Estroe
'Electronic music can be a frantic world. Countless names jostle for position on innumerable bills. More events take place in one day than anyone could hope to attend all year. Fads arrive with the inherent shelf life of yesterday’s headlines.
You have two chances to get noticed. Climb aboard the bandwagon, and adhere to whatever sound today’s tastemakers are pushing, or immerse yourself in the art form of DJing and production, focusing on crafting individualism from genres that, by nature, must conform in order to exist. Estroe chose the latter.
Born Esther Roozendaal in Holland circa 1972, a little over two and a half decades on she began taking the first steps towards a career in and around clubs, inspired by technique and technicalities, rather than glitz or glamour. As a nursing undergraduate in Amsterdam, her days spent learning contrasted a hectic five-night-a-week party diary, giving an early indication of the nocturnal profession that would follow.
Regular trips to venues such as The Roxy and The It, listening to the likes of DJ Dimitri and Marcello, led to a friendship with a ‘flirtatious light-jockey’, and evenings spent watching him create atmosphere and mood with colour and visual patterns. Soon she was complaining about sluggish mixes, feeling frustrated when there was a lack of passion behind the decks, and beginning to understand how the tone could be set with melodies, drums, and basslines, rather than strobes.
Putting needle to record pre-millennium, Dance Valley, Awakenings, Tresor, and FFWD soon beckoned. As too did a residency at infamous Dutch club Mazzo in 2002, where honours were shared with close friend Steve Rachmad, as Adam Beyer, Joel Mull and more headlined. Meanwhile, she was also involved in new talent night Set Off, and the experimental soiree Explicit Sounds alongside Steffi Klakson, betraying a desire to promote other artists still evident today, what with her role as judge in the Vinylized production contest, workshops at the Red Bull Music Academy, and the agency, www.estroe-advice.com, which provides training in everything from management to creating tunes.
They say the best producers started out as DJs, and this certainly rings true here. After dipping several toes into the release schedule via a host of EPs and singles- on labels such as Lessismore, Little-D, and Muzikism- 2007 saw Driven drop on Connaisseur Recordings, a track that found favour with the likes of John Digweed, along with Ellen Allien, who chose it for the Fabric.34 mix CD. Estroe’s long-awaited debut LP followed in 2009, Elemental Assets, via Connaisseur Recordings, receiving widespread critical acclaim, and featuring guest appearances from Miss Kittin and more.
Of course that was then, this is now, things move fast, and in true Estroe style we must push forward. Even if that means almost forgetting to reference EPs with Vince Watson (2006’s Glasgow to Amsterdam) and Sebastian Davidson (Swabian Pancakes, 2009); sets at hotspots in her hometown, not least Club 11, Studio 80 and Gashouder; Detroit’s Movement Festival; releases on Proton Music, which led to a 2012 tour of the U.S. and Canada, and her being flown back out to North America for yet more dates after impressing the States. Oh, and the support she receives from dons Laurent Garnier, Dave Clarke, and Funk D’Void.
In 2013 Estroe resides in Rotterdam, and unveils her second LP, Comfort & Closure, on the label she now runs with Stefan ‘Terrace’ Robbers: EevoNext (descendent of the revered EevoLute Musique). A home to faces including Justin Berkovi, Art Bleek and Ian O’Donovan, the boss-woman’s own full length also nods to the imprint’s remit. A deeply textured exploration of ambience, techno, house, and electronica, it straddles dancefloors and home hi-fis, and represents both a turning point in the artist’s life and a celebration of what she has learnt up to this point. Of course on top of all this she still plays worldwide, and hosts a show on Proton Radio too. But what else do you expect from a multifarious figurehead such as this?
More info about past gigs and a full discography can be found at www.estroe.com
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