After arriving virtually at the end of EDC day one, I decided that I would arrive before the doors even opened on day two because missing a line up on any day, especially Friday, is just uncalled for to a die hard fan of hard dance music. But then something occurred in the middle of my journey through the “Basscon WasteLAND” that even I was surprised about…
Day two was opened by Mekanikal, who was playing as I went down the log flume ride to cool myself down. He played very well, and with a few more obscure tunes than the other headliners for the event, which was appreciated, because by the time Max Enforcer had come on it was pretty much the same context (and tracks in other headliner’s sets) throughout the rest of the event. Bioweapon was the biggest deal of day two for this writer, because just like at Basscon’s standalone wasteland event, they played more aggressively and played older tracks from the 2008-2010 period that I couldn’t help but dance and sing along to, which is an awful idea when you’re trying not to go all out at the very beginning of a day at EDC to conserve for the later portion of the evening. I was working on catching up on media, but through friendly sources I was told that Brennan Heart may have been the act that stole the show. He was one of the acts that not a lot of hardstyle fans had gotten to see prior to EDC and he played all of the tracks people were hoping to hear, and apparently the one track that stood out the most was “Wake Up!”, Brennan’s track with The Prophet.
This was the last I was going to see of the WasteLAND stage for night two, and as I was heading over to the BassPOD stage to see drum and bass hero, Andy C, when a fire had broken out on top of one of the orbs that were in the middle of the crowd, and they had shut down that stage until the situation was taken care of an hour and a half later.
Upon walking back to the car, I couldn’t help but think about a few things that have apparently popped into my head throughout night two…I found myself to be more impressed by the BassPOD stage in multiple instances but at the WasteLAND stage, the impression hasn’t occurred yet (although I know it is about to Sunday evening). Is this because each act played a lot of the same tracks in their sets? Is it because each act, with the exception of Bioweapon, had the same, seemingly reserved sound? Or is it because a lot of the mainstream style sounds of hardstyle are just simply running their course? It’s hard to tell at this point, but I found it an interesting observation (and feel free to leave any comments on the matter).
Sunday night has a lot more unique acts in store such as Wasted Penguinz, the set I’m looking forward to most, Radical Redemption, whom I’ve never seen before,and of course, the man with the mask, Angerfist, who is playing the closing set of the event. Tonight also looks like the night that I am going to want to stay at the hardstyle stage instead of wander over to the drum and bass stage looking for a better show.
Until then, The Hard Data will be posted up at GABBERFEST 2016: America’s Hardest, which you can view LIVE right here on Grooveo: https://www.grooveo.com/home?groove_id=204
Daring all manner of health and safety concerns, I found myself jumping into the pool at Las Vegas’s Downtown Grand during Basscon’s Pool Party. The hardstyle was kicking and I couldn’t help but think that this was really the way hardstyle should be enjoyed. It just all worked. The crowd was 100% into it and it was a wet n’ wild time to say the least. I couldn’t help thinking though that this crowd, clad in bathing suits, was actually dressed more conservatively than at an actual Wasteland event. Of course, it was all a precursor to the main event: Electric Daisy Carnival.
We rolled into EDC remarkably fast. I sprinted to the Wasteland stage so I could see Kutski. Amazingly, he was on at an early 8:00 PM time slot. I thought that was a bit of an outrage, but hey, he was playing the big rig so who’s to complain. He did some cool scratches on the CDJs and bridged that chasm between hardstlye and hardcore with just the proper amount of cheese to keep old and new fans alike rocking out.
After his set we went about checking out the EDC grounds. I have to say, as usual the Circuit Grounds had the coolest most forward thinking design. Basspod and Wasteland, while cool, were not remarkably different from last year. The PK sound was pretty devastating though. The music was really clean.
That said, it made me think that with modern speakers being so clean and powerful, perhaps producers can start mastering their tracks with some air to breathe again, and to achieve more dynamics. But, the war of loudness is still on, but I see hope for change on the horizon when confronted with the potential of these awesome sound rigs.
So far, this year’s EDC theme seems to be, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The spectacle is marvelous and vast and most areas are laid out in a similar manner as the year before, not a bad thing actually, as it feels like you’re coming home, which is fitting a 20 year anniversary.
Tomorrow will be a special day though for hardcore fans, as American hardcore makes its presence known when Lenny Dee and Rob Gee rock the Calliope Art Car. Though there is a strong old-school theme this year, we hear that they aren’t going to play old school, they are busting out their new stuff!
