George Hysteric’s Strange Selections

In the 20 years since Antal Heitlager co-founded Rush Hour, it has become so much more than the initial store and mail order service for more obscure house and techno records. In 1999, the record deals between Dutch artists and companies overseas led to the birth of the Rush Hour Recordings label, which has released hundreds of titles over the years. Today, their events for like-minded music lovers make it to major cities around the world such as Tokyo, Paris and London. I met up with Antal at the Rush Hour store – which has been upgraded to a much bigger location a bit further up the Spuistraat last year – to talk about how it all started and how Rush Hour came to be the household name it is today.

I’d been planning to write a piece on Silvia for some time now. Yet despite several attempts, I could never quite see it through. Something had kept me from it, as if I wasn’t worthy to touch upon such a mysterious blast from the past. Perhaps it should’ve been kept there, in memories. But since Dark Entries (who else?) has released a reissue last month I thought I’d better get to writing it quick.