Known for cracking jokes, his round figure, ever-fresh sneakers (of which he owns hundreds) and his everlasting smile Melly Mel is one of the most well-known figures in the Dutch DJ-scene. Not only as a DJ, but also as a producer and promoter he has been successful for more than a decade.

Like most others of his time, he grew up with soul, disco, pop and hip-hop. His eye-opener came through nights at legendary clubs such as IT, Roxy and Paradiso. He soon realized his love for music had to be used for a greater good and the way to do this was to start DJ-ing. On the streets he was known to friends as either Mel or Melly (short for his name Melvin), which he combined to form the catchy DJ-name Melly Mel.

Melly Mel first started DJ-ing in 1994 solo as well as part of the duo ‘Duo-Penotti’ and the style he chose to play was an all new style of music called house. While building up a name by spreading mixtapes, spinning in a number of clubs and making the right connections, he took his time to let his skills marinade, until four years later a new style of music called uk garage (which was already taking the UK scene by storm) was also beginning to claim souls in the Netherlands. Melly Mel was one of the first DJ’s to see the potential of this addictive sound and pioneered in representing the sound as a DJ as well as a promoter. He soon became one of the leading names in the Dutch uk garage scene and established his name in the scene.

Nowadays, years after the uk sound has blown over, he is back to spinning his first love: ‘house music’. Before the hype around this style he was already a pioneer introducing many new variations and sounds and making his house-sets eclectic (during the reign of the eclectic sound). It is undeniable that he helped form the hype that exists around house today, and next to this he is still one of the most sought-after house DJ’s around, mostly thanks to his originality and ability to be a trendsetting DJ.

The past few years have brought important changes to Melly Mel as an artist, as he started broadening his horizon by focusing more on his successes as a promoter. This resulted in a revival of the crème fresh parties and the great success of other parties such as Yakuza, BOSS, Addicts and Gratische. He also released a few mix-cd’s which can be heard all over the Netherlands. The past few years he has had a strong focus on music production, so that the crowd which he has entertained for more than a decade can share in his vision of music. Though his own label J.E.N. records he has released a number of records, including a collaboration track with Lady Bee which was released as a single in 2006.

More than a decade has passed since Melly Mel has made the decision to share his love for music with everyone who is ready to listen. He has affected and influenced many people to do the same thing, and has trained many starting DJ’s. For the next decade this talented DJ plans to break more boundaries and take his musical career to an even higher level: you’ve been warned!

For more information, visit Melly Mel’s official webpage at www.djmellymel.com