The Darkraver, born on the 12th of September 1967 and known at The Hague’s city hall as Stefan André Sweet, can be seen as one of the most mystical, most legendary and most entertaining artists in the scene as we know it today. An artist who doesn’t take himself too seriously, having one mission and one mission only: turning every single gig into an experience never too be forgotten by the attending audience. With main ingredients such as gallons of booze (Bacardi & coke please), voluptuous women (preferably naked), total chaos, wicked outfits and his unique taste of humour, this man can single handily turn any ordinary party into a páááárrtttyyy! But all fun and jokes aside, let us not forget where the brand “The Darkraver” also stands for: a highly skilled DJ with fantastic mixing techniques, with an impeccable choice of records to go with it. This combination of entertainment and skills has proved to be an enormous success and made him by far one of the most booked artists of all times, delivering him a huge - and ever growing - fanbase.
Before Steve got to call himself “The Darkraver” and received global DJ recognition, he had multiple careers: security guard, stripper, bartender... all proof that The Darkraver got infected with the night life virus in an early stage of his life! He found himself behind decks for the very first time in 1988 in a small club called “Cornische” in Scheveningen (a “suburb” of The Hague), but things really took off when he headlined the infamous Rave The City events, held in his home town The Hague. The back-to-back performances which he did with buddy in crime Gizmo - using all kinds of crazy artefacts such as rubber hammers, stupid wigs and batman costumes - soon became the talk of the town and earned him a residency at the legendary Parkzicht club; a venue considered by the early rave generation and hardcore lovers in general as sacred ground. Events like A Nightmare in Rotterdam, Megarave, Thunderdome, Eurorave, Ghosttown, Mysteryland and many more followed soon after that, along with gigs in just about every club, hall or venue in The Netherlands. His busy DJ schedule didn’t go by unnoticed across the Dutch border, so international gigs on the entire European, American and Australian continent were added to the ever filling Darkraver agenda, making him an internationally acclaimed artist. Many compilation requests followed and over the years, The Darkraver digitally captured his flawless mixing and great record choice on various compilations for EVA (1993 and 1996), ID&T (1997 and 1998), Universal Music (2004 and 2006) and Mid-Town Records (2008).
With a rapidly growing DJ career, the logical next step to take is producing records. In 1991, he presented his debut release “One fucked up...” on the Dance International imprint, the official anthem of the Rave The City Part II event. Soon after this release, he teamed up with Ferry “Gizmo” Salee and presented his second release: “Direction of Fear E.P.” on Combined Forces’ Rave Records. In 1996, The Darkraver immediately entered the Hall of Producers Fame with the release “Intelligent Hardcore” (a collaboration with Vince), an instant early rave classic which was succeeded in 1997 by their massive follow up “Thunderground”. Both records are still being hammered during many early rave events and are still to be found on piles of past and present compilations. After “Thunderground” it remained silent for some years, but The Darkraver returned with a vengeance by releasing the massively successful single “Kom Tie Dan Hè”, shooting to the 1 position of the Dutch Singles Charts in no time. Next to being a respected DJ and producer, The Darkraver now also achieved pop star status.
20 years later, The Darkraver has done, seen and experienced everything and anything. There almost hasn’t been any club, booth, venue or location where he didn’t deliver massacre amongst the party minded people, playing his unique blend of early house, old school, early rave, hardstyle, jumpstyle and hardcore. The Darkraver rocked massive events such as Sensation, Masters of Hardcore, Reverze, Complex, Q-Base, Decibel, Defqon1, Emporium, In Qontrol and many many more. In collaboration with Dutch organisation B2S, The Darkraver created his very own playground for himself and his personally invited DJ colleagues: Pussy Lounge. An immense popular concept held only in the biggest and most prolific Dutch venues, mostly sold out weeks in advance.
His long term experience, positive attitude, healthy sense of humour and undisputed technique makes him one of the top names in the industry. One of the rare breed who can say he has been - and still is - on the top of the scene for more than 20 years!
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