Last night, American hardcore/speedcore DJs and black/death metal bands joined forces in Las Vegas, NV to reinforce the powers of the underground in an outstanding way. Since we were in the city of sin, bands Demesic and Dead Reckoning were certain to make an appearance and our headliner Acid Enema performed as their live duo (Noth on guitars, Abhorrent on the mic and programming), which is what I’ve been waiting for since Gabberfest 2015!
Demesic live at The Bradley. black Amalgam show. Las Vegas, NV.
The night was held together by Los Angeles’s Speedcore Militia members Slyten and Arcid as well as Las Vegas’s own DJLD and HellNegative! The live acts were a lot of fun and refreshing to the standard line up/transitions that we are used to seeing at raves and also shows the support and cooperation we have across the spectrum of American music groups and collectives. “I want to keep pushing boundaries.” says Acid Enema’s front-man Abhorrent. “I want to continue expanding interest into more metal influenced hardcore and speedcore, also as a way to open new ears and generate interest in the hardcore sound; combining musical tastes may do just that!” HellNegative feels the same way about the combination, saying, “By booking hardcore alongside other genres, we have a chance to introduce our music to a completely different demographic. And thanks to last night’s show, we’ve converted a few metal heads into speedcore and breakcore fans.”
Slyten at the Black Amalgam show. Las Vegas, NV.
There seems to be a theme going on here, as Noth also mentions that unity is a key aspect for the growth and continuation the American hardcore scene. “There is a lot of dissonance between genres and shows like these bring fans of both styles together and could maybe even cultivate a love for something new.”
There’s still plenty of evidence that the American hardcore scene is alive and thriving, even in these dive-y little bars like the Bradley which dedicated members will flock to so that we can catch up on the latest happenings and events that are coming up in the near future. You are bound to meet the right people and to make the right connections in this underworld and for Las Vegas, there isn’t a better way to get your fix than its plethora of diversity in a city where you may never run into the same person twice.
It may seem like a one-off to many, but this weekend Las Vegas sees one of its biggest influxes in tourism that doesn’t take place within the “summer months” or the holidays; I didn’t know this until I began driving down into the dust bowl monolith itself and witnessed all of the trailers and vintage vehicles making the same trek as I; there is always plenty going on in this city as you know, but rarely do we get to say that we are going to Vegas for hard dance music. This Saturday, ‘Ravealation’ has given us the pleasure of enjoying Hardstyle much closer to home with another ‘Apocalypto’ event featuring the “melody man” himself FRONTLINER! Since I’ve driven 6 hours into town for this event, one of the front men (and mastermind behind ‘Apocalypto’ in this writer’s opinion) Matthew Levin has agreed to sit down with me and discuss how events like this are becoming ever more possible in the city that already has it all.
What is the Apocalypto concept and how is it becoming a pivotal point for hard dance music in Las Vegas?
It’s a concept that allows us to throw hard dance events for experienced and new fans alike. We plan on treating Apocalypto as its own brand… it exists as its own entity. Apocalypto will act with the best interests of hard dance music fans in mind, and we plan on delivering incredible experiences to these great people. Our goal is to strengthen the current hard dance foundations while expanding our music to new demographics.
What can people expect from Apocalypto this Saturday?
First and foremost: amazing sound. My number one concern is always having powerful sound. There are fewer things in life more disappointing than a Hard Dance party with weak sound. The venue itself has fantastic sound, but we have still elected to reinforce it with our own punch. On top of that, there will be plenty of lasers and other visual productions. As for the talent, I am 100% confident in all of their performance capabilities. I think every attendee is going to have an absolute blast.
What do you think is Las Vegas biggest reason for the lack of support for hard dance music?
I think population density and overall population is the issue. If you look at shows in LA, they can pull attendees from all of their suburbs, even as far as the city of San Diego, which is a two hour drive away. A lot of people believe that Vegas is a large city, when in fact it’s not larger than a small town. Another aspect that makes throwing non-mainstream parties difficult is that Vegas focuses significantly on supporting the casino club industry, which is prevalent here. Overall, I would say we are seeing a steady increase in Hard Dance support in Las Vegas, which is always a good sign.
What more do you think can be done to strengthen the hard dance scene in your city? As a whole?
