You could probably count the number of DJs who have recently risen to fame through spinning records on one hand. In the case of Jeroen Hofer, AKA Melon, this may only be a half truth, but the Swiss—he moved to Holland at the age of two—DJ/producer has, by and large, been elevated to a position of international acclaim through his frenzied involvement in Amsterdam's currently burgeoning club scene.

The affair began in earnest back in 1998 with Hofer's co-founding of a breakbeat night called The Sub, and, after a series of dalliances with different party concepts during the early part of the aughts—which included handing Ricardo Villalobos his Dutch debut, and touring the country as the DJing drag-queen Vanessa Del Rio—Melon subsequently ventured upon the winning formula in the form of his eclectic extravaganza Ratio?. The party hop-scotched over various locations in those nascent days, before settling into a groove at the much lauded Club 11. As you're probably aware, Club 11 is no more, replaced by Trouw, and Melon is still very much in the business of bringing top-tier house and techno talent to the Dutch capital on a monthly basis.

Returning to the loose notion above, Melon has supplemented his perpetual presence behind the decks with a discography that cites releases for Platzhirsch Schallplatten, Bangbang! and his own Ratio? Music imprint, in addition to an appearance on last year's edition of Innervisions' Secret Weapons series.

But, first things first, where the hell did the name Melon come from? "When I started DJing, and had to come up with an artist name, I was having dinner with two French girls and as the night evolved, and we had more drinks, I wanted to speak French but the only thing I could say was 'le melon.'" OK then. Melon plays for us on his home turf Trouw as part of our ADE party next month, so we figured it was the ideal time to grab an insight into what has been big in his box of late.

Orlando Voorn - Power of Beauty (Tribute to Mix) [Divine]

We all know Orlando for his more techno/Detroit stuff. But this is a beautiful piece of old school deep house. This sounds great in the club and also at home. I really got a warm feeling off it. I don't know actually if it's Detroit-y; maybe a mix of Detroit and the old Chicago style. I guess Detroit-y is most of the time more industrial and this is really warm and beautiful. If you put it on it puts a smile on your face and it's like the sun starts shinning! [laughs] Orlando is one of the Dutch masters from the early days, so I always check out what he does, but I kinda lost him for a while but lately, especially in the last year, he has been doing some nice work.

Hunch - Travel The Earth (John Daly Remix) [Feel Music]

A great remix by John Daly. I've always liked his productions, but had a hard time placing them in my sets. I don't mind slow and spacey, but it still had a lot of power, so for the beginning it's a bit too much, and if you want to play it later it's a bit too slow. But this one is perfect. Just like the other stuff he did recently, it's always very well produced. And just like his other stuff this one is quite trippy and later on a really cool acid line comes in and makes it a real club banger. It starts off with some beautiful (almost Grateful Dead sounding) guitar which slowly builds up with a massive kick underneath and suddenly you get a real nice and warm acid line at the end.

Kenneth Scott - What Do I Do (Dave Aju Remix) [Auralism]

I was pleased to finally find something good between all the promos I get sent. This is a great electro kinda record with funny vocals. Dave Aju really has a good way to make those jumping sounds and together with the funny vocals singing "what do I do" it makes me laugh. I have been playing it a lot recently and I'm really pleased with it. I've actually got no idea how the original sounds! Although from what I remember of it, they’re quite similar minus the Dave Aju "jumpy" sounds.

Fred Everything feat. Wayne Tennant - Mercyless (Atjazz Vocal Mix) [OM]

Well it's quite cheesy, but you have to open up for the cheese sometimes! It's a real well produced record—as Atjazz does always—with a nice little off-beat in there. I think a lot of people when they hear it will think right away it's too cheesy but when you hear it in the club it sounds massive; it has a great break and comes back as a pumping floor filler. I like vocals (when it's good, it's good). They can really add something to a song and give it the right theme for having a good time in a club otherwise it's just electronic music.

Stephen Rigmaiden - Objekt 5 [Centric]

I hadn't heard of him before, but this one is a good mix between techno and house; a great melody/bassline that keeps on rolling. Nothing really happens except for African sounding echoes but the arrangement makes it exciting all the way and gets the people to scream. It's kind of funny because I got it out of the Traxsource charts from Roger Sanchez. Most of the time when I have been playing it, my colleagues come and ask me what this is and it's always funny to see their reaction when I tell them I got it out of Roger Sanchez's charts!

Tapesh - Brighter Days (Don Melon's Dub Club Mix) [Rebirth]

The original is a really "up" and banging, so no need to try to top that. I gave a more dubby feel to it. I'm really influenced by the old Chicago sound and as Don Melon I try to go that way. The name sounded very Chicago to me! As Melon I produce and play everything myself and try to make a real piece of music that attempts to go deeper, almost in a more ambient way. I've only done two records as Melon, but more are coming soon. As Je Dàvu I basically only use old tracks and give them a new life. I was a bit tipsy once and said Je Dàvu instead of Deja Vu and as my real name is Jeroen and also starts with "Je" so I thought it was perfect name for my edits and more filter kinda house.

Little Big Bee - Yellowtail [Flower]

This one comes from a Sublevel Sampler from Doc Martin. I'd met Doc about a year ago when we played at Fabric together and back then this one had just come out. I never heard about this artist before and when I checked on the internet it was a guy from Japan mainly making jazzy-oriented house which wasn't really my thing. But this one is a really big dub sounding record with a massive bassline that I have been pumping in almost every set since I had it. Every time you put it on something happens on the dance floor, almost like the whole crowd changes actually; it sounds fantastic! A lot of festivals where I have been playing recently I've started with this record and when I put it on it's almost like you really make a point. Lots of people have asked me what it is and it's the only record I know of his (Little Big Bee) that he did this way. Doc Martin is really a king in finding records that nobody has.

6th Borough Project - Planets (The Revenge Lost Groove) (Reboot & Dorian Paic Re-Edit)

This is the only Reboot I really play out. I dig his stuff, but somehow this one really jumps out. I played the original disco edit for a while already, which was on this new label and I really liked it. But they really made it into a party pumper. They added some kicks and claps, so if you really want to have a party you should put a track on like this—it really, really rocks! Half of my collection is kind of disco/soul/jazz. I was raised with black music by my parents so it has always been there and actually it's not just the edits, I tend also to play the original tracks in my house sets as well. You would be surprised how many disco tracks actually sound like house and are really mixable.

Soul Minority - Ball Of Confusion [Kolour Recordings]

Another great slamming party track I have been pumping all summer. The vocals are originally by the Temptations. They used the vocals and added the right beats and samples to make this one what it is. It's great to have these really old black screaming soul vocals which seem to have come out of the deepest part of their throats over a slamming old school sounding house track—it's pretty cool.

Rick (Poppa) Howard - About Fourteen [Beautiful Granville]

I have been following Tevo Howard since he came with his first release last year, and haven't been disappointed yet. This time he teams up with his brother who does the vocals over this almost Mr Fingers sounding track. Really good old school vibes here, that could have been made in the '80s. A beautiful piece of house music! When you go out it's all about positive vibes and being happy and these records were my summer tunes. I can be serious too, but when you go out you want to give the people a good time and you want to see them going home with a smile on their faces, that's what I'm trying to do!