On Saturday 9 February 2019, 30,000 hard dance fans from all over the world gathered together in the Gelredome for Hard Bass: The Last Formation. For those who don’t know, Hard Bass was an annual party for the last ten years at the Gelredome organized by B2S (one of the major hard dance event organizers in the Netherlands). Last Saturday was the final edition of Hard Bass and the end of one of the largest most popular indoor hard dance events in the world.
What made Hard Bass unique is that, unlike other parties where DJs typically perform one-hour sets back to back (or in some instances longer sets versus other DJs), Hard Bass was notorious for its use of “teams”. The ten-hour long party (as always, not long enough in my opinion) this year was divided into five teams: Blue, Green, Yellow, Red, and Heroes (Ten Years of History). Each team consisted of multiple DJs who perform in a similar style. This edition was coined the “hardest” Hard Bass, which was evidenced by the predominance of rawstyle DJs on the line up – B-Front, Ran-D, Radical Redemption, and E-Force, to name a few.
Although my heart beats at 300 beats per minute, I was blown away by the production and music on Saturday night. This truly was a show rather than just a typical rave, so much that at times sitting out in the stands (the Gelredome is large stadium with tiered seating) I felt as though I was watching Hard Bass: The Musical. Each team was provided with a proper introduction and ending similar to the curtain call in play. Once they finished performing their epic last track, the lights would go off, everyone would applaud, and an introduction would start for the next team.
Being from the New York area and having attended multiple Broadway performances, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to attend this as a play where you sit down and watch the performance as if you were watching Phantom of the Opera or Fiddler on the Roof, for instance. All of the elements were there. The stage was a giant space ship, which fit perfectly with the theme, the lasers were out of this world, and of course there was fire, fireworks, and even some theatrics.
The evening truly was a tribute to ten years of hard dance, and to the artists and fans who made it all possible. The music was a quintessential mix of the classics we all know the words to, such as “Imaginary”,“Castles in the Sky”,“You’ve Got the Love”, and “Eternalize”, as well as some new tracks including my one of my personal favorites of the evening, “The Last Resort”.
This night was particularly memorable for me because I learned what “kick rolling” was for the first time. As previously mentioned, although I do enjoy rawstyle, I have not had much exposure to it, as it is a stage I don’t typically frequent at festivals. Usually passing by the rawstyle stage at Defqon, Dominator, or Masters of Hardcore, I would always see a large crowd of very tall, buff Dutch guys all moving their hands in a chopping motion to the beat. I figured this was just a dance that everyone did both collectively and individually, for example as gabbers hakken.
However, now I know that it is in fact a style of dancing (which is often pre-rehearsed) so that the chopping motion hits right on the beat. The more you know! I found this particularly fascinating because with speedcore/terror we have something similar (albeit less rehearsed and fluid) where when the beat drops you see everyone with one hand to the sky basically having a seizure (don’t judge it until you try it!)
My favorite team of the evening was definitely Red, and those last few minutes were the perfect ending to the night. I particularly enjoy when rawstyle tracks are sped up, although I guess this would make kick rolling more difficult for some. Rawstyle is known for its brutal kicks, complex layers, and screeches, therefore just kicking it up a bit to 200 beats per minute makes it even better (in my humble opinion).
The evening concluded flawlessly with the GPF remix of Killshot-Beastmode, which of course kept me wanting more. The finale of the show consisted of the space ship taking off, closing off a chapter in history of ten years of Hard Bass. What will B2S have for us next?
*Disclaimer: The opinions in this article are strictly my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the companies and organizations I am affiliated with. Furthermore the pictures water marked “Hard Bass” are not my own pictures but rather B2S.
After 3 years The Hard Data has established itself as a media outlet for hard electronic music, but numerous challenges have accompanied its growth. Specifically, the demands of the readers have outgrown the staff, and the current and future needs and manifestations of the hard electronic scene need to be identified and addressed.
Joel Bevacqua, aka DJ Deadly Buda, the magazine’s present editor and founder, will host a round-table conversation with the goal of addressing and solving the challenges facing the hard electronic scene and The Hard Data. By soliciting input, perspectives and action from Gabberfest attendees, this round-table will play a major (perhaps the major) role in shaping The Hard Data’s subject matter, editorial, media staff, distribution and financial structure for the years going forward.
