Reinier Zonneveld - Biography and discography, all albums and songs

Reinier Zonneveld (born 30 January 1991 in the Netherlands) is a Dutch DJ, music producer, composer and live performer, and the founder of the Filth on Acid label. His music spans techno, acid techno, hard techno, rave and more melodic forms of electronic music.

Zonneveld received classical musical training before pursuing a career in the club scene. His music combines hard rhythms and acid sequences with piano parts, developed harmony and extended compositional structures. Live sets occupy a central place in his career: during performances, he works directly with individual elements of his own tracks and hardware synthesizers.

In 2023, Reinier Zonneveld set an official Guinness World Record by performing an 11-hour, 11-minute electronic music live set at his own Karren Maar Festival. By the mid-2020s, he had established himself among the leading figures of the major European techno scene and ranked No. 22 in the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs in 2025.

Early years and classical education

Reinier Zonneveld began playing piano at around the age of three. During childhood and adolescence, he studied classical music, composed his own works and performed piano programmes.

This training later had a noticeable influence on his electronic production. Even in Zonneveld’s hardest tracks, harmonic development, melodic sequences and the contrast between mechanical club rhythms and more emotional musical passages play an important role.

He did not immediately choose electronic music as a professional career. Zonneveld received a university education in economics and finance, completing two master’s degree programmes.

It was during his student years that he began regularly attending raves and developed a serious interest in electronic music. He devoted much of his free time to producing his own tracks and gradually assembled a studio filled with synthesizers and other equipment.

After graduating in 2015, music became his main profession.

First releases

Reinier Zonneveld’s first releases appeared in the early 2010s. His early work was considerably broader than his modern hard techno sound and included deep house, minimal, tech house and experimental electronic music.

In 2013, he released one of his first full-length projects, Reverse Psychology.

An important stage in his career was his collaboration with the Berlin label Stil vor Talent, founded by Oliver Koletzki. Releases on the label helped Zonneveld significantly expand his international audience.

Megacity Servant

In September 2016, the album Megacity Servant was released on Stil vor Talent.

The 16-track project combined techno, more experimental electronic music, melodic passages and elements of a classical compositional approach.

The album included:

• Plastic People
• 8 Ball
• Things We Might Have Said
• Disturbed Minds
• Spacedge
• Gateway
• Megacity Servant
• EHT
• Modern Voodoo
• Dive
• Dynamite
• Sharp Bust 2.2
• Beast
• You Could Be the One
• Abstinence
• Anti Matter

One of the best-known tracks was Things We Might Have Said featuring vocals by Cari Golden. The track demonstrated a more melodic and emotional side of the producer and over time became one of the most recognisable works from his early period.

Megacity Servant became an important transition point between Zonneveld’s experimental catalogue and a more clearly defined personal techno sound.

Live format

The foundation of Reinier Zonneveld’s live identity became the live set.

Unlike a traditional DJ set, which is built primarily around mixing finished recordings, Zonneveld works with separate elements of compositions, synthesizers, drum machines, sequencers and the Ableton Live software environment.

This allows him directly during a performance to:

• change the structure of tracks;
• extend or shorten individual sections;
• rework acid lines;
• create new transitions;
• improvise with drums and synthesizers;
• combine his own compositions into new sequences.

As a result, the same material can sound noticeably different from one performance to another.

Equipment associated with his live system includes the Roland TR-909, Roland SH-101, analogue synthesizers, MIDI controllers and software instruments.

Filth on Acid

In 2017, Reinier Zonneveld founded his own label, Filth on Acid.

The imprint was initially created as a platform for the harder side of his music and gradually developed into an independent international techno brand.

Filth on Acid has released music by Zonneveld himself as well as Space 92, T78, Joyhauser, HI-LO, Kiki Solvej, Angerfist and other artists.

The label’s catalogue spans techno, acid techno, hard techno, rave and hard dance. In addition to releases, Filth on Acid develops its own events and festival stages.

In 2025, the catalogue reached the milestone of 200 releases.

Church of Clubmusic

In 2019, another key album from Zonneveld’s mature period was released — Church of Clubmusic.

The 18-track release continued the development of Reinier Zonneveld’s signature techno sound, combining hard club tracks with melodic and experimental compositions.

The album included:

• Evanescent
• Horn Resumed
• Ibiza Disco Lines (I Don't Wanna Stop)
• Frozen Keys
• Church of Clubmusic
• Abandoned Mirror
• Acid Overdose
• Remember
• Bart's Cube
• You Will Be My Love
• Circus
• Mind Game
• Love to Hate to Love
• The Ones Who Know
• Religion NOW
• Manifesto
• Hard Gaan
• I Wanna Dance With You

Church of Clubmusic established the model that would later become characteristic of Zonneveld: acid sequences and powerful kicks existing alongside piano, trance-like melodies and long atmospheric builds.

Move Your Body To The Beat

One of Reinier Zonneveld’s best-known club tracks is Move Your Body To The Beat.

The track is built around a repetitive vocal hook, a gradually intensifying rhythmic structure and acid elements. Over time, it became a regular part of Zonneveld’s live repertoire and one of the most recognisable tracks in his catalogue.

