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System Malfunction Interview: Gabberfest 2016

We are nearly two weeks away from one of THE biggest hardcore parties of the year! Next up on our #RoadtoGabbermania series of interviews is, in this writer’s opinion, the single most incredible spectacle (and very good friend) that American hardcore has ever been graced with. Providing us with one of the breakfast sets (potentially) at GABBERFEST this year is none other than Las Vegas native, and he hardly needs an introduction (we all know who this man is), SYSTEM MALFUNCTION!

System Malfunction at Gabberfest 2016, Las Vegas, Nevada, EDC Weekend
System Malfunction: the rowdiest mother fucker in the American Hardcore game! You don’t want to miss his thrilling performance at Gabberfest!

How did you decide on your stage name?

Made it up one day.

How did you start producing/DJ’ing?

Experienced hard dance music for the first time in 2012 and I wanted to share the incredible feeling with others!

And how did that all come about?

Q-Dance had a stage at EDC 2012, I had never heard hardstyle (or hardcore) before that, and that was the best electronic music I had ever heard. I started in hardstyle, because what it offered (a harder, more abrasive sound) was enticing to me… then I found hardcore and it was game over.

What changes have you noticed in your local rave/hard dance scene since you started?

A lot more people, and in my scene, not many ass-hats to deal with. The mainstream stuff has been overwhelmed with the exact people I, and others like me, absolutely despise.

What do you think about the current state of harder styles in America?

Still too small, and no growth currently. Basscon has sold 5k tickets to the same venue, across multiple instances, for the last 18 months, very little improvement/increase (maybe 200-300 more tickets sold year over year).  Apocalypto, same amount of tickets sold year after year… There’s just no growth. Something big has to happen, or it will stay about as big as it is, which is a shame, because these parties should be larger.  My preference of course is hardcore, and for that, there is even a smaller target audience.

What is your goal with your music overall?

My goal is to entertain the audience while still playing music I enjoy. To be fully honest, my main goal in DJing, besides reaching people with music that can change their lives, is to build a scene large enough where I don’t have to be the one playing hardcore on the stage, but instead can be in the crowd enjoying myself.

What can we expect from you at Gabberfest this year?

I’m usually asked to open Gabberfest, and that time slot fits well for modern mainstream hardcore. I have a fetish for the Italian stuff, so expect a lot of Brutale, Hardcore Italia, and Next Cyclone.

Anything else you would like to say? Do you have any upcoming projects or tours to promote, or anything special or shout outs you want to say?

Shout out to everyone working in the hard dance scene. You could throw house/trap/generic parties and make a lot more money, but you do this for the love. Mad respect to that.

System Malfunction at Gabberfest 2016, Las Vegas, Nevada, EDC Weekend
System Malfunction, part of RVLTN & SDK Events, on board for the third year of America’s Hardest!

Stay up to date with System Malfunction as he is literally EVERYWHERE hard dance music is throughout America on his Facebook page!

Articles, Daybreaker, Events, Reviews

Frontliner SELLS OUT Apocalypto in Las Vegas!

As if we needed any more evidence that hard dance music is taking over in 2016; Frontliner was set to headline Apocalypto this last Saturday at Vinyl in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and the event SOLD OUT! “I couldn’t be happier to see hard dance thriving in Las Vegas!” says Matthew Levin, who gave all of his ambition in making sure of this outcome. What was most exciting was showing up about an hour before the show, absorbed by the empty room, witnessing the amount of prep that it takes up to the very last minute to make sure an event like this goes off without a hitch, then suddenly: show time! And watching that once empty room fill to the brim in a matter of minutes like a pilsner beer glass.

Kung Pow at Apocalypto, Hard Rock Cafe, Las Vegas, NV. Photo courtesy of Set the Tone Photography.
Kung Pow at Apocalypto, Hard Rock Cafe, Las Vegas, NV. Photos courtesy of Tone Martinez. Set the Tone Photography.

The night started off with local Vegas vets Joji (who spins a hard dance monthly at the Phoenix Bar to 100+[people]), Jack Spaidz – who is to psytrance what System Malfunction is to hardcore [in Vegas], and Kung Pow – my second favorite act of the night – a multi-genre DJ who can make anything sound incredible, together or separate. Arriving early is very important, because believe it or not, you’re missing out on a lot of pure talent, and since I’ve been witness to this it makes me feel that Vegas DJs are vastly overlooked.

Frontliner took the stage to a thunderous roar and conducted an interactive set filled with popular antics to interact with the crowd. It was a fun, uplifting set, and if you know this artist well, even his euphoric tracks have a certain roughness to them. As he moves from ‘Shivers’, to the Defqon.1 anthem ‘No Guts, No Glory’, Frontliner never dampens the energy he creates. But there is still one question that remains… who were those guys in the masks?

The debut of RVLTN Black at Apocalypto, Hard Rock Cafe, Las Vegas, NV. Photo courtesy of Set the Tone Photography.
The debut of RVLTN Black at Apocalypto, Hard Rock Cafe, Las Vegas, NV. Photos courtesy of Tone Martinez. Set the Tone Photography

This night, we also witnessed the debut of a new Las Vegas tag team: RVLTN Black! Two insane, rowdy rough boys who unleashed rawstyle/uptempo hardcore to the crowd in a quickfire blitzkrieg. They even dropped American terrorcore producer Tim Shopp’s track “Terror Squad”, at which point the taller member of the duo grabbed the mic from the MC and yelled “when this track drops, someone fucking bleeds!” Of course, it was inevitable that a mosh pit was to ensue, and with an ear to ear grin, I couldn’t help but take part. What a show!

A huge thank you goes out to Matthew Levin and the entire Ravealation crew for making this event possible and for making the trip from Utah well worth it. Las Vegas has a seriously dedicated crowd to the harder styles so make sure that they stay well fed and nurtured.

Family photo with Mc Sik Wit It. Photo courtesy of Set the Tone Photography.
Family photo with Mc Sik Wit It. Photos courtesy of Tone Martinez. Set the Tone Photography.
Articles, Daybreaker, Events

Black Amalgam: An Excursion in Gabber, Speedcore, Death and Black Metal

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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.
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.
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.

Articles, Events, Reviews

Techno Gets Belligerent at the Madhouse!

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 with an appearance at the Madhouse!
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
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 playing Jungle/Breaks at the Madhouse
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 live at the Madhouse
Acid Enema’s Abhorrent performing a DJ set for the Madhouse guests!
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LA Weekly’s Mention of Trauma is a HUGE Victory for Hardcore!

How quickly we are rising! This week we have seen the tremendous reach that ‘Trauma: Harder Styles Tour’ has had all across the U.S. by having DJ Deadly Buda’s article on the subject approved and published onto the LA Weekly’s website!

http://www.laweekly.com/music/how-i-raved-again-on-americas-largest-hard-dance-tour-6727727

Buda’s recount of ALL seven stops of America’s hardest electronic tour to date captures the trials and tribulations that were experienced throughout his journey all while simultaneously immersing the reader into all of the excitement and adrenaline one may have only been able to feel by attending (now times those feelings by seven!).

Having this amount of publicity on a such a national and prestigious forum shows all of us (ravers and non-ravers alike) that Hardcore can’t, and will never, DIE!

You can read all about the madness RIGHT HERE and please show your support in any way by reading, sharing, and/or leaving a comment on LA Weekly’s thread.