Tag Archives: Denver Hard Dance

Articles, Interviews

Da Tweekaz prepare you for Denver’s OVERLOAD Festival

June is going to be a crazy month for Hard Music in the United States. Among the craziness comes the first edition of Overload Festival, Colorado’s biggest Hardstyle party to date. The lineup consists of a wide variety of acts – Code Black, Da Tweekaz, LNY TNZ, Gammer & Noisecontrollers will be taking over Denver on June 17th – a totally new experience for Colorado.

Check out the Overload trailer here:


We spoke to Da Tweekaz about their upcoming visit to Denver, and learned a little bit about their career as well.

Hi guys! We can’t wait to have you in Denver, Colorado. It’s been a long time coming. What’s something you absolutely have to do when you come out here?

Well, we definitely can’t wait. It’s really exciting to know that a festival which includes Harder Styles is popping up in Denver. What are we going to do? We don’t know.. got any tips for us? We love to spend our time discovering new places during our travels. All tips are welcome.

Good stuff! So, you guys have had quite the year already, with multiple gigs in the US lined up at the biggest Hard Music parties in the country. Can you tell us how you two crazy Scandinavian guys ended up touring the world?

Well, we’ve been DJing for almost 10 years now. And like everyone, we started out small. Doing some really small gigs in Norway and some other Scandinavian countries. We were also always producers (just not Hardstyle, until we decided to join forces – but that’s another story). We believe our music is quite unique and after a few releases on DJU back in the days, we were contacted by Dirty Workz and it all just went up from there. The last 5 or so years has been amazing, sometimes even hectic. So many countries, so many events, so much flying and traveling. We think the key is that we are quite a unique DJ duo in the scene. We produce music that other artists may not want to risk producing (Disney-tracks anyone?) and we deliver a fun, energetic and above all happy DJ performance. So, that just rubs off on the crowd.

Your music has a very unique energy to it. What separates you guys from the rest of the EDM world?

We like to take risks and we like to have a lot of fun doing it. If a track doesn’t make us smile, then we don’t use it. When people listen to music or visit an event, more often than not, they’re there to forget about the World, about their daily lives and just have the ultimate good time. That’s exactly what we want to give to the audience, and it also makes our job a lot easier because we have a blast as well.

We’ve seen you do some unorthodox stuff, like bootlegs of Disney songs, and tracks with crazy samples of rubber ducks and numerous video games. What inspires you guys to think out of the box like this?

We’re actually pretty geeky guys. We love to play games (from retro classics to the new adventure games), we love collecting geeky stuff, we love watching TV series and all types of movies during our many inflight hours and we can say we have quite a broad fantasy. So, basically we’re just 2 kids in an adult body. That helps a lot, although our bodies wish they were a little younger 🙂

When you guys perform, you are entirely in sync. How much time do you spend practicing your moves on stage?

Yeah, we spend at least 3 days a week working on our choreo in front of a mirror. Those fist bumps and facial expressions are hard work. Haha, no that’s a joke. In all seriousness, our “moves” just come to us naturally. We’ve been performing together for 10 years now we know each other’s style and we know our own tracks, so it’s really easy for us to keep in sync and sometimes do some out of the ordinary things. We just have fun together, that helps a lot.

You guys have a totally crazy artist name. I’m a little scared to ask this, but what is the story behind it?

Well, it’s not what you think (if that’s what you’re thinking about ;)). To “tweek” something in producer terms is to turn on knobs and fiddle around until you get that sound you’re after. Spice it up a bit with some “cool” sounding letters and there you have it.

Finally, please tell us a little bit about what you’ve got coming up this year. What can we expect from Da Tweekaz in 2017?

Well, you mentioned it earlier. 2016 was an insane year for us. We did our Tweekay16 project, after the success of the project we did in 2014. We released one track each month along with a video clip. It was so intense, definitely because we had a lot less studio time to work with in 2016, so the deadlines were killing. So, usually after such an intense project we like to keep the next year a little less hectic, otherwise we’re pretty sure we’d be headed for a rapid burn-out. So, this year we’re concentrating on our “Tweeka Tour” which is guided with some pretty awesome artwork and press photos (check our Facebook page), performing as much as possible while still slamming out tracks. Just no deadlines.

2018 will be a special year for us, so we’re working on another project for 2018 as well.

Thanks for the interview guys! See you at OVERLOAD Festival!

No no, thank you! See you there. We can’t wait!