The composition was later included on the album Heaven Is Mad (For You).

Acid and the Roland TB-303

Acid sound occupies a special place in Reinier Zonneveld’s music.

The characteristic sequences historically associated with the Roland TB-303 regularly become a central element of his tracks and live improvisations.

At the same time, his music is much broader than classic acid techno. Acid lines can be combined with hard-techno kicks, rave melodies, trance elements, piano and elements of hardcore.

This constant movement between different forms of club music became one of Zonneveld’s defining characteristics in the 2020s.

Collaboration with HI-LO

An important part of his modern discography consists of collaborations with HI-LO, the techno project of Oliver Heldens.

One of their most notable collaborative releases is Balearic Mornings.

The collaboration between Zonneveld and HI-LO combines two approaches to contemporary club music: Reinier’s acid- and live-oriented aesthetic with HI-LO’s denser festival-techno production.

Their later collaborations repeatedly appeared in festival sets and on Filth on Acid releases.

Karren Maar Festival

The expression Karren Maar gradually evolved from the title of music releases into a separate Reinier Zonneveld brand.

In 2023, his own Karren Maar Festival took place in Arnhem, with the main event being an extended solo live set by the artist.

It was there that Reinier set one of the most important records of his career.

Guinness World Record

On 5 August 2023, Reinier Zonneveld performed an 11-hour, 11-minute live set.

The performance at Karren Maar Festival was officially registered by Guinness World Records as the longest electronic music live set.

Approximately 15,000 people attended the festival.

The record highlighted one of Zonneveld’s defining qualities as an artist — a physically and technically demanding live format designed for extended improvisational work with electronic music.

Heaven Is Mad (For You)

On 13 October 2023, the album Heaven Is Mad (For You) was released on Filth on Acid.

The 18-track release included:

• Push It to the Limit
• Super Strong
• Space
• Heaven Is Mad (For You)
• Dreamer
• Music Is the Answer
• Take U Back (2023 Mix)
• Balearic Mornings (Rave Mix)
• Underground Madness (2023 Mix)
• Berlin Amsterdam
• Billy
• Shine (2023 Mix)
• Dance With the Devil (The 6th Gate)
• Move Your Body To The Beat
• Through the Night
• Esoterisch
• Trip
• Walking on Water

The recording featured HI-LO, Angerfist, Kiki Solvej, DJ Promo, Space Brothers, D-Devils and other artists.

The album expanded Zonneveld’s stylistic range toward hard dance, hardcore, rave and harder festival techno.

Music Is the Answer

One of the central singles of the period was Music Is the Answer with JG.

The track represents the more melodic side of Zonneveld: an emotional vocal line develops over a tense techno structure and gradually builds toward a large-scale club climax.

The track was one of the first releases used by the artist to announce Heaven Is Mad (For You).

Who Is Batman?

In February 2024, Reinier Zonneveld, T78 and MOTVS released the collaborative EP Who Is Batman?.

The release included:

• Who Is Batman?
• Ohm
• Crescendo

The project continued the harder acid/hard-techno direction of Filth on Acid and became one of Zonneveld’s notable collaborations from this period.

Sunglasses at Night

In August 2024, Zonneveld presented his own version of Sunglasses at Night, the well-known club track by Tiga & Zyntherius.

The release continued the producer’s characteristic practice of working with musical ideas from earlier generations of rave, trance and techno and adapting them to a contemporary festival-oriented sound.

R² — artificial intelligence in the live set

In 2024, Reinier Zonneveld introduced the experimental project R².

An AI system was created for the project and trained exclusively on Zonneveld’s own musical material. Thousands of hours of his original music and recordings from a large number of live performances were used for training.

The system was not designed as an automatic generator of finished tracks, but as an additional participant in improvisation. During a performance, R² can react to the artist’s actions and interact with musical elements in real time.

The concept was presented as part of his own R² Festival in Spaarnwoude.

Development of R²

In 2025, Reinier continued developing R² and introduced an expanded live show lasting around ten hours.

The production used AI, visual technologies, holographic elements and automated control of part of the musical equipment.

R² became a continuation of Zonneveld’s long-standing interest in live improvisation: the digital system is used as an additional instrument rather than as a replacement for the performer.

Angerfist and hard dance

By the mid-2020s, the influence of hardcore and hard dance had become stronger in Zonneveld’s music.

His collaboration with Angerfist, one of the best-known figures in the hardcore scene, became particularly notable.

Their connection was already visible on Heaven Is Mad (For You), which featured a new version of Take U Back. Later, the artists began regularly performing together.

In 2025, Reinier Zonneveld and Angerfist presented a joint B2B at Tomorrowland and later released World on Fire on Filth on Acid.

The track combines hard hardcore kicks, techno and acid elements and reflects the continued expansion of Zonneveld’s musical boundaries.

Filth on Acid — 200 releases

In 2025, Filth on Acid reached an important milestone — 200 official releases.

The anniversary period was also connected with a collaboration between Reinier Zonneveld and Belgian group The Subs on the track Someone To Hold.

