Niels Van Gogh

Being born in one of Germany's oldest cities, Augsburg, has not stopped Niels Van Gogh from creating some of the nation's most cutting-edge dance sounds. Van Gogh began his adventure on the decks back in 1993, as a mere 15-year-old. He then quickly rose to the top of his game, appearing in a host of trendy clubs and at such famous festivals as Berlin's Love Parade -- an annual dance music event that regularly attracts more than one million revelers. He has also tasted chart success. In 1998, Van Gogh served up his first single, "Pulverturm," an unusual but expertly produced trance number with pulsing effects and a powerful bass line. Released on Munich's ultra hip Kosmo Records label, the single was co-produced with one of Germany's most wanted pair of hands in a recording studio at the time, belonging to a man named Eniac (of the Novy vs. Eniac duo, responsible for the worldwide hit "Superstar" in 1997). Not surprisingly, "Pulverturm" topped the dance charts in Germany and was also very successful in several other European countries. For the next two singles, Van Gogh stuck with Kosmo Records and his pioneering style of music, releasing "Doppelganger" in 1999 and "Psychopath" a year later. Though both were popular club tracks and gained wide acclaim in Germany, neither one managed to recapture the commercial success of his debut offering. ~ David Peter Wesolowski