Previously releasing mostly on Theracords, Stana says “I appreciate the time we had together. It was a lot of fun working with everybody, but we recently ended our collaboration a few weeks back and we are going in separate ways now. But the motivation for Tech Maniac Records was alive and kicking even before I joined so it’s a dream I’ve decided to finally do.”

Whilst tech obviously runs through Stana’s veins, expect a diversified sound from the new label, despite the name. “[The style will be] a lot of Tech obviously, but also a lot of other styles as well. I will be pushing out whatever that comes to mind, just as long as I love it. It can be everything from Hard Dance to Techno to Trance and even House oriented- it doesn’t really matter. My agenda will be to create as much music and show the world what I’ve got. My label will mostly be focusing on creating something unique and to release a lot with my friends so you can expect Ultraform, Jonas Stenberg, Dave Schiemann for the first release which is really banging!”

The last year has been stellar for the maniac from Sweden, pumping out a good number of releases on Theracords and being booked for the legendary Defqon 1 festival in June. “It’s absolutely fantastic! I appreciate the opportunity to show what I’ve got and it’s going to be really great to see everybody there… I will rock it as much as I can on the orange stage!”. He rates it as “definitely one of my biggest achievements, and I’m very happy to see what the future holds.”

Stana lists Swedish House Mafia as an inspiration, “for the reason that they brought something beautiful from nothing at all in Stockholm, which I can speak from my own experience is really hard to do in this city. They are really hard working and their music evolves the whole time without staying in one place. I’m also inspired by Adam Beyer and most of the Swedish legends of course.”

On the flip side, he sees potential Diablik as a rising star in the scene. “[He] has a lot of energy in his productions, and as a tech maniac I find craziness something for me! I also hope to see more stuff come out from BRK3 this year hopefully. “

Comforting news for vinyl junkies, the label will release in both vinyl and mp3, with the first release being pressed as we speak. “There are a lot of people that still respect vinyl, and it’s why vinyl is still pressing. It is no doubt a risky move to do, but I decided to do it anyway because it’s one of my dreams. No matter how big risks are dreams will always be bigger!”

For the Australian fans, Stana responds to whether he will be coming out again: “I sure hope so! I had a great time last time I was over playing in Melbourne surrounded by amazing people and surprised about the Australian enthusiasm with all the fans.”

The first release will be Stana – Circus this summer, with remixes from Ultraform, Dave Schiemann and Jonas Stenberg.

Have a listen of some of Stana’s productions on his MySpace.

Having earned their merits at the legendary Qlubtempo parties in the early 00s, slowly conquering the world from there on, Arjen and Anco Timmerman can be considered one of the most constant factors in the hardstyle scene ever since it was born. With performances all over Europe and, recently, even in Australia, their dark sound slowly conquers more and more souls worldwide: this is the story of the Alpha Twins.

Making their Q-Dance entry at the very first Qlimax event held in the Heineken Music Hall, these brothers have seen a small promoter evolve into the Netherlands’ biggest hardstyle event organizer. Playing almost every first edition of what are now world-famous festivals, they have always buffeted crowds with dark melodies and evil themes. “It’s a matter of taste,” Arjen says. “We both happen to like dark, raw hardstyle. It’s always been like that, really – there’s no particular philosophy to it, although it is a way of setting ourselves apart, in a sense. Of course, this doesn’t mean we don’t play the more accessible stuff; there’s really good tracks in that department too, and it can often be very useful during a 2 hour set.”

The twins, who aren’t actually twins at all, often team up with others for their releases. “Of course, solo releases are very important, but we do like to collaborate with other artists. Besides the social aspect, which is always a lot of fun, we also learn a lot from it. Other artists always tend to have a different approach to things. For instance, we recently did a new collab with Wildstylez, producing a new track we named ‘Atrocious’. A collaboration with Zatox is also in the pipeline.”