Here is our second international headliner for this year of GABBERFEST: America’s Hardest! Djuke, also from Germany (though half Italian), will be visiting the U.S. for the very first time, and what a better way to debut in Las Vegas than with guns blazing! Here is what you need to know about your day one headliner…
Will this be your first time in America?
Yes it will be my first time in America and I’m very happy to be a part of this amazing event in Las Vegas!
How did you get your start in hardcore music?
My start was at a famous club in the Netherlands called the Peppermill Music Palace. This is the place where it all began! 1998 was the first time I visited this hardcore discothek and saw the DJ’s playing really great stuff from the old days and to this day I’m still infected; every weekend and I’m at a hardcore party, even as a guest. A year later I bought my first pair of turntables and some records and started my DJ career in the year 2000 in a little club in my hometown. Today, it’s hundreds of clubs, dance halls and discotheks all over Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain (where I started) and now in Las Vegas, it’s been amazing!
The logo of Djuke
What’s the hard dance scene like where you currently live?
The scene in Germany is up and down. Sometimes it looks like it will be bigger and better but sometimes I’m not very happy with it. Most of the people are in an uptempo hype right now. But it all goes in cycles, things come and go, you know? The good thing is that the events and festivals in Germany have more than just one area so most of the time there are a lot good styles like hardcore and oldschool at the same time. We have big name festivals such as Army Of Hardcore, Hellraiser, and a lot of other crazy events where find thousands of party-freaks together and it’s wonderful and all, but my favorite place to party is in Holland!
What do you think about the current state of harder styles in America?
The only thing in America that must be pushed is hardcore music and the other harder styles! A look on the other genres and you find the biggest names worldwide, is it possible with the harder styles? Yes it is!
Will you be attending EDC this year as well?
No I am only in Vegas for a few hours on Friday, to look at the city and all the lights, then it’s back to Germany for me.
Anything that you’re looking forward to most on your trip?
How the beer in America tastes! That being said, I’m also very curious to see a completely different party crowd that I haven’t seen in 15 years. I’ve only ever seen American partygoers on TV and I’ve never seen anything about the hardcore crowds or events. I think it’s going to be very interesting and I’m very much looking forward to this!
Is there anything you want to say that we haven’t asked you about yet? Do you have any upcoming projects or tours to promote, or anything special or shout outs you want to say?
I’m currently building my own studio! There are plenty of plans for new productions for the years to come. I can’t announce anything just yet, but plenty of collaborations with some bigger artists and you will find it everywhere online! Keep an eye on my website and my Facebook where you can download my livesets and stay up to date on my touring and productions! And lastly, Las Vegas, I’m happy to be a part of this Gabberfest and I know we will have a blast together! See you all very soon!
Djuke in the studio. Getting ready to slam Gabberfest hard!
You can follow all of Djukes antics on his social media:
No day is safe from the crossbreed onslaught of our man Daybreaker, denizen of the THD -ahem- “offices.” But Daybreaker is faced with perhaps his ultimate challenge: the oppressive Las Vegas summer sun, ever-present during American Gabberfest. Before this epic struggle commences, we figured it was paramount to question the “steed behind the crossbreed” and reckon his mission…
How did you decide on your stage name?
When I first started, I had a different name chosen, but I wasn’t particularly fond of it; I just had to pick something for the forums I was signing up for (Global Hard forums, for any of you that may remember that glorious website) and that remained my stage name until I decided to change it. When looking for a new name, I wanted to choose something that incorporated horror (I’m a really big fan of the genre). I was stuck on finding something worthwhile until a movie came out in January 2010 called “Daybreakers”. I thought the movie was really unique and original, so much so, that I dropped the “s” and behold, Daybreaker was discovered!
How did you start DJ’ing?
Shortly after discovering hardstyle and hardcore, I decided that I wanted to do exactly what these guys were doing in the aftermovies I used to watch over and over again. So, I got my first job, saved up some money to buy my cousins pair of Numark TTX’s and a mixer and it was a quick skyward launch into where I’m at now!
How did you get interested in the harder styles?
Hard dance music itself I discovered by accident in the basement of my dad’s house (2007). I was on Myspace at the time, browsing random music profiles by clicking on one, and then clicking on others from those artists’ friends list. Somehow, I stumbled upon the page of hardstyle producer A-Lusion; he had one song on his profile at the time: “Drummer Beat” – I already had a background in electronic music through my cousin who is also a DJ. He and his friends were into hard house and drum and bass; I remember visiting my aunt frequently when I was little and my brother and I used to like hanging out up in his room and watch them all spin records. So I already had an ear that was tuned to techno, and when I heard “Drummer Beat”, my mind was blown away. – Hardstyle at the time was incredibly slow (144 BPM), but the variations every few bars, and the hard, bouncy kicks somehow made a lasting impression on me.