I believe that sharing the music with a variety of demographics will be the fastest way to grow the scene in Las Vegas. Electronic music as a whole has a huge following in this city, yet the majority of these people have never even heard of hard dance, hardstyle, or hardcore. To spread hard dance as a whole, I believe that a similar approach must be taken, in that we need to penetrate other electronic dance communities and share our music with them. On top of that, and I’ll receive flak for saying this, but I feel that most American Hard Dance DJ’s do not present the music well to neither the experienced fans nor especially the inexperienced/new fans. I could write an article on all the consistent mistakes I see/hear American hard dance DJs execute, and eventually I plan on writing that as an information piece. Sidenote: to revisit the earlier statement regarding people in Las Vegas not having knowledge of “hard dance, hardstyle, or hardcore,” I would like to add psytrance to that list. Here in Las Vegas, Jack Spaidz has proved time and time again that psytrance is cheerfully welcomed at Apocalypto, and I would like to see an expansion of knowledge regarding that genre, along with the rest of the more standard hard dance genres, both here in Vegas, and across the states.
What is in store for us and Apocalypto in the future?
We are looking to grow both as a company and with the rest of the hard dance scene. I don’t see a limit as to how far we can take Apocalypto, I’m just happy to be along for the ride and put on great shows for the fans.
You can witness American hard dance acts Jo Ji, Kung Pow, Jack Spaidz, the debut of RVLTN Black and of course FRONTLINER this Saturday, April, 16th at the Hard Rock Café (Paradise Road location) in Las Vegas, Nevada!
Last August Altern 8 visited Los Angeles courtesy of TR-99’s Trauma party. It was a great honor meeting these guys, as Altern 8 unalterably shaped rave culture by ways of the massive impact of their music and persona. I lucked into a thorough interview (hence the delay in upload) with Mark Archer and Josh Doherty before they would play that night, and here is what they had to say…
How about a history lesson on what you were doing in the late ’80s – early ’90s that made Altern-8?
Mark: It started in ’89 working with Chris Peat, one of the original members of Altern-8. We were working together as ‘Nexus 21’. I was heavily influenced by Detroit Techno at the time. We were owed some studio time where we were working, Blue Chip Studios, Stafford. We went in, and made about nine or ten tracks. It had further influences than just Detroit Techno, so we didn’t want to call it Nexus 21. That way it wouldn’t dilute what we were doing as the other group.
We were going to call ourselves Alien-8, because Chris was in a rock band called Alien-8. When the label sent the tune to be pressed, they didn’t do any DJ promos, anything like that, came back with all the sleeves. They phoned us up and said, “The records are here.” Drove down to Birmingham where the label was based, opened the box, pulled it out, it said ‘Altern-8’ on the top. The name came round by mistake, really.
Altern-8 at TR-99’s Trauma. Photo by Peter Vincent.
It was just originally as a side-project, but the first EP had eight tracks on it, so a lot of DJs were buying it purely because there wre eight tracks you could play rather than one 12-inch that maybe had one mix that you could play, so it was really good value for money. When we did a follow-up, a lot of the DJs were already waiting for the follow-up, which was Infiltrate 202. It just went from there. We did that, and then we needed a follow-up, then we did Activ-8. Activ-8 got in the UK charts, so we started touring around the UK and around the world, and it took off a bit.
I remember you guys were on the cover of magazines, even here in the States and in Canada. What was the hysteria all about? Why were people so into you at the time?
Josh: Activ-8, I think, had sold enough copies that it would have gone to number one most weeks of the year, but it happened to be released the same week as the biggest British comedy act doing a thing, I think, and the new Michael Jackson single, so we got stuck at number three. Whereas a week earlier, a week later, it would have been a number one hit. There was a massive amount of hype around that time.
Mark: I think it was because we had the suits, which wasn’t planned. There was something really mysterious about the fact that people didn’t know who was making all the techno back then. There was very little known about it, so we took it to the ultimate by having the suits on. You couldn’t see who we were at all. There was a lot of hype and we did a lot of pranks, like giving away hot air. We were in a hot air balloon, and we were throwing Christmas puddings from it. There was the whole thing about the record label boss’s daughter, who was three at the time, saying, “Top one, nice one, get sorted” on the record, which was a phrase about people going out to raves.
Josh: Also, the rave scene was the last time that there was a huge social movement connected with a music scene in the UK. The government was really “anti-rave” and our look was “anti-establishment” as well, so people really connected with it.
How did you get into this? How did you find yourself in that wave of history?
Mark: There seemed to be a natural progression from early ’80s electro, soul, funk etc. People who were into that were, say, into like the early Chicago House stuff, including hip-hop. It kind of went hand-in-hand; banging to De La Soul and Public Enemy respectively. Then it went on to Acid House. After ’88, there was a lot of backlash about Acid House, but it kept progressing each year. ‘89 saw the arrival of Detroit Techno: the Belgians were making a lot of music and the Italians did this “Italo” House thing. There were so many influences at one time.
You were making music at that time?