The conference meets at 2:30-3:30pm (and perhaps longer if necessary) at Gabberfest’s indoor meeting area. Attendees will be participating in Gabberfest’s first conference panel.
The Hard Data: What’s Next? Gabberfest Conference 1 will address current issues in the hard electronic scene and how The Hard Data can address them.
This interview was conducted by 3MiloE, in DJ Nightstalker’s trailer, at Insomniac Events’, Escape: Psycho Circus.
3MiloE: Well, my name is Milo.
DJ Nightstalker: Nice to meet you, Milo.
3MiloE: I’m representing the Hard Data Magazine today.
DJ Nightstalker: Nice.
3MiloE: And I just wanted to ask you some questions.
DJ Nightstalker : Sure.
3MiloE: So where are you from?
Nightstalker : I grew up in Colorado, but came out to L.A. years and year ago, so it’s got to be like 20 years by now, yeah.
Milo: 20 years?
DJ Nightstalker : Yeah, yeah.
3MiloE: What was the music scene like?
DJ Nightstalker : It was just starting at that time. It was sort of warehouse raves, backyard party. It was kind of emerging out of the party vibe, like backyard party, ditch party, underground, like you break into a warehouse, into legit parties, and stuff like that, too. So it was pretty cool.
3MiloE: Awesome. So how did you come up with your D.J. name?
DJ Nightstalker : D.J. name? I think I was probably like thinking of … It was the ’90s, German base, and general, and the hardcore was dark, and I was skinnier (laughs) at that time. So I probably looked a little more like Richard Ramirez . But it had a good vibe like L.A. style, where we were kind of creeping around at night, kind of like breaking in and playing music and renegade parties and stuff like that. Did a lot of desert renegade parties and other cool stuff.
3MiloE: That’s awesome.
DJ Nightstalker : Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was kind of weird, acid, mushroom kind of vibe, you know what I mean?
3MiloE: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I have the L.A. Underground scene, so I there’s a lot of that. Okay. What animal best personifies your music?
DJ Nightstalker : Personifies the music? It would probably be well, some kind of mythic creature probably, like a phoenix or something. I don’t know. Like the claw, I get known for the claw, so something that kind of rises out of the ashes, and then just like bites you, kind of after you’ve been in the trance. So that or maybe some kind of snake or something, who knows?
3MiloE: That’d be cool.
DJ Nightstalker : Yeah, yeah.
3MiloE: Awesome, awesome. What are you trying to convey with your music?
DJ Nightstalker : Really, for me it’s the whole idea of taking people on a journey is a cliché and stuff, but for me it really is … it comes from a spiritual place, so this is where we build community, through music. It’s also a space where we come together, and I kind of want to push the boundaries a little bit, so people almost feel like they’re in a dream and then they break out of that dream. You know what I mean? Instead of just like kind of hitting them hard the whole time, it’s like kind of building them to that sort of breaking point. That’s what I’m doing, yeah.
3MiloE: Can you describe the feeling you get when you’re on stage?
DJ Nightstalker : Before you’re on, you’re always like … it’s anxious or, What’s going to happen? Do I have everything? I can’t quite see past maybe the first few tunes or something like that, but then when you’re in it, it’s like you’re just sort of lost almost, like sort of merge with the crowd. And then you get spit out the other side, and you’re like, “Oh, shit. I don’t even really kind of remember what just happened.” It’s kind of weird. I wish I could be more present, but it’s like I’m just so caught up in the music and stuff that yeah, it just kind of flies by like a blur, but it’s almost like an out-of-body experience or something.
3MiloE: Yeah. Trippy.
DJ Nightstalker : Yeah, yeah.
3MiloE: Okay. What moment do you cherish most of all in your career so far?
DJ Nightstalker : So far? There’s been a lot. I have really sort of pivotal moments more recently, doing a lot of EDCs and the big festivals and stuff, but I would say it being way back to when I was still spinning vinyl, when there was still a vinyl scene, and I got asked to support Goldie in Japan. So I went to Japan, and did like three dates in Japan, two dates with him. But yeah, it was just like all music, and taking me to these crazy places, see different people, different cultures, and like, “It’s 4 a.m., and these people are still here just for me,” kind of thing. It was pretty trippy. It was part of a moment that I still cherish.
