Moderator, TV99AD and Thijz also surfaced.

2000 became an important year in KJs musical development. The first DEMF, a three-day electronic music festival in downtown Detroit, was a major boost for KJ. It was an overwhelming celebration of KJs favorite music and he got in touch with even more like-minded souls, including the DownLow crew. He also met up with John Osselaer, a Belgian music enthusiast and freelance journalist who became part of the TT crew and started contributing to the website. Gradually TT.org evolved into an extensive information platform on Detroit techno and quality electronic music.

The consecutive years of the festival, the after-parties and personal contacts were a continuous inspiration for KJ. A first release on DownLow, Sliding To Midnight came out, followed by the acclaimed Interstate 5 release on Keynote. A new collaboration with East Island saw the light of day. KJ became even more productive. On the Modus Operandi ep, on his good friend Arne Weinbergs label AW Recordings, he clearly shows his versatility and production skills. He also refined his live performance, which he has been doing since the early days of Dash.

A visit to Detroit in 2004 with Stefan Robbers reinforced their friendship and got KJ involved in the development of the relaunched Eevo Lute label and website, together with Dj Estroe. This involvement also resulted in the release of Reversed Evolution. At present plans are being drawn for Eevo Lute showcases across the world, with KJ performing as The Moderator live, Stefan Robbers as Terrace live and dj Estroe. .