Life is an adventure! Born and raised in Southern California, I have seen the US hard dance scene grow and i'm proud of the progress it has made. My musical preferences include early hardstyle, raw hardstyle, hardcore, uptempo hardcore, gabber, terror and frenchcore. I've enjoyed overseas events, as well as events here in the USA on both the East and West coasts. For me, raving with my friends and making new ones along the way makes it all worth it. In 2015 I started contributing to The Hard Data, and it's been a fun, wild ride, and I'm excited to bring you the you event reviews and original artist interviews!
The night started in a parking garage in Los Angeles just around the corner from the venue. We had gotten there early and began tailgating before eventually deciding to hit a bar for drinks (and even some pizza!). This was the first event we had been to since EDC and my friends and I speculated what the night ahead would be like. The show brought hardstyle legend Max Enforcer back to Los Angeles, as well as introduced Dr. Rude for his first US appearance and we were excited!
Upon entering the venue we decided to scope out the venue for friends, and check out both the upstairs Mainstage and the downstairs “Basement” which would be taken over by PLUR Eventz for the evening. On the Mainstage, Crime Family was warming up the crowd with a hardstyle set, playing a fun selection of tracks I wasn’t expecting like Shot of Tequila, Caramba! and WINMY. Though it was still early people were taking advantage of the open space on the dancefloor and already shuffling in the crowd.
Downstairs I was excited to see what the PLUR Eventz stage had to offer, as PLUR Eventz were some of my favorite shows with my friends when I was in my earlier rave days. As we walked in, we caught the end of Shark Bait’s set while we grabbed a drink at the bar. It was then that the hardcore gods smiled down upon us and HYN began to play, completely catching me completely off guard with a hardcore set! As The Pearly Gates and The Torment Of Triton pounded over the speakers I couldn’t help but crack a smile and haaken with the small crowd that had assembled, also spellbound by the hardcore. At the end of his set I gave HYN two thumbs up and made my way upstairs for some hardstyle.
I walked into the now packed mainstage to see Max Enforcer and E-Life playing, and it was nothing but bangers from the beginning of his set to the end. He dropped some epic dancefloor bangers including Runaway (U & I Frontliner Remix), Lost in Paradise, Mellow, Mosh Pit (Headhunterz Remix), Rocked Up, Imaginary, and even FTS! In addition to these, he made sure to drop some fresh tracks that are exploding in today’s hardstyle scene, like Armin Van Buuren vs Vini Vici Feat. Hilight Tribe – Great Spirit (Wildstylez remix), D-Block & S-te-Fan – Angels & Demons, and he even played an exclusive remix of Art of Fighters, Synthax & Xcite – Creatures of the Night , which he later told me is unreleased and he only drops it during his sets. “I like to keep some tracks to myself instead of releasing them,” he said, “it makes it a special moment that you can only experience by seeing me play.” I also mentioned to him that one of the reasons I really enjoyed his set was because it was a great mix of the whole spectrum of hardstyle, to which he replied “I don’t tend to follow the trends of ‘euphoric’ or ‘raw’… I just like to play the music that I like and it gives the set my personal
Max Enforcer and E-Life brought amazing hardstyle energy to Los Angeles
style.” Spoken like a true legend, he played what he wanted and the result was unbeatable. I hope to see him again very soon and I hope this message reaches other aspiring DJs out there to not follow the trend of the scene, but to be true to yourself!
While I caught up with Max Enforcer and E-Life, we witnessed Dr. Rude’s first US appearance unfolding on the stage beside us. Dr. Rude’s style is very unique in that he too plays the spectrum of hard dance music, but with a bit of a freestyle flair with tracks like Gaan Met Die Banaan, Welcome To The Zoo, and Ghettoblaster. It was when he played Kalavela Shot me Down that I was reminded of the first time Dr. Rude grabbed my attention on a Hard With Style podcast.
