Tag Archives: Kari Lambou

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Field Report 8: BASSCON WASTELAND DAY 1

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Word of Hardstyle’s imminent demise was brutally thumped to the ground and drowned in the Pacific last night as 4000+ squeezed into Los Angeles’ Hollywood Palladium for day 1 of Basscon’s Wasteland. A battery of lasers that would make Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Forces proud, combined with a sound system louder than Thor’s hammer lit up Sunset Boulevard and screamed the news.

The night started with Max Enforcer. As some of you may know, Max Enforcer is Evil Activities’ Hardstyle alias, so it’s no wonder that his set in particular was heavy hitting right off the bat, even if he played, and we guiltily sung along to, “Lost in Paradise.”

Audiotricz followed this up by maintaining the euphoria with all of their biggest tracks that are known to tug at the heartstrings, including the implementation of the very popular “Release” by Atmozfears, a track that even the raw kids can’t ignore.

D-Block & S-Te-Fan at Basscon Wasteland 2016
D-Block & S-Te-Fan at Basscon Wasteland 2016

D-Block & S-Te-Fan was a particular highlight of the night because they were playing a lot of their older tracks which might feature their best sound design (Sound of the Thunder, Music Made Addict etc.). Opening with their track “Higher” set the mood for one the most emotional sets that could be remembered in recent memory.

Isaac got the crowd in a frenzy, veering from euphoric to raw in a perfect balance. He started out his set with some crazy Zelda samples that sounded absolutely insane on the massive Basscon sound system. Every track that followed seemed to be instilled in the minds of the crowd. Then, he even brought out every promoter’s best friend, Leo Corson, to grab the mic and remind the Southern California faithful why we love all bitches!

We took a little break and sauntered out to the smoking area where we even spotted controversial man-of-the-hour Kari Lambou holding court on the smoking patio! And not far away, Fresh Entertainment’s Sherief Zakher was showing off his new tattoos to DJ Mindcontroller and his posse.

We also spotted Kriss Erickson of Lucky Rabbit Photography who came down from NorCal to witness the spectacle. West coast party regular Giovanny Garcia made his requisite appearance (even though he was spotted at the last minute). He literally has been spotted at every Hard Dance show on the west coast! And of course Las Vegas true-believer Matthew Levin deserves a mention because no one has the amount of dedication to this scene that this man does and he is THE man that everyone looks forward to seeing when they attend harder events. Our photographer Marvelous Mike Ortiz was making the rounds snapping most of the flix you see on this page. Watch out for some of his upcoming video productions by-the-way!

Ravers at Basscon Wasteland
Ravers at Basscon Wasteland

Finally rested, we witnessed possibly the best set of the night: Audiofreq and Code Black’s reunion of Bioweapon. They played a lot of tracks from what is considered by many to be the golden era of hardstyle (2008-2010). They had a perfect blend of old and new, and they also incorporated some raw tracks. Finally getting to hear E-Force’s “Seven” in a live setting was a defining moment for our man DJ Daybreaker who could be seen bopping in the crowd. Even more evidence of this, there was a moment were these two really got the crowd bouncing off the walls when they dropped a slowed-down Hardcore track, DJ Mad Dog & Tommyknocker’s DJ Tool 1.

The night culminated with the reveal of who exactly were the “Notorious Two.” It is Lady Faith and the Pitcher’s new raw-oriented project. The response from the crowd at their tougher sounding tracks was strong and evidence that the SoCal hardstyle junkies are currently looking for more aggressive tracks, and that seemed pretty evident the entire night.

Night two is on the horizon and if the crowd wanted it hard, they are gonna get it. After witnessing Digital Punk in his USA debut on the Trauma Tour, the thought of him crushing on the Basscon system has us giddy like school girls riding unicorns. So get yourself sorted tonight and get ready!

While you’re out tonight, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of The HARD DATA as you exit the Palladium! We, along with faithful Utah hardstyle trooper Jesse Murdock will be at the ready to pass them to you!  To those that don’t know, The HARD DATA is the only physical magazine in America dedicated to the harder styles of EDM. Not only is it great to read on the ride home, but when you want to remember this time, do you really think you’re going to peruse your saved web browser bookmarks from like 10 phones forward in time… or break out a shoe box hidden in your closet full of kandi, flyers, accessories, and The Hard Data? ‘Nuff said! Until next time, this is Deadly Buda and Daybreaker reminding you: The rhythm is life and death!