3MiloE: Awesome. What are your major influences?
DJ Nightstalker : Influences would be … early, classic-era drum and base, like folk-tech, maybe any sort of even like left-field, Electronica, hardcore. I was really heavy into hardcore coming up. But also, I used to go to after-hours, when I didn’t even know genres and it’d be like house music and I was just like, “I don’t know what the hell this is,” but I’m just like lost in the beats all night until the sun comes up kind of thing. But I grew up, my dad had a huge record collection that I’ve inherited now. So we used to listen to Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. He’d put on albums and we’d just sit there and listen to music. I’d say that’s really where it began, just this of love of … He collected everything from funk to Kenny Rogers to soul and all that stuff. So, I’d say that’s kind of where the roots began.
3MiloE: Where do you see yourself a year from now?
DJ Nightstalker : A year from now? This is probably a good transition year where I’m finally taking the production seriously so hopefully that’s going to elevate the game. I’m in a really good spot in terms of coming up as a name, or coming back up, because I was an old-school DJ, and sort of faded away for a while and then coming back, kind of resurgence.
But yeah, like Ableton, I’m getting into Ableton and stuff. What people don’t realize is …I’m also like, my other life is, I’m a professor. So I teach.
3MiloE: Oh, wow. I’m in my master’s program in psychology. Yeah.
DJ Nightstalker : Nice. So I got a PhD and I teach at University. Sometimes my students find out what my other life is, but that’s really my career, and so I sort of feel like I’m behind in that way, I can’t devote 100% of my time towards making music, because in my free time I have I’m writing, writing articles that that sort of thing.
3MiloE: May I ask you what you teach?
DJ Nightstalker : So, Chicano studies and then it’s like rhetoric, and critical thinking kind of thing, and also writing.
3MiloE: That’s great.
DJ Nightstalker : Yeah, yeah.
3MiloE: That’s great, man. Well, thank you for your time.
DJ Nightstalker : Yeah, for sure. Yeah.
3MiloE: It’s been a pleasure. We really appreciate this, so thank you.
DJ Nightstalker: Nice, nice, nice. Yeah. Thank you. Keep doing the good work, man.
Hello readers, this is 3MiloE! This interview took place at Escape: Psycho Circuis 2017, with producer/DJ Pulsatorz!!! The interview took place within Pulsatorz’ trailor. Those involved were; Pulsatorz, 3MiloE, CiM (Pulsatorz close friend, and hype man), and Mike the camera man.
Pulsatorz
3MiloE: So where are you from and what’s the music scene like here?
Pulsatorz: I’m from New York City. The music scene is not what it used to be, but it still happens ever here and there.
3MiloE: That’s cool. How did you come up with your DJ name?
Pulsatorz: Long story short, Pulsators was a four man group when it first started and we were trying to come up with a name and we were just googling stuff and trying to figure something out and one of my friend’s girlfriends said something with pulse because, you know, your heart, it drives you. It’s how you live. So let’s do something with pulse and then we were working pulse, pulse, pulse, and then Pulsators ended up coming out.
3MiloE: That’s cool.
Pulsatorz: Yeah, and then … came up with a good concept. You know, a good concept with a logo, marketing. It all came together and we stuck with it.
3MiloE: That’s beautiful.
Pulsatorz: Yeah. And then, unfortunately we had to bring it down to one person because no one wants to book a four man group. But we still all work together very closely and do our thing, you know?
3MiloE: That’s great. That’s great.
Okay, so what animal best personifies your music and why?
Pulsatorz: Monkey. It’s just everywhere. Like, swinging from trees, throwing shit. You know? I don’t really have a direction anymore, I just kind of do whatever happens. You know, you’re sitting there and then you’re just working on stuff in the studio and you gotta break out of your comfort zone so you just kinda go all over the place, you know. That’s what I’m trying to … I’m trying to keep that like kind of a controlled chaos in a sense, you know?