Dr. Rude’s first US appearance
Other tracks that stood out to me from his set included Zatox & Le Shuuk – Basswall, and what night of Hardstyle would be complete without Digital Nation or the Darude – Sandstorm (Sub Sonik Remix)?! For his first US appearance I can tell that Dr. Rude will definitely be back. The energy that he brought kept the crowd dancing from beginning to end.
Please rise! The Congress of the Kickdrum is now in session! As this year’s Gabberfest Anthem proudly announced, it was a full-on convention of misfits, dreamers and instigators drawn to a single flashpoint of action: rocking hardcore for 2 days straight under the unforgiving Las Vegas June sun. Temperatures of over 111 degrees bathed this year’s dedicated attendees at what is becoming America’s default meet-up of the harder styles.
We woke up Saturday morning after spending the previous night at EDC. Not only were we tired and sore from dancing all night in the heat, but we were hungry! We elected to start the day off at the Belagio buffet to fuel up and pre-game with their bottomless cocktails! After a solid hour of eating and drinking as much as we could, it was time to head to the fest.Walking up the the Hard Hat Lounge where the event is held, you can hear the warlike assault of the baselines from several blocks away.
The Hard Data DJ Team
Foreign dignitaries this year were Phoenix, Epidemic and Rohdan from Australia. The HARD DATA was well represented this year as “the official” HARD DATA Team of Lostboy, Mindcontroller and Deadly Buda turned the heat up outside and inside on both stages Saturday.
In addition, American hardcore legend Rob GEE headlined the event, bringing his twenty-plus years of gabber expertise to the table to inspire young and old alike. His set spanned from old classics, like “Army of Hardcore” to his newer material like the recently new and improved version of “Hard Sweetcore.” GEE was an integral part of the very first Gabberfest, and it was great to see him return to give the gabbers a kick drum to live on.
The White Ape overseeing the festivities
Frequent contributors to the magazine rocked the line-up as well, as Flap Jack, M27 and Seppuku each rocked fierce vinyl sets, Vigor rocked rawstyle, CAP devastated the tour bus stage with all his own tracks, Arcid coordinated the Techno Belligerent stage and The White Ape presided over the entirety of the festivities.
But, that’s just the list of usual suspects, a who’s who of hardcore from around the country was there too. Not one bad set the entire weekend. It was thick from beginning to end! Eni, Energy Alleul, Metal Jesus, Inspektor Gadjet, Gabber Twinz, How Hard, Lauren Valentine, Symtek and System Malfunction kept brought the energy to the crowd even in the unforgiving heat.
By Sunday morning it was clear that the heat was taking it’s toll on the crowd’s energy, but with the Hardcore blasting everyone gave it their all and I have spoken with had a blast! (At one point during the event it got so loud the speakers at the inside stage!) It was 100% on this year, nothing can beat the energy you get when you combine hardcore and a crowds of dedicated fans. That being said, important changes could be in the works for next years Gabberfest, and rumors of its move to a different time of year was a “hot” topic of conversation. At over 100 degrees each day, Gabberfest has been more like an endurance test sometimes, than an actual good-time rave. The waterguns, tents, mister and pools help, but eventually one must migrate to the air-conditioning or risk passing out. In addition, the event falls on EDC weekend which seems to prevent some people from coming, as the hotel ticket prices in Vegas can be particularly expensive, and it seems that many Gabberfest attendees do not attend EDC. So, part of the congress this year was openly debating a radical shift in time for the event. What do you think? What would be the best time of year for Gabberfest, and why? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section!
It was once again that time of year to head into the desert for America’s largest rave, and most importantly for The Hard Data crew, the largest hard dance lineup of the year in one place. EDC 2017 seemed this year to be “by ravers, for ravers.” Though the attendance this year was not as big as last year’s, it frankly was just the right amount of people to have a really good time for all the money that one might spend going to EDC. The line-ups on all the stages were solid and one was constantly confronted with the dilemma of “who do I want to see more?” as there were great acts constantly. The Basscon lineup, however, was stacked with some of the largest names in the hard dance business and featured something for everyone. Euphoric DJs like Wasted Penguinz and Da Tweekaz, to legendary names like Isaac, Brannan Heart and D-Block & S-Te-Fan, to rawstyle pioneers like Radical Redemption and Gunz For Hire. Plus! Hardcore every night by masters Angerfist, Mad Dog and AniMe, and Miss K8!