Get your tickets for Overload Festival here: http://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1454479?utm_source=fbTfly&utm_medium=am pOfficialEvent

Da Tweekaz Reading THD!
Da Tweekaz Reading THD!
Articles, Reviews

Field Report 5: Trauma Live’s Harder Styles Tour 2016: Denver

Extreme turbulence courtesy of the Rocky Mountain winds greeted my airplane as it hurtled towards Denver International Airport. A portent of the sonic turbulence that would test the unsuspecting speakers of the Summit Music Hall, courtesy of Trauma Live’s Harder Styles Tour 2016 and their awesome line-up of talent: Tonegenerator, Imperium, Buzz Fuzz, Dr. Peacock, Digital Punk, Tommyknocker, Rotterdam Terror Corps, Partyraiser, Rob Gee, and Meccano Twins. The master of ceremonies was once again MC Ruffian, hosting the party in adroit fashion.

Obviously word got out about the tour. From the very beginning the crowd was present. Denver Hard Dance co-promoted the event. They walked around Boulder, Colorado, with a boom-box, blasting Dr. Peacock mixes as they passed out flyers in the home of the Buffaloes. It was great to see a… how should I put it, well… a hippie crowd, getting down to hardcore EDM. As a former resident of Colorado, this was always a bit of a dream of mine and to see it coming to reality was personally gratifying. Sometimes things just take a little time.

As with the previous stops on the tour, the crowd was treated to a once-in-a-lifetime assemblage of talent. My message is simple here, you are never going to see anything like this again. Sure, there will be big shows and festivals in the future, but to see such a solid line-up of talent in a relatively small venue only happens at the very beginning of a scene. It’s a moment when desire overtakes rational thinking, when dedication to the art is more important than practical realities and sleep is banished from the nighttime hours in favor of execution and release. Attendees will be bragging about their attendance for decades in the future.

As noted, Tonegenerator and Imperium got the crowd warmed up with their home-grown sounds, leading the way for Buzz Fuzz’s gabber insanity, followed by yet another absolutely brutal jack-hammer assault of industrial hardcore by Meccano Twins. Tommyknocker showcased the Traxtorm signature sound, once again letting the Trauma audience know, as mentioned in his excellent track, “Nobody’s Stopping This.”

Tommyknocker drops it in Denver @Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016.

Posted by Joel Bevacqua on Saturday, February 20, 2016

Digital Punk was up next, laying down the rawstyle law. At one point he did something pretty cool. Not content with simply encouraging the fans to put their hands in the air, he moseyed right in the crowd, kneeled down and stuck his arms right in there with them. It was a nice personal touch that really looked cool if you were there to see it in person.

Digital Punk and friends.

Posted by Joel Bevacqua on Saturday, February 20, 2016

Up next was Dr. Peacock and this guy was right at home with the crowd, as he played his internationally flavored hardcore to the open-minded Colorado crowd.

Dr. Peacock pumps up Denver @Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016.

Posted by Joel Bevacqua on Saturday, February 20, 2016

Instead of the usual hakke dance you see folks do at these events, the crowd was dancing in more of a jig-like fashion. Since I’m so busy bouncing around the party taking pictures, schmoozing backstage, and making sure The Hard Data gets passed out, I haven’t had the chance to dance as much as I’d like to so far on the tour. But, I made sure I got to cut a little rug during Dr. Peacock.

Dr. Peacock rocking Denver @Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016.

Posted by Joel Bevacqua on Saturday, February 20, 2016

Partyrasier hit the decks next. It was a classic Partyraiser set, and perhaps one of his best. He was mixing up a storm and really conversing with the audience via his music.

Partyraiser ripping it up in Denver @Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016.

Posted by Joel Bevacqua on Saturday, February 20, 2016

This set the stage for Rottedam Terror Corps who put on a righteous, outrageous spectacle, as is their forte. Their old school kick drums brought back that bouncy sound I remember from my raving days in the 90’s – but combined with the hard terror-filled screeches of the modern era. That, combined with basically an X-rated stage show, let’s you know you’re not in Kansas anymore. Honestly they have to tone their show down just a bit for the American audience, but even so it’s still a riot.

Rob Gee completed the night to a captivated crowd with a broad selection of his hits old and new. Rob Gee has done an amazing job at updating his sound to the modern era, and the best example of that is his recent track with Adaro, Dark Universe. I’m hoping at the next stop on the tour, Pittsburgh, he busts out my current fave of his, “Music is the Drug” that he recently did with The BeatKrusher.

Speaking of Pittsburgh, that’s the stop I finally get to hit the main stage at, and I can’t wait because I will be busting out a new track I got Pittsburgh local Subterranean to whip up: a remix of my old track Housewrecker, this time with a sort of hardstyle/dubstep combination flavor going on. You’ll hear it there first. Until then, I’m going to enjoy one more day in the Rockies, recovering from the tour so far and resting up for the last leg. This is Deadly Buda signing off, and always remember, the rhythm is life and death!