What changes have you noticed in your local rave scene since you started?
Utah is a lot stranger to describe…in the early 2000’s, we used to have a much more underground, drum and bass oriented rave scene. We also had a more lively and unified community; there used to be an online forum called “Utah Raves” and when I was starting, this is how I found out about everything going on around the valley (raves, new local artists, outside get-togethers etc.). It was a really neat and useful tool, one I wish was still popular to use in the present day. Also, there was more than one event organization. The biggest at the time was Vandal Productions, owned and operated by DJ Quack Quack (famous for the Kandyland series of raves); he was the name responsible for our hardstyle, happy hardcore phase, and it was through this man that I got my start in performing live. Fast forwarding to today, we only have one event organization, with a few people attempting to start their own (only to get stomped out by the monopoly) and virtually none of our local DJs play any form of hard dance (with the exception of what seems to be a drum and bass resurgence happening). That is why I started the ‘Utah Hardcore Syndicate’, that way I can gather up all the locals that do spin and enjoy hard dance music and we can retaliate and devastate our currently stale “rave” scene; although I will say I do appreciate the amount of drum and bass we are getting. We also had Technoboy and Lady Faith in town recently, however, but that was the first time we had hardstyle in town since the Nightsneak organization left Utah in 2013. All in all, it’s a stale, commercialized scene that is so suppressed and monopolized, it’s hard to combat, but its Utah, the stigma is real.
What do you think about the current state of harder styles in America?
2016 has left me with a very positive outlook on the growth and development of our own scene, although it is more confined to specific parts of the nation, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, considering how dedicated I am that I’m willing to travel to attend these harder parties.
Look out GodSquad! Daybreaker is going to be bringing the Crossbreed with an uptempo fury!
Plus, we are seeing spillovers into other states (finally) and more American producers are rising up, fast! But, as we Americans do best, we still have egos and drama and internal oppression that’s hindering our progress and until money is focused on less, and our local artists start supporting each other, including the shows, we aren’t going to see the peak that everyone seems to be so nostalgic about. But as I said, this year we have probably seen the best surge for our scene in recent years, and I feel like this is exactly the kind of push we’ve needed to at least thrive within this now over-saturated market. Now all we need to do is unify.
Is there anything in particular you find yourself wanting to communicate to the audience?
I’m not trying to convey any specific message to the audience other than a sound that represents me as a person outside of my alias. A lot of my themes are based around horror movies and culture including the concept mixes that I do from time to time, which are even more detailed and obvious to that notion. I feel that my specific type of sound (hardcore drum and bass) really helps vary the typical 4×4 beats we hear in hardcore and changes up the dance floors a little bit, if only for a bar or two (laughs)!
Do you have anything special planned for the event?
I’m hoping to do some three-deck mixing to add more complexity to the set. I’ll still be bringing that Crossbreed flavor to Gabberfest that will start out groovy, and end on a “faster” note. You’ll see! Lots and lots of BPM variation!
I got into Hardcore mainly through Oliver Chesler who was a big part of Industrial Strength (as Temper Tantrum) who currently uses the name The Horrorist. I went to college and became friends with his younger brother. I graduated in 96 so after school that meant in 97-98 his brother was playing me a lot of early Industrial Strength stuff like Disciples of Annihilation and Temper Tantrum (which Oliver was a part of) as well as the DJ Skinhead stuff. At the time I was playing in a lot of bands, doing a lot of work with the Akai MPC, tape loops, guitars, drums, and just doing a lot of experimental music in general. When Alex (the brother) introduced me to Oliver, who at the time had started Things To Come Records, because of the music stuff I was doing he asked me to play live with him and then after that I started to do production and got very into that kind of music – the Things to Come sound. Then as we started to play out live in Europe I began to see some of the shows that were going on there, like Mysteryland, the Thunderdome stuff, some of these giant parties in Europe. I actually saw Lenny Dee play there and then I met Lenny Dee and even though he lived in Brooklyn like I did, I think I got to know him first in Italy. I saw him play with Jappo who’s now Unexist at the Number One Club back in the day and at Club Florida and then I saw Lenny Dee play at Club Cocorico. It’s over in Rimini Italy. It’s was a pretty amazing show and it was unbelievable the way the club responded to Lenny DJing. And on the spot I said wow, this is pretty cool. I would love to be able to do something like this. And he basically told me, “Yeah, when you come back to New York, we’ll hook up and I’ll teach you how to DJ the way I learned and I’ll show you what my method is.” And then he taught me how to d.j, and that’s how I got into DJing. I started to be drawn to the harder sounds at that point. It reminded me a lot of what I grew up with, loving punk rock and early Industrial (EBM) and that sort of thing. And from there Lenny and Oliver really encouraged me with my production and that’s how I got into the production and DJing and into Gabber, Hardcore techno and that sort of stuff.
