Gerald Malke (5 December 1963 – 1 September 2016), known professionally as Gary D, was a German

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

hardstyle Hardstyle is an electronic dance music, electronic dance genre that emerged in the late 1990s, with origins in the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy. Hardstyle mixes influences from techno, new beat and Hardcore (electronic dance music genre), har ...

producer and DJ, known for the trance compilations ''D.Trance''.

Career

Early career

Gary D. started out playing as a DJ at the age of 16 in 1980. In his first years, he mostly played

Black Music Music of the African diaspora is a sound created, produced, or inspired by Black people, including Music of Africa, African music traditions and African popular music as well as the music genres of the African diaspora, including some Caribbean mus ...

. It wasn't until 1988 when Gary D. started to get more involved with electronic such as,

Techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

and

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

, which in the same year he released his first single "Ecstasy" under alias "Acid Syndrome". As a DJ, Gary D. performed often at a club in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

called 'Unit Club' from 1988 up until its closure in 1994. He later moved to another club called 'Tunnel'.

As a trance producer and DJ

In 1991, Gary D. released his first trance EP, "Identity E.P." with five singles on it, which was released on Container Records, the label on which he released many singles before switching to Tunnel & Bonzai Records. Under Bonzai, Gary released the two

hard trance Hard trance is a subgenre of trance music that originated in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands in the early 1990s as the Breakbeat hardcore production community began to diversify into new and different styles of electronic music, all influen ...

singles "Kinetic Pressure" and "Overload". In late 1995, he and two others from

PIAS Recordings PIAS Recordings (formerly Play It Again Sam) is a Belgian record label founded in 1982 by Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot, In September 2024, the company was acquired by Universal Music Group. Play It Again Sam expanded along with other European i ...

Germany came up with an idea to create a trance compilation, which came out to be "D.Trance", which grew into a big success. Gary D. released more than 40 D.Trance compilations as of 2009. Gary added a third disc, which compiled all the tracks from the first discs into one mix. From 1996 to 2016, he also released five solo albums. In 2000, he created "D. Techno" a harder style compilation.

Shift to hardstyle

In 2001, Gary took a different direction with his career, and started to release more techno, and adopted

kind of music to his DJ sets. From 2003 to 2005 he played in many gigs in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and played in large venues with up to 25,000 people.

Death

He died from

pulmonary embolism Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an pulmonary artery, artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream (embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include dyspnea, shortness of breath, chest pain ...

Discography

Albums

*''WORKS'', 1995, CONTAINER RECORDS, GARY D. PROJECT SAMPLER *''BANG!'', 1997, DJ`S PRESENT *''D.SIGNALS'', 1999, DJ`S PRESENT *''STRIKE!!!'', 2001, DJ`S PRESENT *''FOUR'', 2004, EDM

12" singles

*''IDENTITTY E.P.'', 1991, CONTAINER RECORDS *''93 E.P.'', 1993, CONTAINER RECORDS *''OH JA BITTE'', 1993, CONTAINER RECORDS *''SLAMMIN`'', 1994, CONTAINER RECORDS *''SLAMMIN`(REMIXES)'', 1994, CONTAINER RECORDS *''ANAL INTRUDER E.P.'', 1994, RADIKAL RECORDS – US RELEASE *''LOVE IS AN OCEAN'', 1995, CONTAINER RECORDS PROMO ONLY RELEASE *''ANAL INTRUDER'', 1995, EVOLVER RECORDS *''ICE MACHINE HEAD'', 1995, EVOLVER RECORDS *''KINETIC PRESSURE'', 1996, BONZAI RECORDS, BELGIUM *''TIMEWARP'', 1996, BONZAI RECORDS, BELGIUM *''D.TRANCE ANTHEM'', 1996, DJ`S PRESENT *''CAN`T DO WITHOUT IT'', 1997, DJ`S PRESENT *''TAKE CONTROL'', 1997, DJ`S PRESENT *''PARADISE E.P.'', 1997, BIT MUSIC, SPAIN *''DONNERGOTT'', 1999, DJ`S PRESENT *''STEP FORWARD'', 1999, DJ`S PRESENT *''DIE HERDPLATTE 2000°'', 2000, DJ`S PRESENT *''SPRINGWORLD 2001'', 2000, DJ`S PRESENT *''MY HOUZZE'', 2001, DJ`S PRESENT *''ELEVATE YOUR MIND'', 2002, DJ`S PRESENT *''D.TRANCE ANTHEM 2002'', 2002, DJ`S PRESENT *''B.A.S.S. KICK DOWN'', 2003, EDM *''RAISE YOUR HANDS'', 2004, EDM *''FOUR IZ THE NUMBER'', 2004, EDM *''STUPID MUTHAFUCKAZ'', 2006, DTRAXX RECORDINGS *''GOOD SHIT'', 2007, DTRAXX RECORDINGS *''HARDSTYLEBASS'', 2007, DTRAXX RECORDINGS *''HIGHER STATE OF HAPPINESS'', 2008, TUNNEL RECORDS

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gary D 1963 births 2016 deaths German electronic musicians German trance musicians German club DJs