Mark: Yeah. Yeah. I was making stuff in ’88, we were doing Acid House and stuff different names.
There was something where you guys were running for office?
Mark: That was just another way to get your name in the papers. If you have a single out, people will be promoting it, but when you don’t they won’t write about you. Every time, we had a prank, it was just a way to get your name out there so people remembered you between each single. The elections were going on, so Chris ran for the local elections in Stafford.
Josh:He didn’t come last, did he?
Mark: No. There’s a party called the Natural Law Party, and we actually beat them and they were being serious, and there we were.They were pissed.
Why is he not part of Altern-8 now?
Mark: In late ’93, I was recording under the name DJ Nex, Xen Mantra, I was doing House stuff with Danny Taurus under the name Slo Moshun. I was doing loads of different things, while Chris was getting more into computers. We had musical differences also. I wanted to go a certain direction – he was just interested in computers – so we stopped doing Altern-8 and revived Nexus 21. That didn’t happen so we stopped working together. I carried on DJ’ing ever since, recording under different names, but not recording any new material as Altern-8, Then in 2008, I played at a party Josh promotes in London called ‘I Love Acid’, and from there we started talking again. Now we’re doing the Altern-8 live shows again.
Are you going to come out with new Altern-8 music?
There’s a track in the [Trauma] live set which is brand new, right bang in the middle. We’re also working on an album.
Are you going to team up with any artists from back in the day?
Mark: Yeah, I’ve been working with some guys from Unique 3, Forgemasters, LFO, Rhythmatics, under the name The Originators.
There was something extra imbued into the Altern-8 sound that wasn’t just in all the other rave music. There seemed to be some bigger ideas behind it. Was that my imagination or was that actually going on?
Josh : A lot of that’s got to do with where some of the samples and the sounds are sourced from. There’s lots of really soulful House and Detroit Techno and bit and pieces like that that have gone in there. There’s something a little bit extra in them. I fucking love most of that old Hardcore, people like DJ DMS and stuff like Production House, but the source material of what they’re sampling was often other rave tunes, and it didn’t really reach back much further. The Altern-8 stuff just had a little more reach in where it was pulling tracks from. That’s my opinion, anyway.
Mark: At the time, I was just making tracks that I liked the sound of. The fact that people liked them was just … we just seemed to be doing something right and carried on doing it.
Are you just doing this one track?
Mark: Oh no, we’re going to be working on an album, get Full On … Mask Hysteria remixed and re-mastered. Get that out, and then work on new material for the new album.
Are you going to aim this material at the old schoolers, or are you going to aim it at kids?
Josh: We’re just going to write tunes that we like.
Mark: There’s no point trying to follow trends or push it to a certain market. Just like we did back then, you just made tunes that you liked and you hoped worked on the dance floor.
Josh: Both of us are producing other stuff anyway, so if we end up writing something Housey or Techno or something, it will just end up going under one of the other aliases. You don’t even have to go into the studio and go, “Must be Breakbeat,” because if something else works, then you just do something else with it.
Is there anything that you wish you could do over from that time? Or wish that you could do now?
Mark: If I had known how well the gig we played out here in ’92 went down … It was only after we were getting letters from people in LA, saying how good … from where we were on the stage, I didn’t think we did that well. At the end of our gigs, we used to come to the front of the stage and greet fans, but because it didn’t look like we did well, we just scurried off stage. Apparently, we blew that many people’s heads. If we somehow knew, we could’ve enjoyed it a hell of a lot more, gone out and met people etc. That’s probably the only thing.
What’s been your best memory throughout your musical journey?
Mark: The first time we played Downingtown Park, UK. That was our first big gig, and it was in a massive warehouse.
Josh: I played at a festival called Bloc in 2009, and the crowds were singing along to all the tunes. This was coming on after Skream & Benga, they were doing a dubstep thing, which was the most hyped music at the time. I was thinking, “I’m playing a bunch of old-school records after they just absolutely smashed it. I’m going to go down like a lead balloon.” But it just went off. This year, we ended a stage on Sunday night at Glastonbury, amid like 30,000 people
So what can we look forward to tonight?
Josh: All the classics, but they’ll be mashed up and changed a bit. The lucky thing is that the technology now is better than it was.
Mark: You’d have to take on a full studio on stage back in the day, whereas now you don’t have to.
Josh: A couple of laptops. There’s only so much that we can bring up. 303s and stuff stay at home.
Mark: All the tunes that hopefully people will remember. Different versions and a few surprises, and obviously the new tune in the middle.
All right then, top one, nice one, get sorted on iTunes!
From there, Altern 8 then prepped their set and later rocked and wowwed the crowd at Trauma.