I heard you brought Hardcore to Colombia, can you tell us about that?
Yeah, it’s true as far as I know. I mean – I can’t say I “brought” it there. I was just one of the first foreign artists to play hardcore there. So the story is: Luis aka DJ Sonico who’s from Bogota – Sonico is his name for hard techno, and Sonicore is his name for Hardcore. He’s a big DJ in Colombia, pretty legendary. Anybody in Colombia will know who this guy is. He’s an amazing DJ. He is responsible for introducing a lot of sounds into Colombia. What he told me was he was in Europe and he was asking about some more underground sounds – records that they had there. Midtown Records gave him a copy of one of my first albums, which was Satronica on Apocalypse Recordings. And apparently he took that back to Colombia and started playing it and getting a good response. So then later he got in touch with me and we started talking. And eventually I did a remix for one of his tracks. And then eventually he booked me to play down there. And when I went down I played half hard techno and half Hardcore. I don’t think the people were necessarily used to Hardcore, but they got into it. It was funny, they weren’t into the anthem-y hardcore stuff but they loved the hard techno. Since they loved hard techno that’s why I started with that and then I went into the Hardcore and I think they were very much more into the Industrial Hardcore stuff over any Mainstyle tracks. At that time (2007) a lot of people were playing hard techno along with the Industrial Hardcore. At the time Waldhaus, Tymon, and Stormtrooper were collaborating a bunch on mashups of those different sounds. Anyway, then I was booked there again. I played by myself. And the next year I was booked and came with Lenny Dee. And then the next year was booked with Lenny Dee and Jappo (Unexist). And then year after that eventually did a show with Lenny Dee, Unexist and Sickest Squad and I think from there they started to see that Hardcore could do quite well there and then you started to see artists like Art of Fighters to Angerfist to Lady K8 and these types of people playing down in Colombia. I was the first artist as far as I know, from abroad to get booked in Colombia for Hardcore though and then it took off from there. Colombia is amazing. I can’t even begin to tell you the stories from some of those shows – way too surreal.
What kind of music inspires you?
I grew up liking diverse kinds of music. I listen to anything from early Industrial (EBM) kind of stuff like Front 242, Ministry, the different kind of music that was coming out on Wax Trax, X Marks the Pedwalk, all of these kinds of bands along with the Misfits, the Ramones, etc. And I think that’s why I got into Hardcore in the first place was because of all of that early punk rock kind of stuff I had been into. And when I was growing up, when I was much younger, I don’t know – people were not as cliquish about music. There was this one nice moment then that you didn’t necessarily have to be a punk or a skater or just a Goth or just a this, or just a that. People would listen to all these things at the same time. You’d have one mix tape and it might have Front 242, and it might have Bad Brains on it at the same time. It might have Dead Kennedys along with Skinny Puppy and that sort of thing. Along with like Depeche Mode. I wasn’t really a Raver in the beginning so a lot of people came at this stuff from some of the Techno things that were going on that they had heard coming out of Detroit or some of the House music coming out of Chicago and that sort of stuff. When I heard Hardcore though, it reminded me a lot of early really dirty Industrial (EBM), it had the spirit of Punk Rock where you could really take music from any other genre and kinda bastardize it into the Hardcore sound. I think that’s what inspired me then led me towards Hardcore and Gabber and any kind of music that has some sort of soul to it, or has some sort of emotion to it, or is raw. Anything from like Johnny Cash to Willie Nelson to all of the bands I previously named, Indie bands like Pavement or a wide variety of bands that I love or inspired me that kind of brought me to the place that I am at now which is producing some of this rawer more Industrial Hardcore, or to the new label that I’ve been working on which is slightly more accessible Hard Dance.
What are the five Hardcore songs that have really inspired you?
The Mover “Over Land and Sea.” Hard Creation, “I Will Have That Power.” Claudio Lancinhouse and The Stunned Guys “Atmosfera.” Euromasters “Alles Naar Klote” is one of the tracks that inspired a lot of the Hardcore and Speedcore that came out of New York, which inspired DJ Skinhead “Extreme Terror” which would be another song that has changed my life. And if there was a sixth one it would be Art of Fighters “Hardcore Makes The World Move.” And if you want my main Hardcore influences after that it’s obviously Lenny Dee, Horrorist, Tymon, Unexist and the entire Industrial Strength catalog. I could literally name a million more artists and DJ’s who created the hardcore scene – Manu le Malin, Marc Acardipane, DJ Delirium, 3 Steps Ahead. If only there was enough time to name them all!