Articles, Interviews

Tonegenerator: Interview from Trauma: Harder Styles Tour 2016

Antonio Medina is one of the finer up-and-coming US Hardstyle producers on this tour. Represented by Denver Hard Dance, this man will finally be able to unleash his talent upon the world in such a fashion that our foreign counterparts will remember that Tonegenerator is one name to certainly pay attention to in the rise of the US Hard Dance scene.  He drops his knowledge at the Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016 in Denver, Colorado on February 20, 2016.

What inspired your stage name?

It’s funny cause I had gotten the idea from the show 1,000 Ways to Die where some guy used a “tonegenerator” from the army to make “drug music” and ended up reaching frequencies that gave him brain hemorrhaging.

Were you a DJ first, or a producer?

I became a producer first. I got into production in 2011 and became serious about it in 2012.

How did you get into the scene?

I got into the scene when I first connected with DHD (Denver Hard Dance) and sent them my music. They liked what I had to offer!

What was the first record you ever purchased?

The first record I bought I think was Headhunterz – The Power of The Mind

Who was the biggest inspiration in the early part of your career?

My biggest inspiration was and still is Headhunterz. I was amazed at the sound design and how atmospheric the music was.

 

Tonegenerator will be on the Trauma tour! - Buy your ticket here and get a free subscription to The HARD DATA!
Tonegenerator will be on the Trauma tour! – Buy your ticket here and get a free subscription to The HARD DATA!

Would you describe your very first DJ gig?

My first gig was incredible; nervous at first, not a huge crowd, but it felt great to play the music I love.

What was your favorite party you ever played? Why?

My favorite so far is Hard Asylum, from April 2015. The atmosphere and the crowd were amazing; they really love Raw Hardstyle down there.

What was the funniest moment during any of your performances?

Funniest moment was when I did a tag team set with Audity & Deoxy; the stage split down the middle!
What important changes have you witnessed from the time you got into the scene, until now?

The amount of local people getting into Hard Dance. It has grown so much over the years that there’s more and more people coming to the shows; it’s great seeing it go from a small amount to the venue being practically full.

What are you looking forward to most on this tour? – What stop are you looking forward to most?

Getting to share the stage with the biggest names in Hardcore and Hardstyle such as Digital Punk, Partyraiser, Meccano Twins, just to name a few. And I would love to see every stop but for now looking forward to Denver, Colorado.

What made you want to start producing Raw Hardcore/Hardstyle/Rawstyle music?

Discovering Raw Hardstyle was the best thing ever. The amount of energy and aggressiveness the kicks and leads had amazed me. It made me want to try and do the same and I still continue loving it and producing it.

 

Arctus & Tonegenerator
Arctus & Tonegenerator

What is your favorite track that you have produced?

It would have to be ‘Dead Skies’. I put a lot of time and thought into the structure and sound design. I’m very proud of its outcome..

What advice would you give to up-and-coming Hardcore/Hardstyle producers?

Be confident in your work and don’t be afraid.

Have any of the artists on the Trauma tour ever inspired your work? If so, how?

I would say Digital Punk. His work is amazing and the creativity in his tracks is what makes me want to try diverse stuff in mine.

What are your top 3 tracks of all time? Why?

  1. The Machine & The Geminizers – Godcore – Its energy and driving force is pure gold.
  2. Atmozfears – Release – It’s a euphoric track but the emotion in its entirety makes you feel alive!
  3. Headhunterz – The Power Of the Mind – This will always be my favorite. Because of this track, I am where I want to be in my music career; I never would’ve thought of being in this moment if it weren’t for that track.

What was your favorite track of 2015 (that wasn’t your own)?

Of Verona – Zero Gravity (B-Front Bootleg). Everything in this track is perfect to me. From the reverb to the melody, to the kicks, the synths, the vibe and emotion. This track really stood out for me; huge sound!

Are there any exciting projects or gigs coming up that you want our readers to know about?

Yes! I have a few tracks lined up that just need some touch ups so they can be released some time soon. Also, a kick edit I made of Code Black – Predator will be given away! There are a few more gigs in the months to come but the info will be released in time; I don’t want to mention anything just yet.

What artists would you like to collaborate with that you haven’t already?

I had a few in mind: Mrotek, Arctus, The Wicked, Vigor, Qlarity, and Imperium. I would love to work with these guys in the near future.

If there’s anything we haven’t asked, what else would you like to say to the readers of The Hard Data?

Stay tuned for my releases to come and I hope I get to see all of you at Trauma!

You can catch Tonegenerator On February 20th at the Summit Music Hall in Denver, Colorado! Buy your tickets HERE for a FREE subscription to the HARD DATA!