DAY 1, June 16, 2017 A.D.
EDC – Basscon Wasteland 2017
This EDC may have been the hottest one on record, with temperatures remaining in the 90 degrees plus range even at the blackest of night. Fortunately, there was no shortage of free, filtered water to take the edge off the heat. We knew we would spend the majority of our weekend at Basscon, but being that there is so many things to see and do at EDC we agreed that we would explore the rest of the fest that weekend as well. Walking into the festival on Friday night, however, our excitement overshadowed the extreme heat and we were untroubled as we made our way through the grounds to get our first peek at the Basscon Wasteland stage. We were immediately greeted with the pulsing vibrations of Hardstyle basslines hitting our bodies and it was as though the speakers surrounded us and the music enveloped our bodies. The stage was set to resemble ancient Egyptian ruins, and its centerpiece featured a massive scarab beetle or an Egyptian-bird of some sort that generated all sort of hieroglyphs, but it was in the “Wasteland.” Like, somehow in the dystopian future there is a resurgence of Ancient Egypt. The stage stood over the crowd with its wings outstretched and was packed with pyrotechnics, lasers and LED screens flashing colorful lightshows at the audience.
Upon our arrival, TNT (aka Technoboy ‘N’ Tuneboy) had just wrapped up their set of their signature Italian hardstyle, complete with anthemic melodies and reverse-bass basslines, and it was then Atmozfears’ timeslot. While we have had the chance to see Atmozfears in the past, this weekend we wanted to make sure to make his set a priority. Atmozfears’ music career has been on the fast lane in recent years and so it was no surprise that his set delivered a diverse and entertaining mix of some of hardstyle’s biggest tracks including Noisecontrollers new track Spirit of Hardstyle and his iconic track with Code Black, Accelerate. Towards the end of his set, it was time for a water refill and explore other parts of the festival before D-Block and S-Te-Fan came on.
EDC 2017 Main stage – Kinetic Field
We elected to check out Astrix at the Dreamstate’s Quantum Valley stage for some psytrance. Trance has a history with Hardstyle music and it was fun to experience a different perspective of the ravers and to groove to their music. We then circled back through Kinetic Field and gawked at the incredible mainstage, featuring a goddess with her arms outstretched and two giant owls on either side of her. It was incredible to see the amazing artistry and meaning Insomniac had put into this concept and it translated well.
Quantum Valley blasted out the sick lasers all weekend.
We then made our way back to the Basscon stage and Atmozfears wrapped up his set and it was time for D-Block and S-Te-Fan. Brandon’s bud from Boston, Matt had never seen D-Block and S-Te-Fan and he was very excited, and for good reason… that set was packed with incredible tracks from beginning to end! One of their favorite tracks (that was unfortunately was absent from their set, however) was Sound of the Thunder. Hopefully we will get the chance to hear them play it at a future show. In addition, it was during their set, that the main firework show enveloped the festival grounds. The fireworks and the classic tracks D-Block and S-Te-Fan were playing reminded us of the reason we fell in love with Hardstyle in the first place. As D-Block and S-Te-Fan finished their set we agreed that it was time for more water and to explore more of the festival before coming back to Basscon for the end of Code Black, and of course then… Angerfist!
Darkness descends on the Wasteland as Angerfist takes the stage.
We made our way through the thick crowd getting down to Zomboy at Basspod. Then, decided to check out the harder side of techno at the Neon Garden, where we caught Nicole Moudaber b2b with Chris Liebing, since recently Brandon has been getting into techno to supplement his hardcore addiction. While their set was not quite as hard as schrantz, the dark techno sound was a nice change of pace from what we are used to hearing. After that short break we made it back to Basscon in time to watch the end of Code Black’s set, and then it was time for Angerfist! It was at the moment the hardcore started that we saw something INCREDIBLE happen – the crowd poured into the Basscon stage.
