Melon Aka Jeroen Hofer Moved from Basel, Switzerland, to the Netherlands When He Was Two

Biography

MELON

Melon aka Jeroen Hofer moved from Basel, Switzerland, to the Netherlands when he was two years old. Thanks to his parents, it became clear, at very young age, that music is his big passion. After being the regular grammar school dj, it was time to go to high-school. At first grade, he immediately started a band, with some other student, called “Het Gekkenhuis” and bought an Amiga 500, Sampler and DR 550 Drum-computer en started experimenting with electronic music and traditional instruments.

After a couple of years he had exploited all the possibility of his equipment and decided to sell his stuff and move to Amsterdam where he attended the school for graphic design. Once in Amsterdam he started to hang out in the legendary club Mazzo (r.i.p.) and became a regular visitor. After partying for a couple of years, he started to miss producing music and started to spin records as a quick solution. Within weeks he was already playing at small parties and founded the break-beat orientated club-night, together with three others, “The Sub” at club Mazzo, in April 1998. For one year they successfully hosted the Thursday-night with international guests like; Adam Freeland, Rennie Pilgrim, Barry Ashworth, Freq Nasty & Laidback.

From home base Mazzo, The Sub operated throughout the whole country with the “Sub-Soundsystem” and organised parties in clubs like Paradiso, Nighttown, Winkel van Sinkel, Simplon, Tivoli and a couple of smaller locations and underground parties. Melon became resident at the Sub Parties in Paradiso and performed together with artists like; Adam Freeland, Matthew Buschwacka, Moloko and with a live drummer (with Melon on three decks) on the main-stage.

In the meanwhile Melon also hosted a weekly Friday-night in DJ Café Vaaghuyzen. In 1998 “Cheese” was born, which later turned into “Raw Meat”. On this night he went back to his roots of Black Music and started playing House and Disco again, as he did back in the days. After six years this night became very notorious in Amsterdam, mostly because of Melon’s extreme long solo sets (up to 13 hours) and the freaky after-parties.

Approximately one year later after The Sub stopped at Mazzo, Steffi (Klakson records) & Melon started a new concept at the Mazzo. By then Melon became extremely mad about the rising minimal sound. To promote this new sound “Lomotion” was born. But unfortunately, with guests like Ricardo Villalobos, who did his first Dutch gig at Lomotion, Dexter and New World Aquarium, they were a little too early and too pure with this new sound and after about a year they were forced to stop. They continued with a couple of “one-offs“ in, for example, Paradiso with Two Lone Swordsman, but the concept slowly came to an end.

In the same period Melon also became member of Acapulco Nights. Together with other resident DJ’s, Melon dressed up as a draq-queen, named Vanessa Del Rio, and toured around the country together with bizarre act’s & shows, attending parties and festivals like Dance valley, Mysteryland, Impulz & 4 Elements. Acapulco Nights also hosted two regular Friday-nights at club Panama where Vanessa was one of the residents.

After a couple of collaborations, with San Proper (Rushhour) as Zwiele Doephouse and as Together with Lauhaus (Polder), Melon came up with a new concept named “Ratio?” in the summer of 2005. First he started to organise parties under this name, to promote his irrational choice of music. The first two editions where in August 2005, when he got Isolée live, next to Ark & Soundhack, for the first time to the Netherlands. One year later Ratio? found a steady spot in club 11 in Amsterdam. After a couple of successful one-offs, with live performances from The Freaks & Henrik Schwarz (both debuting for the first time in the Dutch capital), the collaboration between 11 and Melon was getting very fruitful and 11 invited him to organise the 2006 new years party. In 2007, they asked him right away to start to host a monthly night, with guest like; Tobi Neumann, Marcus Worgull, Soundstream feat. Tikiman live, Larry Heard & Sascha Funke, Ratio? became one off the success-fullest club-nights in the already legendary club.

In October 2006 Melon expanded his Ratio? concept with his own record label called “Ratio?music”. The first release “Four Seasons Part 01”, a double 12-inch including remixes by Shinedoe & Quince, got major support by the international scene and went to number one in the German De:Bug magazine, number eight in the German Groove magazine and number two in the Dutch DJBroadcast magazine. Go to for all feedback, licensing & charts.

In the same year he also delivered a remix for Amsterdam based NewHsoul (House Rules Records) and remixed their single “House u wanna play” into a old-school Warehouse Dub, which also got massive support from people like; Funk D’Void, Mark Broom, Laurent Garnier, Michel de Hey, Djinxx, Âme, Paul Mac, Dan Curtin, Rolando & Ivan Smagghe.

Next to his residency in 11 and playing regularly at festivals like; Awakenings, Lowlands & 5 Days Off, Melon can be found in respected clubs all over the world. In 2006, his unique blend of pure House & Techno also got noticed by the well known German Kompakt Agency, who added him to their DJ roster. Not to mention he gets plenty of support in Germany from people like; Ricardo Villalbos & Tobi neumann. Nowadays, he’s known for his long, eclectic & enthusiastic DJ sets and credited as one of the founders of the minimal house scene in the Netherlands.

Melon Productions

Amsterdam | The Netherlands

|

Management

National:

International: