If you care about the West Coast Hardcore scene, then you already know exactly who this man is and if you don’t then it’s time to start paying attention to him. Ron D Core is a 25 year vinyl veteran spinning since 1986 and is the owner and creator of the last record store standing: Dr. Freecloud’s! I caught up with Ron after the madness of TR-99’s Trauma that took place on the 15th of August  to hear his thoughts on the turn out and what will be next for LA and the Hardcore scene. 100% vinyl, 100% Hardcore!

How did you feel about the turnout of Trauma last night?

R:    Actually, better than I expected. It was a good reassurance that the Hardcore scene has a chance to come back. It was definitely a big gamble going into this party. I give Kari a lot of credit for taking that risk and putting the show on. It’s not easy; it’s not cheap, especially for Hardcore. It’s an ageing crowd but it takes a lot to get everybody out and actually attract some amount of people. It was nice to see.

Do you feel like the scene needs to go through a revival or do you think it’s already there?

R:    I think it does need a revival because the younger crowd is always going to be there regardless, but with the older crowd, the problem is that not everyone can get out. Because they’re busy with their career, kids, no time…. You have to appeal to a younger crowd. It needs that evolution, and it needs some new blood either way.  I think last night did that. There were a lot of older people and we did see a lot of younger people as well. It looks promising knowing that they were there. Hopefully what they saw they liked. I’m hoping that they weren’t scared away. Some of the crowd might have been all PLUR and they think Hardcore might be too aggressive… but I think there’s a certain element there that probably appreciated it.  With all hopes, they were impressed enough where they’ll come back and plant the seeds for the next generation.

Do you feel like there are enough supporters in terms of artists, production crews, and people? What do you feel is the most significant aspect of the LA Hardcore scene right now?

R:    It boils down to the artists themselves. DJs, the producers; the DJs are actually making the music. That’s really the starting point; the production, the producers, the promoters, they’ve come and gone. We’ve had really high turnover, so to speak, in that respect. There are a lot of us that used to do parties, us included, but they didn’t continue to do parties, the main reason being you don’t make enough money to roll over to the second party. It’s done at such a small scale, in a club or bar, or the risk is low so it’s easier to do those kinds of shows.  Even though it remained, Hardcore stayed small in that respect because of the fact that it was more affordable-easier to do.  Unlike last night, which is kind of like a fluke to see a lot of money get poured in.  For us it’s like a Holy Grail fell in our lap to get someone what was willing to put that kind of money into a party.  The last 10 years or so the hardcore scene’s been very stagnant because of that.  If we’re all realistic we would realize that we could do one show where 3 or 4 of us put it on together and each chip in a few hundred dollars, we can all DJ for free.  We got our DJs lined up; all we just need now is a sound guy and lighting guy. We’ve kept it on the cheap for so many years, and that, in a sense, has kept it down. With all that said, it is really all about the producers, the DJs. As long as they’re still producing music and putting it out, that’s going to be the most important key.  Without the newer music coming out, you can only go so far with playing classics and doing revival parties.  The new sounds have to be there with the emphasis of Hardcore. As long as that’s moving forward, that will be good help for the future of the scene.

What do you think is going to be the hardest aspect of getting the younger generation involved? Do you feel parties like last night could be a good history lesson for them?

R:    Last night was a history lesson. It’s funny because the newer crowd that is into Hardcore, or think they’re into hardcore, they assume Hardstyle is Hardcore. Without knowing the history of where it all came from they don’t realize that almost all the new Hardstyle you’re hearing, over half of it’s been made by Hardcore guys that strictly made Hardcore in the past, or are still making Hardcore as well. Most of these guys are Hardcore guys. All that Hardstyle and slower BPM [Hard] stuff, that’s all they know, so last night gave them a good little rewind.  They may realize this is music from the past that evolved and turned into Hardstyle. At the end of the day they’re going to realize that Hardcore has come from much deeper roots. All the way back to 1994, in my opinion, was the start of the entire Hardcore scene.  That’s going to help because I’ve seen people fall in love with Hardcore for many reasons. It appeals to a lot of people.

What do you think is going to be next for the Hardcore scene in general?

R:    I’ve already seen the pattern. Hardcore has a very predictable pattern.  The Hardstyle today, we used to call it Nu-style. The first time the scene crashed when everything got so fast, the Dutch guys made everything slow down. They were calling it Nu-style. Nu-style, Hardstyle, it’s all the same thing. As they get tired and start to run out of ideas, they’re going to want to hear their stuff pick up speed. It’s going to get more aggressive and a lot faster.  So, in a sense, Hardstyle is like the beginning of getting things back to where it should be. That crowd will eventually catch up to where we’ve always been.

Are there any big plans coming up? Do you guys have any ideas just as big as Trauma?

R:    I know Kari’s already offered to do our next party. He wants to get this scene in a big way. Before his party was even done, he’d already approached us about other ones. If we get that going, I wouldn’t mind reviving some of old hardcore shows we did. Maybe bring back our old MegaBlast or our 13 parties we did.

Dr. Freecloud’s is located on 18960 Brookhurst St in Fountain Valley, CA.

Ron D. Core on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ron-D-Core-127421727272048/?fref=ts

Dr. Freecloud’s on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drfreecloudsrecordshoppe/

Featured Image Photo by Peter Vincent