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:
No day is safe from the crossbreed onslaught of our man Daybreaker, denizen of the THD -ahem- “offices.” But Daybreaker is faced with perhaps his ultimate challenge: the oppressive Las Vegas summer sun, ever-present during American Gabberfest. Before this epic struggle commences, we figured it was paramount to question the “steed behind the crossbreed” and reckon his mission…
How did you decide on your stage name?
When I first started, I had a different name chosen, but I wasn’t particularly fond of it; I just had to pick something for the forums I was signing up for (Global Hard forums, for any of you that may remember that glorious website) and that remained my stage name until I decided to change it. When looking for a new name, I wanted to choose something that incorporated horror (I’m a really big fan of the genre). I was stuck on finding something worthwhile until a movie came out in January 2010 called “Daybreakers”. I thought the movie was really unique and original, so much so, that I dropped the “s” and behold, Daybreaker was discovered!
How did you start DJ’ing?
Shortly after discovering hardstyle and hardcore, I decided that I wanted to do exactly what these guys were doing in the aftermovies I used to watch over and over again. So, I got my first job, saved up some money to buy my cousins pair of Numark TTX’s and a mixer and it was a quick skyward launch into where I’m at now!
How did you get interested in the harder styles?
Hard dance music itself I discovered by accident in the basement of my dad’s house (2007). I was on Myspace at the time, browsing random music profiles by clicking on one, and then clicking on others from those artists’ friends list. Somehow, I stumbled upon the page of hardstyle producer A-Lusion; he had one song on his profile at the time: “Drummer Beat” – I already had a background in electronic music through my cousin who is also a DJ. He and his friends were into hard house and drum and bass; I remember visiting my aunt frequently when I was little and my brother and I used to like hanging out up in his room and watch them all spin records. So I already had an ear that was tuned to techno, and when I heard “Drummer Beat”, my mind was blown away. – Hardstyle at the time was incredibly slow (144 BPM), but the variations every few bars, and the hard, bouncy kicks somehow made a lasting impression on me.
What changes have you noticed in your local rave scene since you started?
Utah is a lot stranger to describe…in the early 2000’s, we used to have a much more underground, drum and bass oriented rave scene. We also had a more lively and unified community; there used to be an online forum called “Utah Raves” and when I was starting, this is how I found out about everything going on around the valley (raves, new local artists, outside get-togethers etc.). It was a really neat and useful tool, one I wish was still popular to use in the present day. Also, there was more than one event organization. The biggest at the time was Vandal Productions, owned and operated by DJ Quack Quack (famous for the Kandyland series of raves); he was the name responsible for our hardstyle, happy hardcore phase, and it was through this man that I got my start in performing live. Fast forwarding to today, we only have one event organization, with a few people attempting to start their own (only to get stomped out by the monopoly) and virtually none of our local DJs play any form of hard dance (with the exception of what seems to be a drum and bass resurgence happening). That is why I started the ‘Utah Hardcore Syndicate’, that way I can gather up all the locals that do spin and enjoy hard dance music and we can retaliate and devastate our currently stale “rave” scene; although I will say I do appreciate the amount of drum and bass we are getting. We also had Technoboy and Lady Faith in town recently, however, but that was the first time we had hardstyle in town since the Nightsneak organization left Utah in 2013. All in all, it’s a stale, commercialized scene that is so suppressed and monopolized, it’s hard to combat, but its Utah, the stigma is real.
What do you think about the current state of harder styles in America?
2016 has left me with a very positive outlook on the growth and development of our own scene, although it is more confined to specific parts of the nation, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, considering how dedicated I am that I’m willing to travel to attend these harder parties.
Look out GodSquad! Daybreaker is going to be bringing the Crossbreed with an uptempo fury!
Plus, we are seeing spillovers into other states (finally) and more American producers are rising up, fast! But, as we Americans do best, we still have egos and drama and internal oppression that’s hindering our progress and until money is focused on less, and our local artists start supporting each other, including the shows, we aren’t going to see the peak that everyone seems to be so nostalgic about. But as I said, this year we have probably seen the best surge for our scene in recent years, and I feel like this is exactly the kind of push we’ve needed to at least thrive within this now over-saturated market. Now all we need to do is unify.
Is there anything in particular you find yourself wanting to communicate to the audience?
I’m not trying to convey any specific message to the audience other than a sound that represents me as a person outside of my alias. A lot of my themes are based around horror movies and culture including the concept mixes that I do from time to time, which are even more detailed and obvious to that notion. I feel that my specific type of sound (hardcore drum and bass) really helps vary the typical 4×4 beats we hear in hardcore and changes up the dance floors a little bit, if only for a bar or two (laughs)!
Do you have anything special planned for the event?
I’m hoping to do some three-deck mixing to add more complexity to the set. I’ll still be bringing that Crossbreed flavor to Gabberfest that will start out groovy, and end on a “faster” note. You’ll see! Lots and lots of BPM variation!