Gaining a steady crowd of followers over the years, Anco & Arjen never really had a home base. After releasing various records on labels such as Mythica and Sys-X, and even the Qlimax 2006 anthem on Q-Dance Records, they finally decided to set up their own label. With the April 2008 release of ‘Nowhere to Hide’, A² Records was born. “It’s something we had been planning to do for quite a while. Of course, it’s cool to have your own label as an artist, but we mainly see it as something that completes the picture,” Arjen comments. “The good thing about having your own label is that you can plan your own release schedule: no more waiting for those other two releases before it’s your turn. We’ve known the other artists on our label for a long time. 2-Sidez already were somewhat popular but didn’t have a home label yet, and we thought their sound fit ours. The same goes for Ran-D, although maybe he wasn’t as well known at the time.”

Even though the boys are running a label, producing, and performing every weekend, they still have time for other activities. “We both like to play tennis and you may find us at the golf course from time to time.” Whereas Anco lives off the music business, Arjen works from 9 to 1 four times a week. “Because I enjoy doing it, and because it helps me keep a healthy day/night rhythm.” He also confesses to be guilty of producers’ sin #1: “I regularly meet with friends at Friday night to play some games.”

Earlier this year, the guys decided to join up with what is probably the world’s famous hardstyle label: A² Records became a sublabel of Scantraxx. “They already had a bunch of sublabels, but none of those represented the harder sound. Of course, we did and Scantraxx asked us to team up with them. Things went rather fast and we quickly agreed on everything. The only thing really important for us was that we could keep our own identity, separate from the main label. Of course, joining Scantraxx has certain benefits. We’ve been getting quite a few extra bookings abroad lately.”

According to the Timmerman brothers, the future of hardstyle is looking bright. “At big events, you still see loaded hardstyle areas every time. And they’re often the biggest areas, too! We also notice hardstyle is on the rise abroad. As we said, we get quite a lot of bookings and so do our colleagues. The great thing about these booking is that in other countries, an event is still a ‘special’ experience.” Personally, they have achieved pretty much everything there is to achieve: bookings all around the globe, a Qlimax anthem, mainstage at all big events. Still, their work is not complete: “One of our goals was to play in Australia. We’ve recently accomplished that, and with great success: Defqon.1 Australia was unbelievable! Of course, an X-Qlusive Alpha² would also be great. It’s simply a party that’s all about you as an artist: you get to decide what the night looks like, you decide who gets to play. Besides that, we’d like to continue crossing the globe. We’ve already played in quite a lot of countries, but there’s a lot of other ones where we would like to go, to see if we can spread the hardstyle virus over there, too.”

Arjen also has some plans outside of the hardstyle world. “It’s nothing concrete yet, but recently I have been working on minimal, techno and tech-house and even performed with these style at the Q-BASE freestyle area,” he says. Don’t worry that he might leave the dark side, though: “I’m not sure yet if I’m actually going to do anything with this. Of course, Alpha Twins will always be more important.”

Of course, the British enthusiasm hasn’t go unnoticed with the brothers. “We’ve had the privilege to perform in England numerous times, and it has always been a blast. The crowd goes on and on and they’re extremely enthusiastic.”

As a parting message, they have one more thing to say:
Check alphatwins.nl , myspace.com/alphatwinsnl , facebook.com/alpha2 , twitter.com/alphatwins to follow the latest news!

And with that, these busy brothers return to their work: delivering some of the darkest sounds in the scene to us!

I’ve snaked this interview from the Q-Dance.com.au site, which I believe is for 3D world, however not many people visit the news section of Q-Dance.com.au, so I’m reposting it here for all to read.

Enjoy.

Firstly – what’s happening in the world of Headhunterz at the moment? How are you feeling about the upcoming Australian tour?

Actually there’s a lot going on in ‘Headhunterz world’ at the moment. I was very busy for Qlimax, and now I’m mainly spending my time preparing my own edition of X-Qlusive in January, which of course I’m very exited about and I want it to be memorable!! Then there are the performances every weekend, sometimes during the week and meanwhile I am also moving to a new house and as if that’s not enough, moving my studio as well. So, I guess I’m pretty busy at the moment!

