“I get restless when I can’t work on my own melodies. It’s such a good outlet for my emotions”. There you have it in a nutshell. Dutch Estroe lives for her music. It’s electronic, it’s beat driven and it’s full of emotions.

Together with techno hotties like Anja Schneider, Mistress Barbara and Monika Kruse, Dutch. Estroe belongs to an elite club of female DJ’s that made it to the top. Born in Zutphen as Esther Roozendaal in 1972, raised near Amsterdam and currently living in Rotterdam, she has been dj-ing for more than ten years.

Whether it’s behind the turntables in the famous Fuse in Brussels, the Watergate in Berlin or an underground club in Tokyo, Estroe knows how to tune in and drop the right beats. She likes to play versatile, techno infused sets with room for deep undercurrents as well as pure dancefloor work. Her style is warm, subtle but at the same time very energetic. As you'll find out when you drop by at Klinch in the Amsterdam based club Melkweg, where Estroe has as residency.

Things really took off when Estroe started producing her own tracks back in 2003. In hindsight it was an unconscious response to the skull breaking beats of those days.
She learned everything there was to know about hard- and software. Her spacious Rotterdam apartment fills with laughter when Estroe thinks back of those days. “For months I tried every piece of music software I could get my hands on. Till I finally got it right. It was important for me that I could produce tracks myself, without the help of an established producer.”

In her first productions Estroe went back to the early days of Detroit techno. Back when people like Carl Craig, Kenny Larkin and the British group The Black Dog caressed their keyboards instead of beating them up.
With her sophisticated, warm and elegant style she soon appeared on the radar of dj's like Laurent Garnier, Ripperton and John Digweed. The latter was blown away by Estroe's minimalist masterpiece Driven and promply asked her for a remix on his Bedrock label. Techno don Dave Clarke has also been a long time fan of Estroe, booking her for his White Noise parties on more than one occassion.

It’s not about maximum compression, distorted hi-hats or full on bassdrums on Estroe’s delicate productions. No, it’s all about atmosphere. “I want to hit people’s emotional spot, being it comfort, peace or excitement”, she says about her music’s primary aim. But make no mistake, singles like Updraft (Mezzotinto), Beat Box Contest ( Dualblock) And Can't Sleep (Connaisseur) are clearly aimed at adventurous dancefloors worldwide.

Things are also looking bright for EevoNext, the web based techno label she manages along with Stefan ‘Terrace’ Robbers and Klaas-Jan ‘The Moderator’ Jongsma. Recently the Dutch techno trio expanded it’s wings to Dance Tunes.com and IntergalacticFM.com, for which they produce a monthly radioshow.
EevoNext releases classics from the Dutch techno vaults but also breaks new talent. That’s where Estroe comes in. “I like to scout and coach new talent”, she admits. “I’ve been in this business long enough to know the pitfalls.”

With her debut album on Connaisseur Recordings coming up (with Miss Kittin among the confirmed guest appearances) and an in-box full of remix requests, changes are high you’ll be dancing to an Estroe tune this weekend. Things are looking bright for Estroe, hence she has given up her job last year to concentrate fully on her tunes and deejaying. “This is what I always wanted.” Rest assured Estroe, it's what all lovers of emotion driven electronic music want too.


Bio written by Rene Passet