Additional editing was done by DJ Daybreaker.
All photos in this article were shot by Peter Vincent.
In my mind, Leo Corson is one of the main people responsible for the current popularity of the harder styles in North America. As a tireless advocate of hard dance music, he was once known as DJ Dutchboy and then as Used & Abused. Now, he’s a booking agent for Corson Agency and Circle Talent Agency.
How did you get into the rave scene in the first place?
I went out to my first rave in 1994 or ’95. It was called Angies Urbal Jungle. From then, I kept going to raves. Insomniac was also throwing their first events around this time. I immediately fell in love with hardcore, the high energy 170-180 BPM stuff and some of the early rave sounds. I did a lot of things within the rave scene: I worked events, I did flyers, I worked in a booth selling necklaces and glow sticks, etc.
When did the music come in?
In 1997 or 1998, I happened to be working a show. Lenny Dee, DJ Isaac and G-Town Madness were booked for this. I met them, took them out the day after the show, and then I was invited to go to Holland. Holland is where I started really becoming a DJ because I was able to bring back all of this vinyl and white labels back to America. I started playing out as Dutchboy, my first show being in 1998, Neverland. Then around 2000, the music started to change: a big influence from Germany. People like Cosmic Gate started making 138 BPM music and then that morphed into what we know today as hardstyle, but it was a lot slower at first. A lot of the hardcore guys decided to switch to this sound. This started in about 1999, but it didn’t really become classified as hardstyle until about 2002 when it really started to take off. Then I switched as well and changed my name to ‘Used & Abused’, but I still played hardcore as Dutchboy. Then around 2003-2004, I opened up a record store on Melrose, Underground Culture. But at this time, vinyl was starting to die.
When did you establish Corson Agency?
2008. At the same time I set up the label Hard Dance Nation; that was the conduit that allowed us to do events and tours. We also release music for North American hard dance artists.
When was Hard Dance Nation’s first show?
In 2008 as well, when I became 30. It was “XXX,” Roman numerals for the age that I turned. That was the first show that was all hardstyle, hardcore, and hard dance, which took place on the ninth of August, 2008.
What was the biggest challenge to getting harder music more accepted in America?
It was easier in the early 2000’s because the different styles were all around the same BPM, the general speed being around 135 BPM. Trance, techno, and club house was 135, hardstyle was 138. You could mix it all together. Then in the mid 2000’s, everything kind of splintered off and it got even more splintered as we go into the teens. Now we have 128 on one side, and 150 on the other. That’s a broad spectrum. You can’t pitch the music up or down too much. I think that’s the biggest challenge. For a lot of people, 150 is a bit much. But luckily, we have a lot of fans in LA especially that like it.
What’s been the most gratifying thing that’s happened over these last years as an agent?
Putting on Basscon in association with Insomniac… when you see the show practically sell out the Hollywood Palladium! Starting from really small raves and struggling to get the music recognized, then seeing promoters like Insomniac push it further, that’s a great feeling.
What would you like to see more of in the Hard Dance community?
I would like to see less bullshit and less fighting, because I think that’s going to ruin the scene faster than anything. The flaming online and the shit talking and this whole rawstyle versus this whole … you know what? It’s fucking music. We’re all on the same boat. It doesn’t matter what sound it is, who this guy is, who that guy is. I think that we need to let go and support each other. It’s the same thing that I faced back in the 2000’s. You had the people who like gabber and they would punch these happy hardcore kids in the face because they’re wearing furries and beads. That’s not PLUR. It’s not positive and it’s not a very good representation when you do those types of things. I even heard that there was a fight at Nocturnal between two hardstyle crews. I heard, I’m not going to call you people out, but I heard that there was an actual fight?! I mean, there’s a fight between two people who like the same thing! But you guys think you’re better than the other? I think that is something I would like to see stop, because I’m not doing this so guys can have a place to fight each other and measure their dicks.
You mentioned to me in an email that you teach a course in music business.
Unbeknownst to most, I have a Master’s degree.
An MBA?
It’s an MBA, but it’s called Music Industry Administration. It a 60-40 split of the MBA program and music. It focuses on publishing, licensing, copyrights, mechanical licensing, contracting, entertainment law, and stuff like that. I spoke twice at Icon Collective, a school in Burbank. They were looking to expand their music business department. It’s actually very important when these kids grow up and want to make music and want to DJ, to understand that there is a business side of it. So they gave me a job opportunity, and I took it. It’s a good way to give back to the community.
What’s on the horizon for Hard Dance in 2016?
