Here we have an artist who has literally done it all with so much ease and sleaze. Sei2ure has released on nearly every important hardcore record label known today with a repertoire that has stretched from the industrial side of the spectrum, to crossbreed, all the way over to uptempo. He is known more for his elaborate, crispy-crumbly kick drums as well as his sounds that can only be found inside of a steel factory or, perhaps, an airplane crash site. I mention this because his most recent release, ‘Partystarter’, on ‘Footworxx Digital’, isn’t where you are going to find the “top-of-the-line” Sei2ure. Although the second track, ‘Serial Killer’, sits at 175 BPM and has more groove, it is still designed in the same vein as the title track and the final, albeit stronger track, ‘Back the Fuck Up’: typical straight driving bass lines with the occasional vocal sample at the end of every 4 bars. But its Sei2ure’s sound itself that makes this uptempo release more invigorating and worth a rinse out at the next hardcore party.
Blaster is a name in our community that I’m surprised more people haven’t mentioned, but with his newest release, ‘Drop the Bomb’ out on New York’s Industrial Strength Records, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw this man roaming the states very soon. Right away, the title track is going to catch you off-guard with its groovy, all-over-the-map sound design, odd-numbered (161?!) BPM, and with a trap-like breakdown, and a hard re-entry, this track is far more atypical in this genre. The b-side, ‘You Don’t Like Me’, is much more typical of this artist (and hardcore in general), however again Blaster keeps things interesting by incorporating other styles of electronic music and keeping his sound design original and edgy regardless of the dated, overused vocal sample.
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:
