Dave Dresden

Dave Dresden is an American electronic dance music DJ and producer, co-founder of the collaborative acts Gabriel & Dresden with Josh Gabriel, and Dresden and Johnston with Mikael Johnston of Mephisto Odyssey fame.

History

1988–2000: Early years

Dresden's zeal for dance music and culture developed early in high school where he frequented local Connecticut dance clubs and befriended The Café's DJ Moby, a local disc jockey. His early experiences at the Café fueled his passion to immerse himself in the culture that would become his career and lifelong obsession. From there, he purchased a pair of Technics SP-1300 pitch controlled CD players and got to work. Dresden quickly cultivated a following due to his simple but effective music policy; play the right track at the right time and only play great songs. His ambitions did not stop with spinning. While he continued to play in the clubs sometimes five nights a week, he became a dance music journalist by day. Dresden was named a reporter to the Billboard dance chart, and he began writing reviews and features for national magazines such as Dance Music Authority, DJ Times and Mixer. Dresden profiled Daft Punk, Paul Oakenfold, Moby, Masters at Work, Todd Terry, Sasha & Digweed, Puff Daddy, BT, Crystal Method, Keoki, Josh Wink, Chemical Brothers, Deep Dish amongst many others. Many of these artists' first American press came through Dresden's journalism efforts.

Ralph Barendse

Ralph Barendse (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrɑlf ˈbaːrɛntsə], born April 6, 1977), also known as Ralphie B, is a DJ and producer of electronic dance music. Barendse is considered by many to be responsible for some of the biggest trance classics of all time. Barendse's has also produced remixes for significant artists in the scene, among them Armin van Buuren, Tiësto, Solar Stone, Dario G, and 4-Strings. Barendse's original releases have also been remixed by significant artists, including Paul van Dyk, Ronski Speed, Filterheadz, and D. Ramirez.

As a DJ, Barendse has toured, including with Tiësto. Since 2011 Ralphie has released several singles at Armin van Buuren record label Armada Music.

Early career

Ralph Barendse gained experience with keyboards and tapedecks at a young age. He was inspired by synthesizer music and early "rave tracks", growing up in the Netherlands, where dance music rapidly gained popularity.

His released his first records in 1999 under the stage name Alpha Breed, while signed to Deal Records. His track "Ralphie B - Massive" was noticed by Tiësto and signed to the In Trance We Trust label of Black Hole Recordings. The track was a hit and was featured by many influential DJs, including Armin van Buuren, who played it at the very first episode of his radioshow A State of Trance. The success continued with releases at In Trance We Trust such as "Midway - Monkey Forest", "Midway - Inca", "Midway - Amazon" and numerous remixes including "Solar Stone - Solarcoaster (Midway remix)".