Over eight years, Filth on Acid grew from the producer’s own release platform into an international label with a catalogue spanning different generations of techno and hard-dance artists.

DJ Mag Top 100 DJs

Reinier Zonneveld also gradually strengthened his position in DJ Mag’s global ranking.

In 2025, he ranked No. 22 in the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs.

The publication listed techno and hard techno as his main genres, while his current catalogue also includes acid, rave, hardcore, gabber, house and more melodic directions.

The high position reflects the growth of Zonneveld’s audience far beyond specialised underground techno clubs.

Loco Loco

In February 2026, Reinier Zonneveld teamed up with GORDO for the single Loco Loco.

The collaboration combined GORDO’s festival/house approach with Zonneveld’s harder electronic production.

The release continued the trend of recent years in which Reinier has increasingly worked beyond the boundaries of the narrow techno scene and combined his own sound with other forms of dance music.

Musical style

Reinier Zonneveld began with broader electronic production that included deep house, minimal and tech house. Over time, the centre of his work shifted toward techno and acid.

His contemporary music includes:

• Techno
• Acid Techno
• hard techno
• rave
• Melodic Techno
• acid house
• hard dance
• elements of trance, hardcore and gabber

One of the defining characteristics remains the contrast between melody and a hard rhythmic foundation.

Zonneveld can use piano and emotional chord progressions within tracks built around aggressive kicks and acid synthesizer lines. In other works, he almost completely abandons melody in favour of direct hard-techno or rave sound.

Classical influence

Reinier Zonneveld’s classical training is most apparent in his compositional principles.

It can be heard in:

• harmonic construction;
• piano parts;
• the development of long musical themes;
• changes between tension and resolution;
• melodic climaxes;
• his ability to work with extended musical forms.

At the same time, classical music is not a separate genre within his work. It serves as a foundation for part of his compositional thinking.

Production and live improvisation

For Zonneveld, studio and live work are closely connected.

New ideas are regularly tested directly during live sets. Individual sequences, drums or melodies may only take their final form after several live improvisations.

This working method explains the large number of edits, live versions and updated versions of his own compositions in his catalogue.

For Reinier, the stage becomes an extension of the studio rather than simply a place to reproduce already completed material.

Festivals

Throughout his international career, Reinier Zonneveld has performed at some of the biggest electronic music events and venues.

Among them:

• Awakenings
• Tomorrowland
• Ultra Music Festival
• Amsterdam Dance Event
• Karren Maar Festival
• R² Festival
• major festivals and clubs in Ibiza
• international techno and hard-dance events across Europe, North and South America and Asia

His own events occupy a special place. Karren Maar Festival became the setting for his world record, while R² Festival served as a platform for developing a new technological live format.

Main albums

Reverse Psychology — 2013

One of his early full-length projects, reflecting the period before his definitive transition toward techno.

Megacity Servant — 2016

An album released on Stil vor Talent that combined club electronic music, experimental techno and more melodic compositions.

Church of Clubmusic — 2019

An 18-track project released on Filth on Acid that established Reinier Zonneveld’s mature musical style.

Heaven Is Mad (For You) — 2023

A large-scale album combining techno, acid, rave, hard dance and numerous collaborative projects.

Selected tracks

• Things We Might Have Said
• Plastic People
• Megacity Servant
• Evanescent
• Church of Clubmusic
• Hard Gaan
• Move Your Body To The Beat
• Balearic Mornings
• Music Is the Answer
• Heaven Is Mad (For You)
• Take U Back (2023 Mix)
• Dance With the Devil (The 6th Gate)
• Who Is Batman?
• Sunglasses at Night
• Someone To Hold
• World on Fire
• Loco Loco

Main achievements

• classical piano training from early childhood;
• two master’s degrees in econometrics and finance;
• an international career as a live techno performer;
• founding Filth on Acid in 2017;
• his own Karren Maar Festival;
• Guinness World Record — 11 hours 11 minutes, longest electronic music live set, 2023;
• creation of the experimental R² project;
• his own R² Festival;
• 200 Filth on Acid releases by 2025;
• No. 22 in the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs in 2025

Reinier Zonneveld today

By the mid-2020s, Reinier Zonneveld occupies a distinctive position between underground techno and the large-scale electronic festival scene.

His early classical training influenced the compositional side of his music, but the live format became the central element of his professional identity. Zonneveld uses the stage as a space for improvisation, changing the structure of his own tracks and creating new musical sequences directly during performances.

His own Filth on Acid label has allowed him to develop his music, support both emerging and established producers, create festival stages and build his own projects simultaneously. Karren Maar Festival took his live concept to record-breaking levels, while R² added a technological experiment involving artificial intelligence.

Reinier Zonneveld’s sound continues to evolve. From early deep and melodic material, he moved toward acid techno, later strengthening the hard-techno and rave elements, while collaborations with Angerfist, HI-LO, T78, The Subs and GORDO expanded his range even further.

Today, Reinier Zonneveld is one of the most recognisable figures in the contemporary Dutch techno scene, with a career built around three key areas: his own production, live performance and Filth on Acid.