Here we have an artist who has literally done it all with so much ease and sleaze. Sei2ure has released on nearly every important hardcore record label known today with a repertoire that has stretched from the industrial side of the spectrum, to crossbreed, all the way over to uptempo. He is known more for his elaborate, crispy-crumbly kick drums as well as his sounds that can only be found inside of a steel factory or, perhaps, an airplane crash site. I mention this because his most recent release, ‘Partystarter’, on ‘Footworxx Digital’, isn’t where you are going to find the “top-of-the-line” Sei2ure. Although the second track, ‘Serial Killer’, sits at 175 BPM and has more groove, it is still designed in the same vein as the title track and the final, albeit stronger track, ‘Back the Fuck Up’: typical straight driving bass lines with the occasional vocal sample at the end of every 4 bars. But its Sei2ure’s sound itself that makes this uptempo release more invigorating and worth a rinse out at the next hardcore party.
Blaster is a name in our community that I’m surprised more people haven’t mentioned, but with his newest release, ‘Drop the Bomb’ out on New York’s Industrial Strength Records, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw this man roaming the states very soon. Right away, the title track is going to catch you off-guard with its groovy, all-over-the-map sound design, odd-numbered (161?!) BPM, and with a trap-like breakdown, and a hard re-entry, this track is far more atypical in this genre. The b-side, ‘You Don’t Like Me’, is much more typical of this artist (and hardcore in general), however again Blaster keeps things interesting by incorporating other styles of electronic music and keeping his sound design original and edgy regardless of the dated, overused vocal sample.
After arriving virtually at the end of EDC day one, I decided that I would arrive before the doors even opened on day two because missing a line up on any day, especially Friday, is just uncalled for to a die hard fan of hard dance music. But then something occurred in the middle of my journey through the “Basscon WasteLAND” that even I was surprised about…
Day two was opened by Mekanikal, who was playing as I went down the log flume ride to cool myself down. He played very well, and with a few more obscure tunes than the other headliners for the event, which was appreciated, because by the time Max Enforcer had come on it was pretty much the same context (and tracks in other headliner’s sets) throughout the rest of the event. Bioweapon was the biggest deal of day two for this writer, because just like at Basscon’s standalone wasteland event, they played more aggressively and played older tracks from the 2008-2010 period that I couldn’t help but dance and sing along to, which is an awful idea when you’re trying not to go all out at the very beginning of a day at EDC to conserve for the later portion of the evening. I was working on catching up on media, but through friendly sources I was told that Brennan Heart may have been the act that stole the show. He was one of the acts that not a lot of hardstyle fans had gotten to see prior to EDC and he played all of the tracks people were hoping to hear, and apparently the one track that stood out the most was “Wake Up!”, Brennan’s track with The Prophet.
This was the last I was going to see of the WasteLAND stage for night two, and as I was heading over to the BassPOD stage to see drum and bass hero, Andy C, when a fire had broken out on top of one of the orbs that were in the middle of the crowd, and they had shut down that stage until the situation was taken care of an hour and a half later.
Upon walking back to the car, I couldn’t help but think about a few things that have apparently popped into my head throughout night two…I found myself to be more impressed by the BassPOD stage in multiple instances but at the WasteLAND stage, the impression hasn’t occurred yet (although I know it is about to Sunday evening). Is this because each act played a lot of the same tracks in their sets? Is it because each act, with the exception of Bioweapon, had the same, seemingly reserved sound? Or is it because a lot of the mainstream style sounds of hardstyle are just simply running their course? It’s hard to tell at this point, but I found it an interesting observation (and feel free to leave any comments on the matter).
Sunday night has a lot more unique acts in store such as Wasted Penguinz, the set I’m looking forward to most, Radical Redemption, whom I’ve never seen before,and of course, the man with the mask, Angerfist, who is playing the closing set of the event. Tonight also looks like the night that I am going to want to stay at the hardstyle stage instead of wander over to the drum and bass stage looking for a better show.
Until then, The Hard Data will be posted up at GABBERFEST 2016: America’s Hardest, which you can view LIVE right here on Grooveo: https://www.grooveo.com/home?groove_id=204
Here is our second international headliner for this year of GABBERFEST: America’s Hardest! Djuke, also from Germany (though half Italian), will be visiting the U.S. for the very first time, and what a better way to debut in Las Vegas than with guns blazing! Here is what you need to know about your day one headliner…
Will this be your first time in America?
