Photo: Kristel van den Hooven / CC BY 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
I have real affection for DJ Paul Elstak, because he turned brute force into joy. Coming out of The Hague with Surinamese roots, he was at the heart of Dutch gabber and happy hardcore when those scenes were genuinely dangerous and alive. What fascinates me is the split identity: his full name for euphoric happy hardcore, DJ Paul for harder gabber, before merging them at Offensive Records. That is the discipline of a craftsman, not a provocateur. Winning a Silver Harp proves the establishment eventually respected the noise. To me he is proof that the underground can age with dignity.
Overview
Paul Roger Elstak (known professionally as DJ Paul Elstak; born 14 January 1966 in The Hague) is a Dutch hardcore/gabber and happy hardcore DJ and record producer of Surinamese descent. He used to use his full name to create happy hardcore and DJ Paul for hardcore gabber, but when he started Offensive Records in 2001, he started using both names for gabber.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Paul Elstak
- Name (Japanese)
- ポール・エルスタック
- Reading
- ぽーる・えるすたっく
- Born
- January 14, 1966 (age 60)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Capricorn / Horse
- Origin
- The Hague, Netherlands
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- record producer / club DJ / disc jockey
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- Silver Harp
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Record producer — see all → · More people from Netherlands →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.