3MiloE: Awesome.
What are you trying to convey with your music?
Pulsatorz: I just want to have good music. Just stuff that, when you play it, people dance. When you hear it, it makes sense. It stays in your head, you’re humming it. You know, people are humming it when they’re driving down the freeway and shit. Like that’s my goal, just make people happy, make them want to dance, make them want to party, make them want to have fun, you know? At the end of the day, it’s entertainment, I just want to entertain.
3MiloE: Awesome. Can you describe the feeling you get when you’re on stage?
Pulsatorz: It’s intense. It’s like you’re controlling everybody through sound. I mean, that’s what you’re doing. So you could make people go nuts, you could mellow them out. So it’s like a … what’s the word … like a conductor almost, you know? I guess that’s why, you know … music conductor. There you go. Yeah, it’s just a good feeling. You’re making people have a good time. They pay all this money for the experience and you’re part of the experience, you know? That’s definitely … at the end of the day that’s what I like.
3MiloE: That’s great. What moment do you cherish the most in your career as a DJ so far?
Pulsatorz: the first time I got on a large stage out west and when I looked up there was maybe 400 or 500 people there and then every time I put my head down in the mix and put it up, another 100 or 200 people came in until the whole tent was packed. I was at Nocturnal Wonderland 2016? Yeah, 2016. And that was definitely … that’s one thing that always stands out. I had the extended set, every time I looked up people were just pouring in, pouring in and everyone was jumping and going nuts. I’ll never forget that, that was a good set. Then the only other thing I can think of is when my track chords dropped and it was on top 40 for three months in a row consecutively. Yeah, so I definitely didn’t expect that. So that’s another one. But it’s definitely the two.
3MiloE: What are your major influences?
Pulsatorz: In music? It’s just whatever sounds cool, you know. Sometimes I’ll watch like a Netflix show or just a sample from a commercial and I’m like, “Oh that’s cool, let me work with it.” And then I’ll work with it. Sometimes it goes somewhere, sometimes it doesn’t. Or like I’ll hear something, not a car, but you know how when trucks pass by because the wheels are so big they have like this crazy hum? In the city there’s so many potholes but when the trucks hit all you hear is dub sounds so it kinda … I got really fucking stoned one day and I thought it was someone bumping dubstep. But no, it was just a truck passing by. So now, I think of that every time we’re driving and I see a truck and I hear it. But it’s just random things, like whatever’s on the radio, whatever’s, you know, in anything. If something sounds cool, I want to play with it.
3MiloE: That’s cool. I really dig that whole getting influences from, you know, non-musical inspirations.
Pulsatorz: Organic sounds. Always better. Because they’re organic so it gives you a different texture in your music, you know. Definitely always liked that. Like, if I can’t get a live instrument, I like getting sample instruments because they’re organic and then just messing with them and playing with them. You know? So those are always cool. But, you know, just any time of sound that just is cool. Like a little fill or something.
3MiloE: Cool. Where do you see yourself a year from now?
Pulsatorz: See myself a year from now, that’s a good question. Hopefully doing a lot more shows out west. Getting more music out. Just in general, just more grind. I just wanna grind it out, keep grinding and just keep moving and getting it going, you know? I don’t really care if it takes me anywhere, I’m just having fun doing it.
3MiloE: That’s great.
Mike: Okay, where do you think the American hardstyle is going?
Pulsatorz: It’s going where it’s going. There’s really no … there’s no direction. We’re not the same as a European crowd. We’re not European, we’re American. We like different music, we have a different culture so just naturally, because of that, we’re gonna have a different style. It’s not the typical European style, it’s not the typical whatever style. Like Italians have their own sound, Dutch have their own sound. Whoever is making this stuff has their own sound. But being an American producer, you have to have your own sound. You have to stand out. Because, what good is it for an American producer to sound like a European producer? We’re not in Europe. So, that’s my thing.
CiM: You market to America. You’re shows are here. So make your music for the people that are here. You gotta go where your money’s gonna come from, you know?
3MiloE: You having an overall blast though, today?
Pulsatorz: Yeah, definitely, I mean there’s a lot more of the night to go but it’s gonna get fun, it’s gonna get crazy, that’s for sure.
