RDS
Based in Amsterdam, Netherlands
RDS has played FOLD in London.
AKA Rein De Sauvage
RDS is a DJ and musician closely tied to the Amsterdam underground through De Lichting, a collaborative project that grew out of three key underground labels from Amsterdam: Yield Records, Native Response and Working Records.
His musical influences fuse UK 90s bleep techno, spacey tech house and dub with his own emotional perspective on club music.
He works primarily with an EMU E-64 and KORG MS2000, and the fingerprints of that hardware are audible throughout his output.
His releases span labels including Undersound, De Lichting, Kalahari Oyster Cult and Jamming Is Life, with Nesreh also now a recurring home. His "RDS Theme" EP on De Lichting, released in June 2022, laid out that cross-genre sensibility clearly: side A opened with house cuts before closing on the electro title track, while side B moved into minimal and then ambient techno and IDM territory.
On Nesreh, the tone shifts darker: the opening track "Four Monsters" uses the EMU E-64 to deliver a heavy, aggressive bassline, while "64+1 Voices" draws on 90s Belgian bleep techno, mixing old-school references with a contemporary feel. A faithful servant of the electronic music nerds unit, RDS tames machines and connects sounds with profound knowledge and childlike curiosity.