Angerfist – EDC 2017
It was packed from shoulder to shoulder for hardcore! In classic Angerfist fashion, he started the crowd up with chant and repeat “when I say ANGER you say FIST…” and from there, the surprises kept coming. Miss K8 joined Angerfist on stage briefly as they played Masters of Hardcore and Dominator anthems. Then, unexpectedly, MC Villain got on the mic and reminded everyone that we were witnessing the number one hardcore DJ in the world. EDC night 1 closed with an explosion of adrenaline and at the end of Angerfist’s set we headed back to our hotel to recharge our batteries for the day we had ahead of us.
DAY 2, June 17, 2017 A.D.
It was buffets like this that put us into digestion shock, finally getting some well needed sleep.
Saturday we woke up with a hunger that needed tamed. Matt and Brandon elected to meet with their friend Miguel at the hotel buffet and fuel our bodies for the day ahead. From the buffet we left to Gabberfest, a hardcore festival off the strip that is held every year during EDC weekend. DJ Deadly Buda, Mindcontroller and Lost Boy were scheduled to play at Gabberfest as The Hard Data DJ team, so we went to rock out in the 100+ degree weather. Then, we made our way back to the hotel to get ready for EDC night 2.
Our ride fell through for Day 2, so we began weighing our options between the Park and Ride, or taking an Uber as we walked back into the hotel to get changed. It was at this time that an EDC miracle happened for us.
If you’re Uber doesn’t look like this, don’t take it!
We were walking through the hotel lobby and we bumped into a young couple who were dressed in war paint and rave gear, they were clearly on their way to EDC as well. After a short conversation with them we mentioned our predicament and they didn’t even hesitate to offer us a ride with them. Our ride with Caesar and Sarah was pleasant and it reminded me what raving is all about: taking care of one another, a core principle that tends to get lost in today’s scene. It was nice to meet and bond with likeminded individuals and we will forever be grateful to their generosity.
We thanked our new friends and walked into Night 2 of EDC. We made it to the Basscon stage just in time to catch Italian rebel, Zatox, throw down some bangers, along with his friend and MC Dave Revan before it was time for the legend, DJ Isaac, to take the stage. As I enjoyed the show, Matt and I met up with some other friends of ours in the crowd, Dan and Sandy, and we came came up with a game-plan on how to explore some other parts of the festival. We had all seen Isaac and Frontliner multiple times and decided that we would go to Cosmic Meadow to check out Porter Robinson, and come back to Basscon for the end of Frontliner’s set before Gunz For Hire. As we walked towards Cosmic Meadow the crowd got thick with people, it was clear that Porter Robinson was “the place to be” and we decided to head to the top of the bleachers for his set.
Cosmic Meadow – EDC 2017
From the front of the stage, to the top of the bleachers thousands of people had gathered for the amazing production of anime-themed and static Technicolor visuals of the stage, and Porter’s melodic electro pop house music. It reminded us of the size of the crowds I’ve experienced at European festivals and it made us wonder if there would ever be a following like this for hardstyle and hardcore, or if the music we loved would remain so separated from the mainstream to ever be accessable to the American audience.
Was this the new security at EDC this year? No! It was a traveling glitch music car!
We wrapped up our rest break and made our way back to Basscon for the end of Frontliner’s set before it was time for DJ Ran-D and Adaro’s live act, Gunz For Hire where they unleashed their new performance on the crowd – codename: Armed and Dangerous. Their set included several classic Gunz For Hire tracks like Kings of the Underground, Executioner Style, No Mercy, and Bolivia, and even treated us to some new music like Welcome to Deathrow and Pussy Lover. Gunz For Hire closed out their set and the onslaught of rawstyle continued with Radical Redemption. Radical’s set was probably my favorite Hardstyle set of the weekend, featuring rough rawstyle and he even ended his set with a blistering hardcore section to a manic crowd, including his track with Destructive Tendencies – Bring us Some. By the end of Radical’s set we were ready for another break and decided to check out Oliver Heldens at Circuit Grounds, the last stage we hadn’t been to yet for the weekend.
