Tag Archives: Matthew Levin

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.

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!

April 22, 2016 Daybreaker

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.

Announcements, Articles, Daybreaker

Apocalypto featuring Frontliner: Pre-Game Analysis

April 15, 2016 Daybreaker

It may seem like a one-off to many, but this weekend Las Vegas sees one of its biggest influxes in tourism that doesn’t take place within the “summer months” or the holidays; I didn’t know this until I began driving down into the dust bowl monolith itself and witnessed all of the trailers and vintage vehicles making the same trek as I; there is always plenty going on in this city as you know, but rarely do we get to say that we are going to Vegas for hard dance music. This Saturday, ‘Ravealation’ has given us the pleasure of enjoying Hardstyle much closer to home with another ‘Apocalypto’ event featuring the “melody man” himself FRONTLINER! Since I’ve driven 6 hours into town for this event, one of the front men (and mastermind behind ‘Apocalypto’ in this writer’s opinion) Matthew Levin has agreed to sit down with me and discuss how events like this are becoming ever more possible in the city that already has it all.

What is the Apocalypto concept and how is it becoming a pivotal point for hard dance music in Las Vegas?

It’s a concept that allows us to throw hard dance events for experienced and new fans alike. We plan on treating Apocalypto as its own brand… it exists as its own entity. Apocalypto will act with the best interests of hard dance music fans in mind, and we plan on delivering incredible experiences to these great people. Our goal is to strengthen the current hard dance foundations while expanding our music to new demographics.

What can people expect from Apocalypto this Saturday?

First and foremost: amazing sound. My number one concern is always having powerful sound. There are fewer things in life more disappointing than a Hard Dance party with weak sound. The venue itself has fantastic sound, but we have still elected to reinforce it with our own punch. On top of that, there will be plenty of lasers and other visual productions. As for the talent, I am 100% confident in all of their performance capabilities. I think every attendee is going to have an absolute blast.

What do you think is Las Vegas biggest reason for the lack of support for hard dance music?

I think population density and overall population is the issue. If you look at shows in LA, they can pull attendees from all of their suburbs, even as far as the city of San Diego, which is a two hour drive away. A lot of people believe that Vegas is a large city, when in fact it’s not larger than a small town. Another aspect that makes throwing non-mainstream parties difficult is that Vegas focuses significantly on supporting the casino club industry, which is prevalent here. Overall, I would say we are seeing a steady increase in Hard Dance support in Las Vegas, which is always a good sign.

What more do you think can be done to strengthen the hard dance scene in your city? As a whole?

I believe that sharing the music with a variety of demographics will be the fastest way to grow the scene in Las Vegas. Electronic music as a whole has a huge following in this city, yet the majority of these people have never even heard of hard dance, hardstyle, or hardcore. To spread hard dance as a whole, I believe that a similar approach must be taken, in that we need to penetrate other electronic dance communities and share our music with them. On top of that, and I’ll receive flak for saying this, but I feel that most American Hard Dance DJ’s do not present the music well to neither the experienced fans nor especially the inexperienced/new fans. I could write an article on all the consistent mistakes I see/hear American hard dance DJs execute, and eventually I plan on writing that as an information piece. Sidenote: to revisit the earlier statement regarding people in Las Vegas not having knowledge of “hard dance, hardstyle, or hardcore,” I would like to add psytrance to that list. Here in Las Vegas, Jack Spaidz has proved time and time again that psytrance is cheerfully welcomed at Apocalypto, and I would like to see an expansion of knowledge regarding that genre, along with the rest of the more standard hard dance genres, both here in Vegas, and across the states.

What is in store for us and Apocalypto in the future?

We are looking to grow both as a company and with the rest of the hard dance scene. I don’t see a limit as to how far we can take Apocalypto, I’m just happy to be along for the ride and put on great shows for the fans.

You can witness American hard dance acts Jo Ji, Kung Pow, Jack Spaidz, the debut of RVLTN Black and of course FRONTLINER this Saturday, April, 16th at the Hard Rock Café (Paradise Road location) in Las Vegas, Nevada!

Articles, Reviews

Field Report 8: BASSCON WASTELAND DAY 1

March 5, 2016 DJ Deadly Buda 1 Comment

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 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!

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!