Also want to talk a bit about the future and the USA scene in general and what inspires me now. The Europeans are obviously masters of the hardcore sound but I’m inspired that DJ Treachery, CIK, and Cap, to name a few, are starting to make a name for themselves in the US scene. Having artists produce hardcore in the USA is something we sorely need more of!
What are some of your favorite places to play?
Of course I love to play Scotland, the energy there is amazing. The Arches Club there, it was a great experience. I love playing Colombia. It’s great energy there as well. Italy of course and I’ll never forget playing Sala Due at The Number One Club. That was an amazing experience. Then of course playing in Holland is amazing for the crowds there who come from all over the world for festivals like Dominator. Dominator especially, is an amazing experience. I feel blessed to have been able to play there. And the list goes on. I love all of the places I’ve been to, Spain obviously too. Those are the ones that really stick out in my memory. And of course Minneapolis (Yeah Jared Hanson!)
What was the scene like in New York in the beginning and again now?
I think the scene in New York is changing. Hardcore now is becoming acceptable for the younger kids through Hardstyle. I think the Hardstyle scene is really taking off in New York. Some of the E.D.M. music is becoming a little bit more raw, more hard. I think people here are starting to understand the differences between electronic music and that it’s not all just the same thing called techno, just like rock people understand that bands play everything from Folk to Heavy Metal, people are now starting to understand the differences between Hard Techno, Hardcore, Dubstep, etc. versus some of the slower varieties, more accessible varieties. And things are starting to pick up again, because of the impact of Hardstyle. Now people are starting to gravitate to some of the harder stuff. I think that there was definitely a lull for awhile in New York for Hardcore. I don’t think that the Industrial Hardcore or Speedcore that’s popular in Europe is very popular at all in New York City. I think it has to be the more anthemic mainstyle stuff for the people here to really get into it. And I guess it’s changed from the beginning of Hardcore here when there were some larger parties in New York in the late 90’s, early 2000’s where you would hear the more Gabber sound, you’d hear The Horrorist, the Lenny Dee stuff. You’d hear the Rob Gee stuff. The early Delta 9 stuff. I think one of the good things is that the drugs have changed. In the early New York scene there was a lot of dust. You’d be smelling it at a lot of events and that made people a little bit crazy. And people got a little violent. And I think that for the most part venue owners decided that they didn’t want to deal with it. It became very hard to find venues at a certain point that would actually allow Hardcore Techno to be played. They really didn’t accept the concept of electronic music that was that fast with people moshing to it, it didn’t make sense to them. The early vitality in the mid/late 90’s started to die because of the things that I’ve mentioned, but I see it picking up again through the younger kids getting into Hardstyle and into the more anthemic mainstyle Hardcore.
How’d you come up with the name Satronica?
It’s a combination of Satanic I guess and Electronica. It’s because when I was younger I was obviously into Metal and have those sort of metal satanic tattoos etc and it just sounded like a cool combination of words and I actually used it for my aol messnger screen name on my computer to be honest. Then when I started to produce, I went to think up a name to use and just couldn’t think of anything better so, I just decided to use that and stuck with it.
Okay, now what are you planning next?
I’ve been working on a label called Kontaminated Recordings (Click here for link.) with Jeremy Malvasia also known as DJ Delirium. It’s a sublabel of Industrial Strength. And what we are trying to do is make make music that is hard E.D.M., has the spirit of the some of the Hardcore and Hardstyle, but has a little bit different tempo. It’s 128 to 130 b.p.m. but with the spirit of Hardcore It’s slightly more accessible for some of the kids in the United States than Hardcore is and so we are pushing that a bunch. We have releases out already and the next release will be myself and Jeremy which we’re really excited about. Also I’ve been doing a lot of collaborations with some European hardcore artists so soon you’re gonna hear a collaboration with me and Unexist, then another with Unexist, Art of Fighters and myself coming up soon. Then with Unexist and Noize Suppressor and myself which is coming out soon. And I think a little further out soon you’ll hear one with Unexist and Crypsis and myself. So as far as hardcore I’m currently just working on collab’s, and doing a bunch of vocals for European Hardcore artists. In the works though, are a bunch of work with American Hardcore artists. I’m 100% behind trying to push the sound now in the United States. So look out for a few surprises with the up and comers in the US scene!
By Jake Allen
Dedicated to the harder sound of electronic dance music.
