Major League parties have been taking place for 10 years now. After attending many of them and always having a blast, our crew decided to talk with the men behind the events. We talked about their past and their future:
What was the reason for founding Major League?
2002 was an interesting time for Drum & Bass in the Netherlands. Events like Red Zone in Eindhoven and Bulletproof in Amsterdam both promoted their own sound. As individual DJ’s we always play all genres in Drum & Bass, but at the time there was no event where you would find top DJ’s from the Netherlands and abroad that would showcase all styles. We were looking for just that.
Our mission was (and still is) to promote Drum & Bass in all its aspects. No boundaries. ‘If no one dares to do it, we will do it ourselves’ was the philosophy. Meanwhile we were hosting our smaller events in Rotterdam called Elementz and we were steadily building our solid base of fans who would attend our events. The time was there to make a big step forward. We invested all our money in an all-or-nothing line-up and we rented the entire Nighttown (3 rooms) for an event that would either leave us broke or would put us firmly on the map! We thought that a big party should have a big name and ‘Major League’ was a fact.
How did it all start? When and where did the first party take place?
The first Major League was in Nighttown (Rotterdam) in 2002 and we had Andy C, Ed Rush and John B on the line-up. The reason for the party I already explained in the previous question. The party was an overwhelming success. There were too many people for the venue and we ran out of beer at some point, but an emergency truck from the brewery arrived and did a refill!
Why Drum & Bass?
All three of us have our own story on how we got involved in Drum & Bass, but the main reason we are still doing Drum & Bass parties is for two reasons:
The first is the music itself. It’s in our eyes (or ears) the style of music that is always evolving into new sub-genres and that keeps it very good to listen to and never leaves you bored.
The second reason for us as promoters is that the people that show up at our parties are a very nice blend of all sorts of people that really want to party instead of the crowd you sometimes see in other parties of certain music genres.
How many people are involved in the collective?
At the moment the official business is being run by Myron Freeling, Pim Schots and Lars Dingeman.
Are you all DJ’s in the collective? Are you also producers? What are other people’s roles?
Yes we are DJ’s. Pim & Lars have been playing together for years now under the name Pamb & Harsh and Mynor recently made his comeback after some trouble with his ears as DJ Mynor. Then we have MC Swift who is helping us a lot with promotion and we have a group of young enthusiastic fans who help us with online promotion as well.
What can we expect from the parties organized by Major League? What would you tell someone that’s never been to any of them?
First of all we like to party ourselves. When we organize a party we always try to create a party in the way we would like it best. The DJ’s have a big role in that off course. For us it’s important the night has a good buildup, so it keeps on staying interesting musically all night. Most of the time we play ourselves at the start so we know it will not start at 23:00 with the loudest clubbangers. The music keeps on getting heavier as the night evolves. Also the MC’s we book can’t be the main act of the night. What I mean is that sometimes at parties the MC’s get the upper hand. We want MC’s to hype the crowd in a subtle yet effective way. Lastly we like the VJ we are using now a lot, he is actually the decoration of the night. Especially in a club like De Melkweg: very important. In other clubs we sometimes create more decoration when we have room for it, but De Melkweg already looks great and with the VJ images on the big screen it really finishes it in style. And also very important for Drum & Bass: they have the best soundsystem in the Netherlands 🙂
Where are other Major League parties taking place in the Netherlands?
All over the Netherlands, basically. Our main events started in Rotterdam. Soon we moved to Den Haag as well and only later (I think in 2005) we moved to Amsterdam. At that time we also hosted big events in Nijmegen and Tilburg. All in all most events took place in Amsterdam as the venue is the most professional one. This year we are all over the Netherlands with our 10-years-of-Major League-tour. From the south of Limburg to the North of Holland.
What was the biggest event you guys organized?
We had several really big nights that are memorable. The craziest one was the first, because we were totally unprepared for it. What also comes to mind were sold out nights in Het Paard (Den Haag) with Roni Size and at De Melkweg with Pendulum, Andy C, Ed Rush. Also really impressive were the stages we used to host at the Rotterdam Danceparade.
What was the most memorable event for you?
Again I would say the first one!
Sometimes things can go really wrong. Do you remember a time that so many things went wrong at the event that you hardly believed it would turn out well? What was it?
We had some DJ’s cancelling, but for some reason it only happened twice in all those years and the replacing acts were always great as well. No real drama for us fortunately!
Who would play at your ideal night?
Any act as long as it’s Major! Also if we believe the act has enough potential to grow into a Major act eventually. That’s why we book someone like Tantrum Desire for example. He is an upcoming man; in the UK already Major and we try to help him achieve that status here as well. Basically we are always looking for new DJ’s and producers who make the greatest records, but the most important for us is that the DJ or MC pleases the crowd. If we feel the crowd goes crazy for an act we love to book the DJ for more than just one time. That’s exactly the reason why you will see DJ’s like Tantrum Desire or Drumsound and Bassline Smith almost every year. It also explains why MC Dart has been our resident MC since day 1!
Are you guys planning to expand your activities or are you sticking to event organization?
Event organization is our core business, but lately we have been helping other crews promoting their events as well. Also we have been promoting Dutch artists by bringing them to events abroad. Maybe that will be something we might want to expand as well.
What can we expect from Major League in the future?
In the near future we have some great events coming up in the 10 Years of Major League tour. We are hosting Drum & Bass events in Doornroosje (Nijmegen) and Effenaar (Eindhoven) this month. Nights in other cities still in the planning for the upcoming months and off course our main event in de Melkweg on the 9th of November starring Camo&Krooked, Hamilton and more.
On the 8th of September Major League does Doornroosje!
Line-up:
Loadstar (Ram Records, UK)
Basher (Ram Records, UK)
June Miller (Critical, NL)
Pamb & Harsh (Major League, NL)
Mynor (Major League, NL)
Hosted by MC Swift
Second area hosted by Trap, Strye, Devnik, Tyson & MC Multiplex.
Open: 23:00-6:00
Presale €14, door €16
Tickets:
To stay up to date with what’s next and not to miss a party please go to their website.
Bass Ladies 
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