Get a copy of THD from these guys, Deadly Buda, Jesse Murdock, and Daybreaker will be slinging the goods tonight!
Get a copy of THD from these guys, Deadly Buda, Jesse Murdock, and Daybreaker will be slinging the goods tonight!
Articles, Reviews

Field Report 7: Trauma Live’s Harder Styles Tour 2016: Brooklyn

The final stop of Trauma’s Harder Styles Tour touched down in Brooklyn Saturday night. As anticipated, the venue was packed with attendees bouncing off the walls. Right off the bat is was amazing to see Lenny Dee and Rob Gee on their home turf, in the borough that made them worldwide names. Rob Gee played his greatest set on the entire tour, and frankly it might have been the single most uplifting and inspiring set –of all sets—on the tour. Rob Gee has always had something special with audiences, but Saturday night in particular he hit a resonant melody with the audience who were 100% in sync with his hardcore vibe.

Dj Deadly Buda at Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016: Brooklyn
DJ Deadly Buda at Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016: Brooklyn

But, I’m getting ahead of myself, literally. Yours truly got to open up the night, and thankfully the sound-system was 100% on point, and there was already a crowd ready to rock. I got a chance to bust out some of my favorite tracks from the Next Cyclone label, which are rarely played, and the crowd was well into it. I also got to spin on 4 decks at once, an infrequent pleasure at hardcore shows where oftentimes we are lucky to even be using modern CD-Js!

DJ Stefanie at Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016: Brooklyn
DJ Stefanie at Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016: Brooklyn

After I did my stuff, Reactor and Pulsators hit the decks and rocked the crowd with some hardstyle, leading up to the night’s headliner, DJ Stefanie. Basically, she tore it up, showing the USA why she is a big favorite in Europe and even showcased one of her latest tracks. I had the pleasure of filming her live feed on Facebook for the first half hour too. Most of her set it could be seen worldwide!

Lenny Dee at Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016: Brooklyn
Lenny Dee at Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016: Brooklyn

Next up was Lenny Dee. As always, it’s a pleasure to see Lenny Dee rocking it in his own backyard. The tough industrial sounds had the ravers rocking to and fro. Hardcore historians know that Lenny Dee might be considered the original hardcore DJ of which we know in the modern era, and to see him in his element, where the sounds were heard that would later inspire the world, was truly moving. He was followed by his frequent partner-in-cacophony, Rob Gee.

Tim Shopp at Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016: Brooklyn
Tim Shopp at Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016: Brooklyn

Satronica then hit the decks and continued the holiday of hardcore that had taken over Brooklyn’s legendary club Verboten, leading to up-and-coming, Tim Shopp, who did double duty on the main stage and the second room, keeping the crowd busy the entire night. Tim tore the cap off a shaken pop-bottle of speedcore madness that drove the crowd wild, giving a sneak preview of the coming wave of American Hardcore.

Rob Gee at Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016: Brooklyn
Rob Gee at Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016: Brooklyn

Initially looking back on the tour at this early stage of reflection, I think there were tremendous gains made for the American hardcore EDM/Techno scene. Whereas the crowds were not sell-outs, they were decent and more importantly, everyone had a great, and sometimes life changing time. Dealing with music so much on an everyday basis, we music insiders often lose track of how important finding that new sound is to the concert goer… as we count the beans and talk the numbers. Sure, it’s an aspect that cannot be ignored, but ultimately life is remembered in experiences, and Trauma Live made sure to give people an experience they’ll never forget, and I can’t wait to see what happens to this scene next.

DJ Stefanie and Lenny Dee at Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016: Brooklyn
DJ Stefanie and Lenny Dee at Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016: Brooklyn
Articles, Reviews

Field Report 4: Trauma in Mesa AZ

As my plane touched down on the sun-baked earth of Phoenix, Arizona, a sigh of relief and relaxation overcame my body and mind. Much like a sun-worshipping retiree, I was looking forward to a relaxing night of music and friendship in the warm cleave of the desert.

SRB and Meccano Twins at Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016, Mesa, AZ
SRB and Meccano Twins at Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016, Mesa, AZ

The phone rang. It was Kari. “Hey man, can you rent a van for us? My flight got messed up.” In the world of hardcore EDM, at least in America, you have to wear lots of hats: DJ, publisher, producer, promoter… and so adding chauffeur to the list was now second nature, “Sure.”

Then, look what entered the modest suburban minivan I procured: MC Rtiser! ”How the heck did this guy get through TSA Screening?” I think to myself. I then spend the majority of the night transporting van-loads of ridiculously talented Dutch and Italians, to and from the event, running on stage to snap pictures and get a good listen so I could report to the THD faithful.