We are already starting to book things in advance. I can’t really divulge one-hundred percent, but I can tell you that you’ll see more Basscon stages at more Insomniac events. I know Insomniac is the only major US promoter that is really putting an effort into pushing this sound so far. As long as the fans come out and support the harder artists, even if there is only one act per show, that will really help push things forward. We are a small group of dedicated people right now and the only way that we are going to help expand is by supporting the best we can and in any way we can. Go out and support the music you love for god sake! Another thing I want to address: the fans. I know you are so die hard but you can’t be so angry when we can’t get someone booked. Visas are very difficult to get these days. There’s a finite amount of visas that customs and immigration services can give out. It’s expensive. We have to prove that we’re not stealing an American job. It’s very highly protected. This law was enacted in the 70’s to protect American workers and musicians. Realize it’s not that we don’t want to bring them, it’s that they might not be able to get the visa that is required or can make the payments. There is a business side of things. The government does hold a lot of sway that we can’t circumvent. Keep that in mind.
Do you have any advice for those wanting to get involved with music?
If you’re an aspiring DJ, you should focus on producing instead. You can’t just go out and get the cool vinyl, white labels, and promos. Producing is what’s important. If you’re an aspiring hardstyle or hardcore producer, just get your music out there. It’s so easy these days. The more Americans and Canadians that actually step up and produce seriously, I think the rest of the world will take our hard dance community more serious. Stay professional and clean on social media. The more professional we look, the more the international community will look at us with that same seriousness. This music does come from the Netherlands. They have high standards, REALLY high. They will look down on all of us if you don’t hold yourself similar. Collaborate more. I think that’s really, really, really important.
Any last words before we depart?
I want to thank all the fans because a lot of them know me personally. I go out and they always thank me for what I do. I appreciate them as well. I don’t need the recognition. I do it, partly and sadly, because no one else has stepped up to do it. You guys show a lot of respect and in return I want to do that for you. Thank you.
Editing on this article was also done by DJ Daybreaker.
Upon arriving, I thought I was lost: that somewhere between the caged liquor store and the tagged up strip malls, there may have once been a building in between that stood as the ground zero for hardcore parties in San Bernardino, CA. After I pulled over to the side of the road and started observing the area, I had noticed that there were security personnel outside the door to some kind of establishment. Could this be it? It can’t be. It doesn’t look like it. After waiting a little while, attempting to figure out if this location was correct, a car had pulled up with a group of kids that were all glammed out in brightly colored bracelets and necklaces; I guess this IS it: the sign says Arrowhead Elk’s Lodge #896, but behind its decaying walls the silent screams of bass lines ensued which meant that I was about to enter the Madhouse. Welcome to the hardcore underground.
HellNegative Returns!
The place had been transformed into a fortress of sound both inside and out. DJNC Odie and the Desert Rats took control of the outside stage while the Techno Belligerent crew established rule inside. HellNegative opened the night with Drum & Bass. It was three years ago that he had to leave us, ever since then his return has been highly anticipated, and the fact that I happened to be in town at the same time is an amazing happenstance. The rest of the night I was in utter mystery and surprise with a stacked lineup filled with names that I was unfamiliar with. I’ll say ahead of time that California is riddled with pure talent regarding the hardcore scene.
Producer Snafu LIVE at the Madhouse
The eerie productions of Invisible Robots followed by the ruthless, cut-up Breakcore lines of Producer Snafu generated so much creative response in me and certainly the rest of the room. BC Rydah took the stage at midnight and pushed that creative boundary even further. This man has a signature sound that needs to be heard! Unless my ears deceived me, I could’ve sworn that Chicago Footwork (a guilty pleasure of mine) made it into the mixture, which yields the utmost respect for THE best breaks DJ I’ve heard in my time. Blackened speedcore was also admitted inside the Madhouse as the night grewer darker: Acid Enema! Abhorrent (vocalist and one-half of the Las Vegas based duo) performed a DJ set and live vocal session (provided in part by AngelEnemy), which was a perfect lead in for Virtue, one half of the GabberTwinz, and the ringleader himself: ARCID who closed out the night just before the sun was set to rise.
BC Rydah: King of the Breaks!
For the first time, I had experienced the mad and the macabre that I’ve only heard about from states away. And to quote the movie “Demons” (as are the radical Techno Belligerent crew and all the talent who were behind the decks): “They will make cemeteries their cathedrals and the cities will be YOUR tombs!” – Thank you to Desert Rats and Techno Belligerent crew for the memories and I can’t wait until the next one. And thank you to the dedicated crowd that showed up and supported as well! Without you directly, parties like this can’t happen!
Acid Enema’s Abhorrent performing a DJ set for the Madhouse guests!
Dedicated to the harder sound of electronic dance music.
