Artists ° Acid Junkies
       
Yes, the Acid Junkies are Dutch. With a name like that, they can only be from the country that managed to make hallucinogenic drugs into its most well known export product. But in this case, 'acid' is not the substance that makes you see your pets fly through the living room. Acid stands for Acid house. This mother of all house music was developed in the late eighties in Chicago, and heavily relies on the mind-altering squeaks and belches from Roland's infamous TB 303 bass synthesiser.
The Acid Junkies started in 1992 as producer Stefan Robbers's solo project. It was his way of saying 'thanks' to all the originators from Chicago that injected large doses of psychedelics into house music.

The Part 1 EP on Eindhoven's famous Djax-Up-Beats label became an instant success and soon the Acid Junkies were a real band.

The first Acid Junkie is Stefan Robbers, one of the main artists responsible for turning the city of Eindhoven from Philips Light Bulb City into Techno City through his records as Terrace, REC and Florence and of course through his own Eevo Lute Muzique label. His partner in crime for this operation is Harold de Kinderen, who provided Stefan with the Roland TB 303 he used for the first Acid Junkies EP, and has been a full band member since that day. Harold used to be a deejay for a drive-in show and played drums in various local bands. With Harold the Acid Junkies became a regular band, one that also performs on stage. Night after night they direct the crowd from behind their piles of analogue synthesisers on stage. The Acid Junkies can play an audience like one of their synths and can bring the biggest cynic into full-blown ecstasy. And so the Acid Junkies became known as one of the best live dance acts throughout the world. With one exception: in Holland they were virtually unknown until 2 years ago, when finally the Dutch gave up their fascination with foreign techno and embraced the Acid Junkies. Since then they do in Holland what they do all over the world: play. They have played live shows at just about every major rave in Europe, like Germany's prestigious Mayday and major Dutch festivals like Noorderslag, Lowlands and Dance Valley. The band also conquered Chicago, where they shared the stage with their one-time heroes Roy Davis, Robert Armani and Woody McBride. In the meantime a few more EP's and 2 albums saw the light of day. These releases are notorious for their added entertainment, in the form of cardboard TB303 construction kits, stickers, connect-the-dots pictures, voting forms and other gimmicks. Needless to say the element of humour is a very important one in the band, a feature not unique but quite rare in the dance scene. All of the music is recorded in Stefan Robbers's E-town Studio, which is in its third phase after remodelling and reconstruction. But when a certain live atmosphere is required the band records tracks directly from the PA system. They are even known to erect the entire stage set-up in a hotel room on tour so they can work on new material.


Their third album EU (1998) was a bit of a surprise: electro, disco, chemical and even drums & bass are incorporated in the trademark Acid Junkies sound, a blend that works surprisingly well. One of their latest records was a special one: release number 303 on Djax-Up-Beats, on which they teamed up with Miss Djax herself for some fresh tracks. The fourth album ‘Jackpot’ (1999) was the last release of the Acid Junkies on Djax-Up-Beats.

Acid Junkies - Part 1 - Djax-Up-144 (1992)
Acid Junkies - Part 2 (picture disc) - Djax-Up-166 (1993)
Acid Junkies - Part 3 - (double LP) - Djax-Up-192 (1994)
Acid Junkies - Paranoid Experience (CD/LP) - Djax-Up-5 (1994)
Acid Junkies - Part 4 - Djax-Up-235 (1995)
Acid Junkies - Part 5 (double LP) - Djax-Up-266 (1996)
Acid Junkies - Unsequenced (CD) Djax-Up-14 (1996)
Acid Junkies vs Miss Djax - 303 - Djax-Up-303 (1998)
Acid Junkies - EU (CD/LP) - Djax-Up-16 (1998)
Acid Junkies - Windy City - Djax-Up-312 (1999)
Acid Junkies - Jackpot - (CD) - Djax-Up-17 (1999)