Mike: What does the next year look like for Pulsatorz? Any new music coming out?
Pulsatorz: I have a couple I’m working on. Just finishing up the labels, waiting for them to seem right because I’m not trying to always put out on the same label, you know? I want to reach a different demographic, you know? I wanna stick to something in the hardstyle realm. I don’t wanna specifically just do hardstyle because it’s been proven time and time again, if you just do hardstyle and hardstyle only, an American crowd … I’m talking about majority, I’m not talking about the … the core fans, they get tired of it. So you gotta throw shit at ’em to mix it up. You gotta do a little bit of this, a little bit of that, whatever’s popular. You just put a little bit in there, spin it into your own, spin it into a hardstyle-type thing. So that’s my whole thought on the whole American thing. That’s when I don’t like when people are like, “Oh, this doesn’t sound like this specific artist.” We’re not those artists, we’re in a completely different element, we’re completely different. Whole other side of the world.
Bart: I love the page, by the way. I love the page, I’m always on it. (reffering to TheHardData)
Pulsatorz with 3MiloE
3MiloE: Really? You read? Have you read my 3MiloE articles?
CiM: I haven’t … pretty far back. We’ve been busy preparing for the shows. Anything hardstyle-related, we always are … trying to keep on top of things, you know? Especially on Facebook or Twitter and stuff like that. So, a lot of his viewpoints are the same viewpoints I have. Same things. You know, a the New York City hardstyle guy too. We’ve been working together since 2008.
3MiloE: That’s amazing, that’s awesome.
CiM: Yeah, so when he (referring to Pulsatorz) comes down … so, I always tell him, you’re playing out there, I said I’m coming.
3MiloE: That’s great man.
CiM: It’s a support system. If there’s no support system … which he didn’t mention … if there’s no support system, there is no system. Everyone else has a support system. When you’re here you can’t have your back turned to someone else. If someone asks you for help, you help them out, lend a hand. It may make you go further or it may not go nowhere but you’re still helping out. A little philosophy.
3MiloE: Yeah, that’s great.
CiM: Well, like I said, he is the face of Pulsatorz. I mean, like I said, I’m part of the team, because we are a team.
Pulsatorz: Yeah, all of us are in the same studio.
CiM: We’re a team. Like I said, since day one, me and him have been working together.
3MiloE: That’s great.
Mike: How does New York hardstyle differ from LA hardstyle?
CiM: We’re lucky to get a show like this with just 200 people, in a basement. You got this over here, that Basscon stage is probably gonna hold at least 3000 people easy, easy. And with these shows out here it’s almost like when people refer to Defqon and say, “Oh the Europeans are so jealous.” Guys we got non-stop shows in Cali. It’s closer to Cali. Europe is … and not to say … it’s about seven or eight hours depending on where you’re going. But go to Cali, support the American guys, they had Wasteland a couple months ago. It was a great turn out. But that’s a step in the right direction. A lot of local people, a lot of people from different parts of the country all come together and all work together. That’s where it goes.
Pulsatorz: Nothing really. Like as far as American artists mingling, nothing really–really significant happened from that. Some kid just sent me a track, I played it today. “Hybrid Theory” or something like that. We’re working on it right now.
CiM: I’m telling you, a lot of people don’t do things like he does. Like he said, monkey throwing shit, you know? And that’s why things work. Everybody literally has their own way of working. And the way he works, he enjoys. He ain’t going to do something if he doesn’t like doing it.
Pulsatorz: Yeah that’s true.
CiM: Because people might get mad at you.
3MiloE: So I guess, you’re doing what you love, man?
Pulsatorz: I’m having fun. I definitely, definitely enjoy it. It’s more than a hobby but it’s not a job, you know what I’m saying?
3MiloE: Yeah.
Pulsatorz: So I enjoy … I really do enjoy doing it but I’m not sitting here banking on this thing to be my fucking breadwinner. But I’m having fun doing it. I’m gonna keep doing what I do. If something happens, something happens. If not, well, whatever, you know? I just want to have fun, dude. That’s what it is at the end of the day.
Dedicated to the harder sound of electronic dance music.
