Tallest DJ in the World – Menno de Jong

Besides the name Menno de Jong, it instantly makes me think of someone from the Far East.  One wouldn’t think that Menno is a Dutch native and according to him, “At 6”8 / 2.04m I’m the tallest DJ in the world. I also do the Brazilian sport Capoeira, which is quite the challenge if you’re a giant!” As many artists, Menno was mixing at a young age and comes from a musical family.  Menno tells me his favorite instrument to play is the piano, “I have been playing for most of my life and still take lessons to date. It’s a beautiful and versatile instrument that has definitely helped me in writing and producing music!  The origin of “Guanxi”, his debut 2004 production, put Menno in the eyes of music lovers, critics, producers and supporters.

Menno founded the record label, Intuition Recordings to emboss his brand.  He then decided to do a music festival that just celebrated its 5^th year anniversary and holds the same name as his record label.  The winter festival just passed in March and Menno is scheduled to do one in August for the summer.  “We have been doing events for my imprint ‘Intuition’ for over five years now. The launch of the events coincided with the start of my radio show and label that carry the same name (Intuition Recordings, Intuition Radio Show and Intuition Podcast). Every year we do a big indoor and outdoor beach party near Amsterdam. [Where] I invite some of my favorite artists to join me to play for clubbers that travel from all over Europe and the world to attend the event. We do a similar event in the winter in a big factory complex in Amsterdam called, ‘Westergasterrein’. There are all sorts of interesting spaces in the buildings there and with the high-end production we bring out it always becomes a spectacular experience.”  Some of the artists that you can see at one of these dancelebrations are Marcus Schossow, 16 Bit Lolitas and of course, Menno.  The summer line-up is keeping its suspense and has not been released yet.

The position that many trance heads from the beginning of time hold on to, while the electronic industry takes on many shapes and sounds-Menno shares his philosophical examination and outlook on how he plans on keeping trance’s identity active, “Lots of people have stigmatized Trance in the past decade, which is simply the result of it being mainstream for a long time. I take it as a much different and broader concept, Trance to me is a state of consciousness that can be induced by music and it’s something I recognize in tracks that other people might consider Progressive House, Techno or Electro. Trance captivates the entire spectrum for me and as a DJ I try to pick those records that have exactly that effect, whether slow, fast, deep or hard. As a producer, I try to make records that take the listener on a little journey, whether it’s melodic, percussive or vocal – it’s all about the atmosphere a record induces.”

Menno is getting ready to release a new album in the summer, Intuition Sessions Volume 2- Rio De Janeiro. Better World, Sunset In Rio and Bambino are the singles off of that album, which will be individually released as well with their own remixes. Menno shares that he also has a new artist in the works, “I’ve always been very critical my work so it’s a long term project, the projected release date is Spring 2011 but there will be new single releases out after the summer to warm up to the album release.”

As his recent tour comes to an end, one of his last stops is GLOW DC. Menno is riddled with jetlag as he says has taken on “new dimensions, but still an unbelievable ride.” Menno shares his thoughts and reflections of this tour and what he likes about CLUB GLOW. My gig at GLOW concludes 6 months of hectic touring to all corners of the world before I head back into the studio to work on a new artist album. It’s going to be a great night to rock it out once more before I head home to the studio. GLOW has been a frequent destination for me in the past years and Washington DC has become a bit of a home away from home. It’s one of those destinations in the long tours that sticks out because of the experienced team behind the events, the musical knowledge of the clubbers and the laidback vibe of the city. I have some great friends there and so it’s always lovely to be in the area too.”

What three tracks you can expect Menno to play in DC are, “Faithless – Not Going Home (Eric Prydz Remix)”

“Who.is – We.are, Dustin Zahn” and “Stranger to Stability (Len Faki Podium Mix).”  So when Menno goes home and he isn’t in front of the public eye, what will he be doing? “I chill out with my badass cat, Wookie.”

-Dee Sanae
Glow Contributing Writer

For more information on Menno de Jong please visit: www.mennodejong.com, www.myspace.com/mennodejong, www.facebook.com/mennodejong.com