BIOGRAPHY

Early Years

Alexander Koning (Beverwijk, Netherlands) is a Dutch DJ, producer, label owner and event organiser, active in the electronic music scene since the late 1980s. He is considered one of the pioneers of the techno scene in the Netherlands and is best known as the founder of the party series Eye on the Future and labels including XXX Flicks, Bassethound, Madnurse and [Percep-tion] Records, among many others.

At the end of the 1980s, Koning was initially a hip-hop DJ. This changed in 1989 when he bought some of the earliest house records for a friend and was swept up by the emerging house sound himself. He began attending underground illegal rave parties organised across the country — sometimes in abandoned warehouses, sometimes at remote locations in nature.

Eye on the Future

Together with his friend Michel Becks, the idea emerged to start organising events themselves. The first venue was a small hall in his hometown of Beverwijk, which proved an immediate success: visitors came from across the province. This was how the concept Eye on the Future was born.

Eye on the Future was one of the first organisations in the Netherlands to focus on large-scale techno events and the first to bring names such as Adam Beyer, Ben Sims, Chris Liebing, Joel Mull and Monika Kruse to the Netherlands. Marc Romboy, Valentino Kanzyani, Martin Eyerer and Einmusik also made their Dutch debut through Eye on the Future. The growing popularity of the events led to a nomination for 'Best Dutch Organisation' in 1998. To this day, Koning continues to regularly organise events and keeps bringing new international names to the Netherlands.

Alongside Eye on the Future & The Beginning, Koning organises We Are iT Festival at Thuishaven in Amsterdam — sold out multiple times and built on the legacy of the legendary Amsterdam club IT. Together with Lars Johansson he is also the driving force behind The Promised Land, an annual classics dance festival in recreational area Spaarnwoude focused on house, techno and acid classics from the 1989–2005 period. He further organises Summer of Love, Winter of Love and The Beginning together with his partner in crime Lars Johansson.

Trancentral Records & Labels

Koning is the owner of Trancentral Record Store in Haarlem and the founder of multiple record labels, including Bassethound, Dolls, Madnurse and Badgirls, all founded in 1994 and all achieving considerable success. His record shop on the Kruisweg in Haarlem was for many years a landmark in the city's electronic music scene.

Production Career

In 1994 Koning took the step into music production, initially with minimal equipment in a home studio, but as the years progressed the studio grew into a professional space named Bahnstrasse. His very first serious track immediately caught the attention of Global Underground, the groundbreaking CD series that sold millions of copies worldwide. Releases and remixes followed on labels including Kingstreet, Toolroom, Lapsus, Nitegrooves, Circle Music, Pacha, Bellboy and Subliminal, among others.

In the second half of 2013 he launched his own label [Percep-tion] Records, giving him full creative control over his musical output. Alongside solo work, he collaborates with producer Andy Slate under the name Distorted Beauty, with material released on labels including ViVa Music, Lapsus, Toolroom and Tulipa.

DJ Career & International Performances

From 1999 onwards, Koning expanded his horizons and began performing worldwide. He has played alongside names such as Carl Cox, Jeff Mills, Sven Väth, James Holden and Tiefschwarz, and has performed in Sweden, Hungary, Russia, Greece, Bosnia, Belgium, Ukraine, Portugal, Croatia, England and Germany.

His regular venues include Watergate, KaterHolzig, Ministry of Sound, Turnmills, Awakenings, Egg, Thuishaven, RADION, Sisyphos, Paradigm, Doka, Melkweg and Paradiso, and festivals including Dancevalley, Sunrise, Wooferland, 5 Days Off and Loveland. In 2006, Koning was the only Dutch DJ to perform on both days of the Dancevalley festival — on the Intec stage (Carl Cox) as well as the Subliminal stage (Erick Morillo, Jose Nunez, Harry 'Choo Choo' Romero) — and on both stages he was the only Dutch artist.

Return After Health Issues

After a five-year break due to health problems, Koning returned to the international DJ scene, now with a renewed focus on his label [Percep-tion] and organising label showcases in Berlin (KaterHolzig, Sisyphos), London (Egg) and Amsterdam (Doka, Thuishaven, Paradigm, Toren and Stalker).

Musical Style

Koning's playing style is described as a building journey through house, techno and tech-house. In his own words: "An evening with me is an elevating voyage through different styles and musical eras."