Meccano Twins and Ruffian at Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016
Meccano Twins and Ruffian at Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016

As Kari languished in LAX stand-by, Brandon SDK made sure the party went off without a hitch. Which is good, as fans were driving from all over the Southwest, particularly SoCal, to see the leg 2 version of the Trauma line-up. It was another sure-fire killer this time with Ruffian as Master of Ceremonies: Rotterdam Terror Corps, Digital Punk, Buzz Fuzz, Partyraiser, SRB, Tommyknocker, Mrotek, Arktus, CIK, Dr. Peacock, Rob Gee and Meccano Twins lit the place on fire, as if the desert needed to get any hotter than it already was.

Tommyknocker drops the bomb on Arizona on the Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016.

Posted by Joel Bevacqua on Saturday, February 20, 2016

Mrotek and Arktus turned on the rawstyle to get the surprisingly large crowd for the first set pumped up. CIK laid down the Arizona law, showcasing that state’s great hardcore producers. They have a tough, complex sound that we have written of before in The HARD DATA (check out our interview in issue 2). Next Buzz Fuzz delivered the classic Rotterdam gabber sound to the growing crowd. SRB went off with a heavy speedcore set, explaining to me that he figured he could get away with playing it at the beginning or at the end of the night, so he ramped up the beats-per-minute to 300 and asked the terror-loving crowd if they “Had a Friend in Jesus” with his last track of the night.

Then came the first ever USA appearance of Meccano Twins. It was incredible! Tough brutal hardcore rocked the crowd and led up to Tommyknocker who fittingly “knocked it out of the park” as he laid down one Traxtorm hit after the next. Luckily, I even got a chance to interview Tommy later in show (stay tuned for that in the next issue).

Dr. Peacock in Arizona, ruffling some feathers on Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016.

Posted by Joel Bevacqua on Saturday, February 20, 2016

The most popular set of the night was Digital Punk, laying down the thick Unleashed rawstyle sound to the new breed of ravers. Then came Dr. Peacock.

Digital Punk in his first ever USA appearance on the Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016 in Arizona.

Posted by Joel Bevacqua on Saturday, February 20, 2016

I must say you should treat yourself and hear this guy live if you can. He played a wonderful, innovative hardcore live-PA that incorporates musical influences from all over the globe. Just in case you weren’t tired enough, Partyraiser stepped to the decks and resumed the all-out kick-drum assault, paving the way for Rotterdam Terror Corps.

Rotterdam Terror Corps says hello to Arizona.

Posted by Joel Bevacqua on Saturday, February 20, 2016

Honestly, I only caught the beginning of their set because I then had to go on an extended hotel run with the previously playing artists. So, I can only say the crowd seemed into it at the beginning and RTC honestly did sound scary as hell. It was one of those moments where you think, “modern existence is so completely messed up, that Rotterdam Terror Corps makes 100% logical sense.” I mean, think about it, that is kinda scary. Hopefully tonight in Denver I can give a more thorough review of RTC. Last but certainly not least was Rob Gee, the only artist on every stop of the tour. Of course he was great, and the crowd loved him. Read the past couple reviews for a more thorough description and video if you aren’t familiar with the Gee Man yet.

Partyrasier at Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016
Partyrasier at Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016

The only downer of the night was Alien T didn’t play. I was looking forward to hearing him play “Hammer of the Devil.” Apparently there was some screw up or miscommunication, and he didn’t come to the states. Hopefully that isn’t a permanent problem because I think the American audience would love his sound. I guess we should stay tuned for more info on that. All in all though as you can see, hear and read, it was a great night for hardcore and hardstyle in Arizona.

I just touched down in Denver where I am finishing this piece. As word gets out about the tour, each stop seems to get bigger and bigger. Apparently there is a lot of buzz in Denver for tonight so we shall see! Until the next time…

The rhythm is life and death!

DJ Deadly Buda

 

Articles, Events, Reviews

Field Report: Trauma Live’s Harder Styles Tour 2016: Los Angeles

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The first leg of the Harder Styles Tour 2016 culminated in Trauma Live’s home town, Los Angeles, CA last night, and I continue recovering from it as I type these words, dear reader. After dropping off my bud Nickolai at 5:30 am, I couldn’t help myself and indulged in that classic Angeleno vice: doughnuts. Sure, I screwed up my shaky gluten-free diet, but I needed the extra sugar rush to make it up that last bit of the 405. I inhaled an apple fritter—daring the last few exits to where I remembered my bed was. I crawled into it at 6:00 AM for the first reasonable amount of sleep that I had the chance to partake in since Thursday.