Has your life changed at all since the release of the album last year? There don’t seem to be many hardstyle artists releasing albums – why do you think this is? Has writing an album changed your creative approaches as an artist at all?

Well if you ask me there’s plenty of albums coming out lately! Which is a good thing I think. Loads of new tracks to play, new people get reached and it leaves room for the producer to experiment a bit! The Project One album was absolutely an important thing for me. Consider that every single track is a learning process. Every track reveals new secrets while making it, and it never stops. So when you make 12 in a row you learn a lot! Every track I make now would have been different if I didn’t make that album.

How do you feel about the current state of hardstyle? There seem to be a lot of conflicting reports on it – some say its saturated, some say it’s just beginning to come into its own. What do you think? Have you always felt a connection with hardstyle music?

It depends on where you are. I think with hardstyle; other countries are always a bit behind compared to Holland. Tracks that are already ‘not done’ in Holland are huge hits in other countries right now. First runner up seems to be Australia, it seems hardstyle is getting really big there huh! About the complaining: They are right, there sure is an overkill of the same thing, but it’s a classic story in (pop)music, a circle which seems unavoidable: a style is loved by a small group of people – the big crowd follows – the music gets more accessible and smoother (commercial) and the small group (the die-hards), disgust it, they’ve lost their own special style. They go back to their raw and unpolished roots – big crowd follows – raw gets smooth again – etcetera. I still enjoy hardstyle very much and while it’s not going so quick, there is always progression and change going on. Compare some records from now with some from a few years ago and you will notice.

You’ve worked with your voice as both a singer and a voice actor from a very young age – what kind of impact do you think that background has on your work as a DJ and producer? Have you continued your career as a voice artist alongside the DJing?

The studio where I sang as a child was my first contact with electronic produced music and audio equipment, and directly drew my attention. I even did some recordings behind the mixer as a child! I’m pretty sure that it started my whole dream of being a musician one day. My voice career even had something to do with it. I bought my very first belt driven turntables with money I earned doing voiceovers. At the moment I don’t do voiceovers because I’m simply too busy being Headhunterz! But I make some exceptions. I still do Harry Potter for example.

You obviously came from a very strong musical background – but were you always going to be involved in dance music? Did you have any other ambitions? I read you got your first set of turntables at age twelve – what inspired you to get a pair of turntables?

In the 90′s there was a time that hardcore music was very big in Holland. I was about 9 years old at that time and I was 100% gabber. Anyway that was my first love for electronic dance music. I love all kinds of music but I’ve always had this special thing with electronic music. Besides music I have had some short crushes on other professions like cameraman and professional skateboarder…. teenager hormones! About the turntables…. I think I was older when I got the turntables. But what I did get at 12 was a dj mixer, for my birthday. At that time I was still mixing the radio with the television…

How important is technology for you as an artist? You obviously began your career before DJing had reached the level of accessibility it  has now – do you feel obliged to keep your gear up-to-date? How about  as a producer?

Obligation is the excuse I make up to buy loads of expensive gear. I love buying new gear like a woman likes buying shoes. Sometimes when I’m stuck in a song I buy a new plug-in and it gives me just enough inspiration to finish it.

Throughout your career, collaboration seems to have played a significant role in your work – is this a fair comment? How was it when you had to adjust to working as a solo producer and DJ? Do you have a preferred method of working?

True, I love working together. Actually I never felt like I had to adjust when working together. When you are together you keep each other sharp and you consider things more. I have a preferred way of working but I’m always open for other methods.

What were the processes behind setting up Scantraxx Reloaded? How are you involved with the running of the label? What is it that separates Reloaded from Scantraxx?

