Jamez's alias "Jamez" originates from his grafitti artist days. His real name is Alex Dijksterhuis. Alex grew up listening to all kinds of music. Thanks to his older brother, he was introduced to reggae, punk and new wave at an early age, and it didn't take him long to realize how much beautiful music was out there. Like many a young European, Jamez was turned on to dancemusic via the burgeoning rap scene of the eighties.
Young and penniless, Jamez taped radio shows because he didn't have the money to buy records. And, since all the unusual and obscure music played at night, waking up for school was difficult. However, having the newest reggae, soca, punk and electro was worth it. At school, Jamez was nicknamed "the walk-man boy" because teachers were always asking him to unplug his headphones.
Then, in 1991, he finally started to participate in the music he so loved when he got involved in the rap scene. He wrote lyrics and began beat boxing rap and urban rhythms. All this moved to a higher level when he teamed up with Dobre, who owned a small studio at home. The two started producing and recording hip-hop songs and started to experiment with house music.
Dobre and Jamez
Together with an ensemble of four rappers, a scratcher, a keyboard player, two dancers and a sound/light technician they formed "The Trancesetters". The exciting and new group performed many successful gigs at local dance clubs.
Dobre and Jamez, still making house music in their spare time, were spotted by local radio-DJ "Zki". He played Dobre and Jamez's house demos regularly on his show. And, in 1993, the demos were noticed by DJ Robin "Jaydee" Albers, who just started the label "First Impression" and was looking for new talent.
Through their relationship with Jaydee, the Trancesetters' first release, "Secrets of Meditation", became a reality. As Jamez and Dobre wanted to release their music on their own label, they began working with Marcel Nothdurft and Ton Vermeulen and together started "Touché Records" in 1994.
(Black and white pictures by Sonja Tielemans.)
Jamez' compete list of releases is impressive.
His co-operation with Dobre, produced several memorable tracks, like "the Search" and "Roaches" under the alias Trancesetters, "Plasmids" and "Freet" by Tata Box inhibitors and the classic track "Papermoon" by 51 Days.
Solo, Jamez also produced plenty of tracks. Working under aliases like Tatooin and Loophole on Touché records or his project Fortress on Superstition recordings, his music always seems to find a way into DJ's record cases. With over ninety releases and more than thirty remixes, thirty-eight aliases and an impressive DJ history, Jamez has definitely put his mark down. And his first full length album "Dreamchasing", released on the famous Future Groove / Mute label, proves that there are great things to follow.
In the late 90s, after six years of producing house tracks, Jamez was ready for a new challenge. His ambition was to make a big difference in the music scene and he set out looking for a singer who could help get him there. With the help of his wife, Katja, Jamez met John. After just a few studio sessions, Jamez knew John was exactly the partner he was looking for to start his new collaboration, a journey to expand his musical boundaries into modern pop and dark electro.