Posted by Joel Bevacqua on Monday, February 15, 2016

(DJ Mad Dog broke the chain in LA once again!)

I had to stay up every minute I could though, to witness a pioneering concert tour that will be long remembered. Future promoters read this line-up and weep because you will never see anything like it again: The Prophet, Scott Brown, Rob Gee, Vortex, Placid K, and Super Marco May. BAM! All certifiable legends in their own right, combined with hardcore superstar Mad Dog, and the first ever American appearance of Amnesys and The Melodyst who represent the next great wave in hardcore EDM/techno, or whatever the hell we are calling it now. Put that in your pipe and smoke it man, that line-up happened and I got to see the whole thing 3 times (save a couple hours in San Francisco because of a complete flight scheduling disaster).

I was an hour early to the Los Angeles show at Club Nokia, mainly because I was playing the very first set in the VIP lounge with DJ Mindcontroller. We were assigned the task of representing classic rave on vinyl with our set, which we gladly delivered to the old school heads. We couldn’t help playing some real cheezy stuff though. I mean, I hadn’t played the Lords of Acid’s “Take Control” in decades, and this was the perfect scenario to indulge in such vice. We were followed by Lostboy and Demigod, who represented the more UK breakbeat sound for the most part.

Demigod gets classic!

Posted by Joel Bevacqua on Tuesday, February 16, 2016

(Demigod gets classic!)

Thee O, Steve Loriah and Scott Brown (playing classics) followed it up in fine fashion, apparently, but I can’t directly report on them since I was busy downstairs at the time getting hammered by hardcore. Like the last Trauma show, there was so much going on in both sound areas you always had to make critical choices. You were going to see and hear something great, and miss something great no matter what you did.

I chose to be in the main area at about 2:00 AM where Placid K ruled last night. He laid down some brutal hardcore law during his short set that brought demons young and old out on the dance floor. A tough, driving, crushing kick is what this crowd wanted, and he hit ‘em with it perfectly.

Who was this crowd? It was classic LA hardcore, but with lots of new faces. Yeah, there were plenty of old schoolers, but it was definitely the newer hardstyle and rawstyle generation that filled the floor. Placid K has played in LA a few times earlier, so he knew how we want it served up, and he dished it out hot.

Amnesys at Trauma LA

Posted by Joel Bevacqua on Monday, February 15, 2016

(Amnesys hammers the crowd at Los Angele’s Club Nokia)

Earlier in the night, like a fly on the wall, I got to hear a few DJs bitch about their set times in the dressing room, which happens frequently with DJs. Since there were so many stars on the line-up, the max set time was 45 minutes, most got 30. I had seen Amnesys in Edmonton, and he was great, but forced to constrict his set into 30 minutes, I dare say it might have been even better. His mixing was fast and superb. He actually used the effects on the Pioneer mixer, rather than just pretending to do so like some other EDM superstars. The guy can mix, its that simple, and he condensed all the power of his set into a small window that made it hit even harder.

Before the tour began, a few heads were complaining that the set-times would be too short on this tour. I say from experience now, that is total poppycock. Set after set was awesome. It was just all the best stuff. I know that some of you who read a “10 Tips for DJs” blog post think you know about mixing when you can wax eloquently about how a DJ needs time to build his or hers vibe. You ain’t impressing me no more with this beat-to-death meme. The Trauma line-up took their best stuff, condensed it down to the ultimate essence, and working in tandem, let it rip. There was never a dull moment. It hit hard and constantly. Super Marco May, Vortex, Scott Brown (who played two sets that night, happy hardcore in the main room and classics in the VIP Lounge), The Prophet, Mad Dog, The Melodyst and Rob Gee were all freaking ON FIRE. Mad Dog and The Prophet had the biggest crowds, as they were the headliners, but the drop off to the very last note Rob Gee played was virtually nil.

This actually created a bit of a problem for me. I vowed to pass out a copy of The HARD DATA to every attendee at the show. So I lined up 4 guys to help me out, Stephen Hughes, Nickolai, Alex Murphy and Jesse Simons. So I pull these guys out of the main room at like 2:30, telling them we gotta be ready at the exit for people to leave. No one did! So basically they were all probably mad that I broke them away from the show needlessly. Everyone waited for the last note of Rob Gee’s set at 4:00 AM to leave, and fortunately those 4 hombres had my back to get our favorite ‘zine into everyone’s hot little hands at the end.