Circuit Grounds – EDC 2017
We sat off to the side of the stage and even laid back to rest, along with a dozen or so other tired ravers. EDC has had its share of casualties from the extreme heat over the years and it was reassuring to see security and Ground Control personnel come up to us to make sure that we were ok, and even offered us bottles of water. With as many people that were there it proved to me that they genuinely do their best to make sure everyone has a good time while trying to keep everyone there safe.
EDC 2017’s Chill-Out area
We left our rest area and made our way back to Basscon through the chill-out area by all the vendors. We made it back in time to catch the end of Toneshifterz before closing out night 2 with Dj Mad Dog b2b with DJ AniMe. Their set showcased their unique Hardcore Italia sound and featured some of their signature tracks including Dog Fight and Cracks – the crowd was loving it! After discussing with amongst ourselves we came to the conclusion that Basscon Area has the hottest babes at EDC hands down. Our friend Matt even went as far as to say that some of those ladies could out-hakken himself and even the dexterous and limber writing crew at THD. We left the festival at sunrise and made our way back to the hotel to rest up for Day 2 of Gabberfest and Night 3 of EDC.
DAY 3, June 18, 2017 A.D.
Sunday afternoon we spend another day in the 100+ degree weather at Gabberfest and decided to hit the buffet again to fuel up. Apparently, we hit the buffet a little too hard and fell deep into a food-coma in the hotel room. By the time we woke up it was time to head to EDC and we got there around midnight where it was a toasty 90 degrees. We arrived at the Basscon stage to see the end of Noisecontrollers’ set and just in time for Da Tweekaz with MC D on the mic. Their unique style of goofy melodies was refreshing and even saw Villain in the crowd enjoying himself. During their set, Da Tweekaz even gave a special preview of their new happy-hardcore-influenced “Tweekacore” sound, which they would play at Defqon 1 the following weekend.
The last hurrah for the Basspod? Bassrush Massive was off the hook this year.
Following Da Tweekaz, it was time to a break and grab a cocktail. As we picked up our spiked Electric Lemonade we decided to watch Basscon from a different perspective headed to the chillout area to watch Brennan Heart’s set livestreamed on the LED TV screens. Brennan Heart had the crowd bumping non-stop, and it was only from the perspective of overhead cameras that we could truly appreciate as a whole the bouncing crowd from end to end of the area. While watching we made conversation with others who gathered by the LED TV screen and met a man, Steve, who had traveled all the way from Scotland. We have visited EDC many times before so it was refreshing to get the perspective of someone who had travel internationally. While we talked we “somehow” got on the subject of hardcore. Apparently, there is a big hardcore scene in Scotland. One of Brandon’s pals, Bass Destruction, plays hardcore in Scotland and Steve said he had been to some of the Twisted Darkside parties he had played at! Apparently, it’s a very a small world and I made a mental note that I would have to visit sometime and party with them both.
Deadly Buda shows off the mega-Kandi Ryan Payne PLURRED him in the middle of the Wasteland arena. We made Buda promise to keep it on “stun” all weekend.
We said our farewells to Steve and made our way back to Basscon for Wildstylez and MC Villain. Wildstylez’s set was loaded with a lot of classic tracks and it was a trip down Hardstyle-memory-lane all over again. Lastly, Villain reminded us that Wildstylez was half of Project One (Headhunterz and Wildstylez) and it gave me hope that one day we would be able to witness Project one for ourselves here in the US. After we made some noise “for the very, very, very last time”, (as urged by Villain) for Wildstylez, we closed out the weekend with the goddess of hardcore herself, Miss K8, who showed no mercy. Her track selection proved to be particularly brutal for a crowd of people who had been raving for 3 days straight in the desert heat. This did not stop anyone from making the most of their final moments of the festival and we witnessed the people dancing themselves to exhaustion at sunrise in 95 degree heat!
