Straight out of Italy, Art of Fighters have been bringing their particular flavor of hardcore music for nearly 2 decades. The Art of Fighters history began in the year 1997 and their career took off as one of the fastest in the scene. It was the year 2000 and they were just 18 years old when they jumped onto the biggest European stages playing their first hit tracks ‘Artwork‘ and ‘Earthquake‘ while wearing their trademark: the terrifying hockey mask, similar to the one seen in the movie ‘Friday the 13th’.

Since then, they have been unstoppable: spreading throughout the entirety of Europe, USA, Japan, South America and Australia. They have continued to produce track after track, becoming one of the leading acts of todays Hardcore scene. Creators of anthems for the biggest events as Dominator, Thunderdome and Q-Base, their sound is constantly evolving. A sound which can be described as a unique mix of harmony and technicality, with the rawness and power that you expect to be found in a proper hardcore track.

It’s a pleasure to be interviewing you! Could you tell us a little but about yourselves? How do you know each other? Did you always know you wanted to be DJs?

Ciao America, we are Luca and  Cristian and we are Art of Fighters! We are producers from Italy, land of good food, good people and good music (in my personal opinion).
(Cristian) I have know Luca since I was a kid, we grew up together as neighbours and we spent all the childhood together. I know him since 30years, it’s my fourth brother, even if he is from another mother.

Can you tell me a little bit about the story behind you’re DJ name? How did you come up with the name ‘Art of Fighters’?

At the time we sent our first demo to The Stunned Guys our name was “Armageddon”. It was a cool one, around 15 demos, ranging from 200/400BPM, except a couple of them which were around 150bpm.
Long story short, Maxx suggested us to put into the trashcan all the tracks except the slower ones, and to find a new name cause it was a bit overused. We already had our first logo, so we had to pick up something starting with an “A”.
Our second choice was “Art of Warriors”, also taken so we went from ‘Warriors’ to ‘Fighters’ and voilà! Years later I realized how important that decision was. We became that name, and now more than ever we are fighting for our Art, which is the music and the message we are trying to spread around the world.

How did Art of Fighters get started? Did you ever expect to grow to the notoriety and recognition you have today?

We started in the basement of my parents house, using nothing else than a Pentium computer and Fast Tracker 2. Why?! I still have no idea, probably bored or just curious about how music was made.
And no, never expected to make it a full time job, also because back then (first demos are dated around 1996/97) the dj wasn’t at all a recognized figure, it was more like an outcast. You had to do it just because you liked to. We are lucky that people like what we do and support us. We’ll try to not disappoint them and stay true to our Core.

Tell me a little bit about why you wear masks and their designs? Do they mean anything special?

The idea of the masks comes from the man that taught us how to mix, DJ Tetta. We had to play a b2b set in Switzerland in early 2001 and he came with the idea of jumping on stage with those white masks and white jumpsuits. We loved the idea and kept using them. After few months we decided to personalize the mask a little bit (here’s why the different design for each one of us) and somewhere around the 2006 we hired someone to make the ones we’re using right now, which (as what the creator said) are made using the mold from the original Jason 13th movie.

Here you can see the pictures of the first time we used those masks. The design is a bit different from what we use now:

Would you have ever seen yourselves coming to perform the USA? How do you think playing for a US crowd will be different from playing in Europe, what do you expect? Are there any new tracks you plan to drop, or any tracks you are particularly excited to play for the US crowd?

This year was full of unexpected gigs. We also did Colombia and Japan, and about to set foot in Canada aswell. And every one of those gigs is a blessing.
We love to travel, see different cultures, people and situations. I belive we are all the same but still very different, the idea of party in Italy is different that the one in France or Japan, and I bet my ass that US is a different scenario aswell.
As they taught us, you have to adapt in real time to the dancefloor, I’ll try to showcase all our music, which goes from 150bpm to over 200bpm!(I use the singular since it will be a solo dj performance in the US… Luca will be unable to join me due to technical reasons).

Do you think Traxtorm Ganstaz Allied could make a US performance in the future? (DJ team consisting of members Unexist, The Stunned Guys, Mad Dog and Art of Fighters)

I really hope so, and not just in the US!

Are there any upcoming releases or future collabs you can share with us? Anything you’re particularly excited about that we should be watching for?

We’re finishing as we speak two tracks, in collaboration with a really talented and underestimated friend and producer which is Dj Predator. A mix of Early rave, Drum and Bass, Mainstyle Uptempo with a touch of Neurofunk. We Love It.
There’s also an Hardcore Italia compilation mixed by us and about to be released in Japan. Lot of fresh and cool music and idea over there from a lot of new producers and talents. Keep an eye on it.
And also working on something different for 2017. If it will work I’ll talk about it in another edition of Hard Data.

Fantastic! Is there anything else you’d like to say to the readers on the Hard Data?

Yes. A scene without a crowd is not a scene, and a dj without a public is just an expensive cdplayer. So please, support the US scene and attend every party you can!

For me personally, listening to en episode of the Hardcore Italia podcast mixed by an Art of Fighters is what sparked my interest in hardcore music and I am very excited to see them perform here in Los Angeles! Catch them on the USA stops of the Industrial Strength Records 25yr Anniversary world tour, performing in Los Angeles, CA on November 18th, and in Brooklyn, NY on November 19th.