Yes it will be my first time in America and I’m very happy to be a part of this amazing event in Las Vegas!
How did you get your start in hardcore music?
My start was at a famous club in the Netherlands called the Peppermill Music Palace. This is the place where it all began! 1998 was the first time I visited this hardcore discothek and saw the DJ’s playing really great stuff from the old days and to this day I’m still infected; every weekend and I’m at a hardcore party, even as a guest. A year later I bought my first pair of turntables and some records and started my DJ career in the year 2000 in a little club in my hometown. Today, it’s hundreds of clubs, dance halls and discotheks all over Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain (where I started) and now in Las Vegas, it’s been amazing!
The logo of Djuke
What’s the hard dance scene like where you currently live?
The scene in Germany is up and down. Sometimes it looks like it will be bigger and better but sometimes I’m not very happy with it. Most of the people are in an uptempo hype right now. But it all goes in cycles, things come and go, you know? The good thing is that the events and festivals in Germany have more than just one area so most of the time there are a lot good styles like hardcore and oldschool at the same time. We have big name festivals such as Army Of Hardcore, Hellraiser, and a lot of other crazy events where find thousands of party-freaks together and it’s wonderful and all, but my favorite place to party is in Holland!
What do you think about the current state of harder styles in America?
The only thing in America that must be pushed is hardcore music and the other harder styles! A look on the other genres and you find the biggest names worldwide, is it possible with the harder styles? Yes it is!
Will you be attending EDC this year as well?
No I am only in Vegas for a few hours on Friday, to look at the city and all the lights, then it’s back to Germany for me.
Anything that you’re looking forward to most on your trip?
How the beer in America tastes! That being said, I’m also very curious to see a completely different party crowd that I haven’t seen in 15 years. I’ve only ever seen American partygoers on TV and I’ve never seen anything about the hardcore crowds or events. I think it’s going to be very interesting and I’m very much looking forward to this!
Is there anything you want to say that we haven’t asked you about yet? Do you have any upcoming projects or tours to promote, or anything special or shout outs you want to say?
I’m currently building my own studio! There are plenty of plans for new productions for the years to come. I can’t announce anything just yet, but plenty of collaborations with some bigger artists and you will find it everywhere online! Keep an eye on my website and my Facebook where you can download my livesets and stay up to date on my touring and productions! And lastly, Las Vegas, I’m happy to be a part of this Gabberfest and I know we will have a blast together! See you all very soon!
Djuke in the studio. Getting ready to slam Gabberfest hard!
You can follow all of Djukes antics on his social media:
D-Ceptor is one of the biggest names to represent Germany in the world of hardcore, and now, by the grace of the White Ape, he will be visiting and performing in America for the first time at GABBERFEST: America’s Hardest, day one of the festival! This is one of the most crucial interviews for the event as D-Ceptor offers some very interesting insight into the realm of hardcore and into the American scene itself. Hang on tight and enjoy the ride!
Dustin Leinesser aka D-Ceptor will be headlining this year’s edition of America’s hardest, GABBERFEST!
Will this be your first time in America? First time playing, if you have already visited?
This will be the first time visiting America for me, and so of course the first time playing there as well!
How did you get your start in hardcore music?
I started listening to hardcore music when I entered high school in 1998 through some friends who were already into it. This music style was new to me and from that moment on I was hooked by the sound. When I was 15 I visited my first hardcore event in a Belgian club. While listening and watching carefully how the artists performed, I knew that I wanted to become a DJ someday. I started practicing the art of mixing with vinyls and kept improving my skills on the turntables. A few years later, after sending many demo tapes to event promoters, my first gig was arranged in 2006 and my journey began.
What’s the hard dance scene like in Germany?
The Dutch hard dance scene has a lot of influence in Germany. Especially in west Germany where the scene is focused, because it is closer to the Dutch border. It is confusing to me that there are many hardcore artists in Germany (maybe the biggest scene after The Netherlands) but no big label, leading agency or international famous headliner. The Dutch and also the Italians are ahead to the Germans. I would even see Spain as the European country having now better prospects and talents as we have. Same story with large events. We have two big promoters here for hardcore festivals: I-Motion and A.L.E.X. events but I-Motion is cooperating with Dutch promoter Art of Dance bringing big pure hardcore concepts like Syndicate or brand new EXODUS to Germany. If you take a look on these line ups, you will see a lot of Dutch and Italian names and ask yourself: “Wtf!? This is a hardcore event in Germany, so where the hell are all those German artists?” So what I miss in this country are good producers. We have many internationally known artists for uptempo/terror/speedcore/industrial but just a few names who bring good quality in main style hardcore. For example Thorax is Germany’s new hope and biggest talent around here. His productions are brilliant and high quality, that’s why he got signed by MostWantedDJ agency (Masters of Hardcore) as the only German standing for HARDCORE. So all in all we have a huge hardcore scene here which is very enthusiastic with many crazy party animals who want to attend club parties and big events but what we miss are professional artists/producers and with it a professional agency and music label.