More scenes from the Wasteland. EDC Basscon 2017
Our weekend consisted of exploring the amazing sights and sounds of the festival, and while we spent most of our time at the Basscon stage, of course, the weekend was nothing short of incredible! The lineup consisted of some of the biggest names in the business and there was more hardcore at EDC this year than any of recent memory, the faithful being treated to Angerfist, Miss K8, Mad Dog and AniMe. Insomniac’s continued dedication to grow the Basscon scene is leading to higher quality production and larger crowds that ever before, and we look forward to what the future has in store for us!
By Brandon “CabZ” Caballero, Joel “Deadly Buda” Bevacqua, Alvaro “Seppuku” Manjarrez, and Matt “Matty Muscles” from Mass.
April 28-29 marked the return of Basscon: Wasteland to Southern California. Hard dance enthusiasts had traveled from far and wide for this show; I personally knew people coming from as far as New York, New Jersey and Arizona. Tales of the ancient ruins being uncovered to reveal a hard dance paradise had spread and all were out to claim their part of this treasure. My caravan and I began our journey through the deserts of San Bernardino in search of any signs of civilized life, and in our search we encountered a surge of ravers who were ready to party. I began my weekend sitting down with the esteemed hard dance aficionado, The Qollector. The Qollector is an archaeologist of hard dance artifacts dating as far back as the 20th century and it truly was remarkable seeing some of these curios and artifacts up close! He had booklets, flyers, CDs and more from In Qoltrol, HardBass, Qlimax, Defqon 1, and Decibel just to name a few. Check out our interview here
The next stop along our route to the Wasteland took a bizarre twist as we met with America’s Only Hardcore Terror DJ Team: Extreme Team. These poor lads must have spent too much time in the hot sun which had apparently impaired their cognitive function. They appeared incoherent and I knew it was my duty as a fellow raver to take them back to my hotel room and provide them nourishment by way of more vodka. We talked about some of their inspirations as artist, about some of their upcoming releases, and about their show at the Hardroadz after party: Arcadia The Promise Land. We have documented the encounter with Extreme Team on Facebook live that can be viewed here. As you may be able to tell, they were beyond our help and we had to release them back into the desert to fend for themselves.
We took a moment to fuel our bodies with refreshments and food before the show and then it was time to go. Our chief navigator from Uber had received coordinates of where Wasteland could be found and he arrived at our basecamp to take us there! Upon our arrival inside the festival it was clear that we were not alone, thousands of hard dance fans had descended upon Wasteland and were ready to party! The landscape consisted of one outdoor oasis with a two stages and refreshments, and large ancient temple of massive pyramids, golden sphinxes, hundreds of lasers, confetti, CO2 cannons and even glistening disco balls… it was spectacular to behold this treasure with my own eyes! The gods themselves took to the main stage and descended down upon the ravers with a relentless pounding of hardstyle and hardcore beats!
I decided to get some refreshments and walked past the outdoor stage where I watched Zany end his set with Lose My Mind. Following Zany, DJ Stephanie took to the stage. While talking to some friends, I was listening to Stephanie in the background and she immediately caught my attention in an unexpected way. She started playing one of my favorite hardcore tracks, Let’s Get It On by Art of Fighters and Endymion. I knew I needed to make it to the front of the crowd during this track as she continued to play hardcore until the end of her set! Stephanie earned the title of most unexpected stand out set of the night. I finished Basscon Night 1 with Angerfist at the mainstage. A few of the tracks he dropped were Why So Serious by Tha Playah, Fist in your Face, Just Like Me, and Raise and Revolt.
After exploring Basscon Wasteland, we made our way to the Hardroadz: Arcadia The Promise Land after party to see the Extreme Team perform. Their set began with exclusive solo set by Tim Shopp and was immediately followed by typical Extreme Team madness! The small but passionate crowd was loving the terror. By the end of their set it was time to venture back to basecamp to let our bodies recover before Day 2.