Speaking of Rob Gee, I have to give the man big props for not only his riveting sets, but his dedication to the fans. This cool cat named Jackson had drove all the way from Texas to see the show, and wanted to meet and greet the artists Something got messed up and despite buying the VIP pass and all, he didn’t get a chance to do so. So Stephen Hughes texts me in the middle of passing out THDs to tell me about this. I go back stage as Rob is getting ready to leave the venue and let him know the situation. The Gee-man hopped off the stage in a flash and was out there to meet Jackson and make sure he didn’t drive back to Texas without meeting one of his hardcore heroes. It was a great way to end a great show, and the Trauma Harder Styles Tour, leg 1, was complete.

So I have 4 days to get my Trauma-tized life back in order before I head out to Mesa, Arizona to meet up with Brandon and the SDK crew for leg 2 of the tour and another sick line-up. I mean, look at this slate of artist joining the tour and stare in disbelief:

Alien T
DJ BUZZ FUZZ
Digital Punk
Dr. Peacock
MC Ruffian
Meccano Twins
Partyraiser
Rotterdamterrorcorps
SRB / Dione
Tommyknocker

After that is Denver on Saturday, and then leg 3 is Pittsburgh and Brooklyn. So stay tuned folks, and remember, the rhythm is life and death!

Deadly Buda

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Trauma Prelude 2: Kari’s World

“I pretty much feel like I’m gonna die.” Said Kari Lambou, jerking his head at the last minute before he was to make an impromptu pillow out of his MacBook Pro. Kari’s the head of Trauma Live, who are embarking on a 7 city North American music tour. Any music tour is tough, but Kari is pushing North America’s first hardcore E.D.M. tour (purists would call it hardcore techno), undoubtedly the least popular subgenre of the EDM world. The genre is squarely a mix of house music, hip hop, punk rock, heavy metal, and industrial noise. It’s as old-school ravey as it gets, and despite its detractors, it refuses to vanish. Mixed into the chaos is hardcore’s younger, cuter and more popular little brothers in music, hardstyle and rawstyle, to make sure the crowd is comfortable with the rock hard beats-per-minute.

Kari’s been up for a few days with limited sleep and the comfort of a few complimentary beers doled out by his office workspace in El Segundo, CA. There are numerous causes of his sleep deprivation, for example, his washing machine recently backed up and destroyed his family’s apartment, but even more so is the fact that he has almost 40 different DJs spread out all over the 7 city tour. Most are from Europe, requiring flights, hotels, and transportation.The email inbox starts blowing up again, and must be dealt with as adroitly as a 2 hour window of sleep will allow.

“I do it, because I hate commercial music. I want our own sound.” Says Kari, as I dutifully pry into his life for the benefit of my readers. “This is about us, about sticking to what we want to hear. I don’t really care if people say my line-up is too hard. Well, too bad. This is what Trauma is about. Events you’ll never forget.”

I point out that 40 artists, is a little overboard. “Well, ok, frankly I didn’t see that coming.”

It all happened because DJ Distortion of Rotterdam Terror Corps happened to mention to Kari that he could get a few people to play in America. As soon as the feelers went out, every huge name in hardcore techno immediately lobbied for the gigs. No one took no for answer. Basically, the American market has eluded hardcore techno for decades, and it gnaws at the soul of all hardcore aficionados around the world, because frankly, America seems like the perfect place for it. These names may not mean a lot to the average American yet, but how do you say “no” to Mad Dog, Amnesys, Rotterdam Terror Corps, Tommyknocker, The Melodyst, Scott Brown… the list goes on and on. Though such a line-up might exist in Europe, such a tour as this does not. Everyone constantly undercut each other’s playing fees because they HAD TO PLAY. Everyone wanted to play. It was as simple as that. And when you have the combined talent, basically a line-up that would be historical anywhere in the world, well… you roll with it.

Vowing to document this first historical tour, I find myself jetting to its first stop in North America, Edmonton, Alberta, where it’s -11 degrees Celsius. “Well, we looked at the map and it seemed there were lots of harder styles fans in a few of these areas, basically.” Kari explained. I’m thinking like, “but this is like 12 degrees Fahrenheit,” but Trauma picked their first cities. Edmonton is the first stop before San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix (Mesa), Denver, Pittsburgh, and New York. So I packed up the long underwear, gloves, ski jacket, toboggan, a few stacks of The Hard Data magazine, and my trusty smartphone, and I board the plane for Canada….