What do you think about the current state of harder styles in America?
I see many legendary names from the US who had their career highlight in the 90s-00s like Rob Gee, DJ Delirium, Lenny Dee with Industrial Strength or Omar Santana with H2OH Records. These artists were not very present from 2005 – 2015 in the scene from an European/German point of view but it’s nice to see that for example Rob Gee and now also Lenny Dee celebrating successful comebacks! But I miss one or maybe two generations of new American hardcore artists. In the current state of harder styles in America I see a lot of potential for young artists. Go and use the current EDM-hype for infecting more people with your style of hard electronic dance music! Don’t make the same mistake as we did, move your ass to the studio and produce the music that you love. This is really my main advice to every artist who wants to maintain in the scene for long time and above national borders. Am I wrong with this evaluation about the American scene? Come and correct me over a beer at Gabberfest!
What are you trying to convey through your music? Are there any themes or ideas that are important to you? Is there anything in particular you find yourself wanting to communicate to the audience?
In my opinion it is pretty hard to convey a profound message in hardcore music. In other music genres it is much easier because you can express it in many words. Of course you can also choose your vocals very well in your productions or pick an MC for recording your own lyrics but techno music in general is
D-Ceptor will be visiting the US for the first time and can’t wait to get a taste of the American lifestyle!
about kick drums, beats and synths. My music is dance music so people want to go mad on it, it’s not that important to communicate a certain message, but a feeling. When I produce music I think of what I would like to hear when I am in a club or a big festival. Am I in a mood of a straight punchy stomper tracks, working with drive and rhythm, or do I want to dive into nice spheres, with an epic melody that makes me raise my hands up in the air? For me it’s not important to say that I love science, don’t believe in god, or wanna fuck the system, the main message is always the same: You are hardcore, so you are a rebel.
Do you have anything special planned for the event?
I hope to present some new unreleased tracks at Gabberfest and of course I will bring some gifts to my American supporters.
Will you be attending EDC this year as well?
If I can spontaneously get a hold of a ticket for a day, yes!
Which artists are you most looking forward to seeing?
Angerfist and Rob Gee of course! Full hardcore support! But also Knife Party, Pendulum, and Zedd would be interesting to me. The rest… I am really not a big fan of EDM and hardstyle. It bores me over time and I can also see many of these DJs in Europe. It is more interesting to me seeing the party people there and feeling the vibes this event transports, hopefully.
How did you land the Gabberfest gig?
Well, that is a question a lot of people around here have asked too. The answer is simple: I still send demos worldwide! Back in the days these were my mix tapes and nowadays my new releases. So I got in contact with some American artists and later on to the promoter of Gabberfest and we arranged everything. That’s it!
Anything that you’re looking forward to most on your trip (that’s not music related)?
Everything! I’ll be staying for 3 weeks in your country, arriving in Los Angeles, heading over to Vegas for Gabberfest, and going further to San Francisco! USA represents the western lifestyle; the life I live here. American economy, technology, movies, music, lifestyle, almost everything from your country influences the way of living and the society here in Germany. I am curious to make my own experiences and my own opinion about the US because I just know it from TV, internet and pictures. I am looking forward to my long road trips, to people I will meet, to beautiful nature and culture I can see. I am interested in the huge cities, skyscrapers, national parks, landscapes, the desert, the sea. A taste of how America feels is what I want!
Is there anything you want to say that we haven’t asked you about yet? Do you have any upcoming projects or tours to promote, or anything special or shout outs you want to say?
The gig at Gabberfest was the trigger for me to participate in Rob Gee’s remix contest. There is no final decision made yet but I hope to present my remix to you guys soon, doesn’t matter if I win or not. However I will play this one for sure in Vegas. Besides that I am working on new solo projects and also collaborations with my friends Quitara and Tritone are planned in the future.