Day 2 began with a buffet of food to fuel our injured bodies, followed by a trip to the hotel’s jacuzzi to massage our sore muscles. We then prepared our caravan to go to the show once more. Unfortunately, 2 of our fellow party goers succumbed to Wasteland’s wrath and were left behind to pray to the porcelain gods in the hotel room. RIP
At the outdoor stage, I caught the end of Ruthless dropping a awesome freestyle set. His track selection ranged from tek to euphoric, to raw hardstyle and even some hardcore. Some of the tracks he played included Wolfpack, Reawakening, The Project and Lost In Paradise. At one point, he even had the entire crowd chanting Gaan met die Bannan (with a little help from myself and the Extreme Team to get it going 😜). At the main stage, DJ Isaac was keeping the good vibes going. Isaac played the crowd with Last Night Ever, Till The Sky Falls Down, but then unexpectedly Ruthless jumped onto Isaac’s set and played Gaan Met Die Bannan again!
This expedition into the dessert to experience Basscon: Wasteland was unforgettable. It was remarkable to see how large of a crowd showed up for a weekend of hard dance, how many people traveled from out of state to participate, and how much energy and enthusiasm all the ravers brought to the show! I sincerely hope Basscon will continue to pursue bigger and bigger shows and I look forward to them with great anticipation. Up next for Basscon, catch them at the Basscon Pool Party EDC weekend at the Stratosphere, at the Basscon Wasteland stage at EDC Las Vegas, and at the highly anticipated second edition of Project Z!
DJ Wildstylez has been at the forefront of hardstyle for over a decade. We had a chance to catch up with him before his performance this weekend at Basscon Wasteland!
Joram, thank you so much for taking the time to interview with me! Tell us, when and how did you first become interested in music?
Music has always been important to me. When I was young I played guitar in several small bands. After that I started producing music myself and left the Rock Academy. I had a new passion and was determined to become a professional DJ/producer!
Were you influenced by other artists or genres? If so, which ones?
As a beginner, it is hard to give your productions your own sound, so I listened to the music of older producers like The Prophet a lot. Through the years, I started to develop my own sound and had the guts to create something I like instead of pleasing others. My first track had typical hardstyle sounds, but also some different unusual elements. These were my first steps to the real Wildstylez sound.
How do you balance your life with other obligations?
My life as a DJ is very unbalanced because I travel a lot. For example, this month I have 14 gigs in 9 countries and 3 continents. Yes, that also means a lot of hotels and a major jetlag from time to time haha! When I’m in Holland I’m working in the studio as much as possible during the week. When I get home it’s time to relax!
How do you prepare for a big show? Do you have any pre-show rituals that you follow?
I don’t really have a pre-show ritual. Most of the time I relax a bit in my hotel when I’m abroad. I always make sure to take time to do some research on the events I play at. Therefore, I know some practical things like the capacity and line up. Of course, every country has a different audience. It never gets boring!
Project One at Qlimax in 2008
You and DJ Headhunterz performed at Qlimax 2008 as Project One, now 8 years later, you reappeared together at Qlimax 2016. How did it feel to bring back Project One after so many years?
Bringing back Project One at Qlimax this year was one of the highlights of my career! It felt great to share one stage with Headhunterz again and to produce new music for this act.
Can you give us any hints on upcoming releases by either yourself or on Lose Control Music?
I have a lot of new music coming up! Currently I’m working with Hard Driver in the studio and I recently finished two solo tracks. In May I will release my collab with Noisecontrollers and Bass Modulators at Lose Control Music. Of course I’m going to play some new material at Wasteland as well!
Are you excited to be back in the US for Basscon: Wastelend? Do you have anything special planned for the party?
I am crazy excited to be back in the US again because it has been awhile! I am really looking forward meeting my American fans again! Let’s make this crowd move. ☺
Wildstylez is guaranteed to make the crowd go crazy! Make sure you don’t miss his set at Basscon Wasteland on Friday, April 28!
