D-Ceptor is one of the biggest names to represent Germany in the world of hardcore, and now, by the grace of the White Ape, he will be visiting and performing in America for the first time at GABBERFEST: America’s Hardest, day one of the festival! This is one of the most crucial interviews for the event as D-Ceptor offers some very interesting insight into the realm of hardcore and into the American scene itself. Hang on tight and enjoy the ride!
Will this be your first time in America? First time playing, if you have already visited?
This will be the first time visiting America for me, and so of course the first time playing there as well!
How did you get your start in hardcore music?
I started listening to hardcore music when I entered high school in 1998 through some friends who were already into it. This music style was new to me and from that moment on I was hooked by the sound. When I was 15 I visited my first hardcore event in a Belgian club. While listening and watching carefully how the artists performed, I knew that I wanted to become a DJ someday. I started practicing the art of mixing with vinyls and kept improving my skills on the turntables. A few years later, after sending many demo tapes to event promoters, my first gig was arranged in 2006 and my journey began.
What’s the hard dance scene like in Germany?
The Dutch hard dance scene has a lot of influence in Germany. Especially in west Germany where the scene is focused, because it is closer to the Dutch border. It is confusing to me that there are many hardcore artists in Germany (maybe the biggest scene after The Netherlands) but no big label, leading agency or international famous headliner. The Dutch and also the Italians are ahead to the Germans. I would even see Spain as the European country having now better prospects and talents as we have. Same story with large events. We have two big promoters here for hardcore festivals: I-Motion and A.L.E.X. events but I-Motion is cooperating with Dutch promoter Art of Dance bringing big pure hardcore concepts like Syndicate or brand new EXODUS to Germany. If you take a look on these line ups, you will see a lot of Dutch and Italian names and ask yourself: “Wtf!? This is a hardcore event in Germany, so where the hell are all those German artists?” So what I miss in this country are good producers. We have many internationally known artists for uptempo/terror/speedcore/industrial but just a few names who bring good quality in main style hardcore. For example Thorax is Germany’s new hope and biggest talent around here. His productions are brilliant and high quality, that’s why he got signed by MostWantedDJ agency (Masters of Hardcore) as the only German standing for HARDCORE. So all in all we have a huge hardcore scene here which is very enthusiastic with many crazy party animals who want to attend club parties and big events but what we miss are professional artists/producers and with it a professional agency and music label.
What do you think about the current state of harder styles in America?
I see many legendary names from the US who had their career highlight in the 90s-00s like Rob Gee, DJ Delirium, Lenny Dee with Industrial Strength or Omar Santana with H2OH Records. These artists were not very present from 2005 – 2015 in the scene from an European/German point of view but it’s nice to see that for example Rob Gee and now also Lenny Dee celebrating successful comebacks! But I miss one or maybe two generations of new American hardcore artists. In the current state of harder styles in America I see a lot of potential for young artists. Go and use the current EDM-hype for infecting more people with your style of hard electronic dance music! Don’t make the same mistake as we did, move your ass to the studio and produce the music that you love. This is really my main advice to every artist who wants to maintain in the scene for long time and above national borders. Am I wrong with this evaluation about the American scene? Come and correct me over a beer at Gabberfest!
What are you trying to convey through your music? Are there any themes or ideas that are important to you? Is there anything in particular you find yourself wanting to communicate to the audience?
In my opinion it is pretty hard to convey a profound message in hardcore music. In other music genres it is much easier because you can express it in many words. Of course you can also choose your vocals very well in your productions or pick an MC for recording your own lyrics but techno music in general is
about kick drums, beats and synths. My music is dance music so people want to go mad on it, it’s not that important to communicate a certain message, but a feeling. When I produce music I think of what I would like to hear when I am in a club or a big festival. Am I in a mood of a straight punchy stomper tracks, working with drive and rhythm, or do I want to dive into nice spheres, with an epic melody that makes me raise my hands up in the air? For me it’s not important to say that I love science, don’t believe in god, or wanna fuck the system, the main message is always the same: You are hardcore, so you are a rebel.
Do you have anything special planned for the event?
I hope to present some new unreleased tracks at Gabberfest and of course I will bring some gifts to my American supporters.
Will you be attending EDC this year as well?
If I can spontaneously get a hold of a ticket for a day, yes!
Which artists are you most looking forward to seeing?
Angerfist and Rob Gee of course! Full hardcore support! But also Knife Party, Pendulum, and Zedd would be interesting to me. The rest… I am really not a big fan of EDM and hardstyle. It bores me over time and I can also see many of these DJs in Europe. It is more interesting to me seeing the party people there and feeling the vibes this event transports, hopefully.
How did you land the Gabberfest gig?
Well, that is a question a lot of people around here have asked too. The answer is simple: I still send demos worldwide! Back in the days these were my mix tapes and nowadays my new releases. So I got in contact with some American artists and later on to the promoter of Gabberfest and we arranged everything. That’s it!
Anything that you’re looking forward to most on your trip (that’s not music related)?
Everything! I’ll be staying for 3 weeks in your country, arriving in Los Angeles, heading over to Vegas for Gabberfest, and going further to San Francisco! USA represents the western lifestyle; the life I live here. American economy, technology, movies, music, lifestyle, almost everything from your country influences the way of living and the society here in Germany. I am curious to make my own experiences and my own opinion about the US because I just know it from TV, internet and pictures. I am looking forward to my long road trips, to people I will meet, to beautiful nature and culture I can see. I am interested in the huge cities, skyscrapers, national parks, landscapes, the desert, the sea. A taste of how America feels is what I want!
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?
The gig at Gabberfest was the trigger for me to participate in Rob Gee’s remix contest. There is no final decision made yet but I hope to present my remix to you guys soon, doesn’t matter if I win or not. However I will play this one for sure in Vegas. Besides that I am working on new solo projects and also collaborations with my friends Quitara and Tritone are planned in the future.
USA better watch out! D-CEPTOR is coming for ya!
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