Reloaded was created in the first place because I made that much music that I would occupy all Scantraxx, so that way I could release fast and organized. Basically reloaded is for my releases and sometimes I put on a track from another producer….when it comes to reloaded I decide! But I’m not involved in the managing and business part. I believe in doing one thing good instead of doing a lot of things half.

Are you surprised by how much you’ve achieved at such a relatively young age? What were your ambitions when you first entered into DJing and production?

I had a lot of great surprises and I realize how lucky I am to be able to live for and from music. On the other hand I cannot imagine my life being different than this, this is just the way it went, it’s the path I’m walking. But in the end it all makes me no more special than any other person. Everybody has got his own specialty. I look up to my accountant, how the hack does he manage to keep up with all those numbers! My ambitions when I entered started more at the production side. I literally locked myself up to master the techniques. Then when things started to work out and I got more and more gigs, dreams seemed to come true before I could even dream them!

What do you have planned for the future? Are there any ambitions left to accomplish or new ambitions that have evolved in recent years?

I can honestly say that I’m a very happy person so basically I would be super happy to just continue my life how it is at the moment, private and work. But of course I still have dreams…There are still parts of the world that never heard of hardstyle, so we are far from done spreading the virus! And honestly I dream of one day inventing a new style that had never been done before. But that is incredibly difficult I think.

It goes through the thought process of Technbooy’s artist selection for his edition of X-Qlusive, his opinion of internet critics and what we can expect from him in Australia. He’s actually quite honest in his responses, which is great to see from one of the top names in the scene.

Looking at your new website I must say you are even busier than I already expected! Is this just an ordinary year in the life of Technoboy or is everything coming together after 10 years in the business?

Well… the past 10 years have been hectic all the time. That is one of the concerns I had before we started with the 10 Years of Technoboy project; can a summary of so many experiences do any justice to what I have actually done? For example: the ‘best-off’ album was just 34 tracks; I produced over 500 so it was very hard to pick the right ones. But with my X-Qlusive show in Holland earlier this year, I learned that sometimes one big climax is the best way to remember it all and leave people longing for what is yet to come. It was a perfect blend of past, present and future in just nine hours and had one clear message; the first 10 years were fantastic and the next decade will be too.

What do you think will be different with the Australian edition of X-Qlusive Technoboy?

Frankly I do not think there will be a big difference, especially music wise. I have always been one of the most internationally oriented artists in the harder styles and my music fits Australia as much as any other continent. I have just slightly different track lists when I perform there, mainly playing some hits that have been requested a lot. The show will of course be awesome again and the rest of the line-up will feature artists that I truly believe in and that will be able to represent my music from every angle. But I do not feel the need to do a different performance; Australia has always been ready for me.

Can you explain the line-up you chose for the event?

Headhunterz: apart from leading a new revolution of producers I admire this guy for his guts. And that’s serious; he has G.U.T.S. doing everything he feels he should be doing. He doesn’t care about the risks and just does what he wants to do. His style is energetic and powerful; gutsy move in an age where everybody just makes harder music to please the Internet critics. And the way he makes music is also the way he performs on stage. I hate it when an artist doesn’t move and that’s something you wouldn’t need to be afraid of with Headhunterz.

Stephanie: lot’s of female dj’s are just acts created by a team of producers while Stephanie is probably a better dj than all of us together. The chick has some serious skills; chooses records like they are nail polish and moves like nothing you have seen before. The girl is on top of the dj booth before you can say her name (which gives her some sort of a head start) and damn she is beautiful! But be careful; she does live p to her motto ‘Pink hard’, those black high heels are made for killing!

Tuneboy: what’s there to explain?

Isaac: we have a lot in common. Both of us have been trying to break new grounds and contributed a lot to the birth and revolution of hardstyle. And we travel the world like we are Jules Verne. The guy will be on an US tour just prior to landing in Oz and I can’t even guess where he will be flying next. We could play poker with our frequent flyer cards.

Hardstyle Masterz: when Antonio decided he wanted to perform a live act he went to prepare in the studio for months. And that’s exactly what makes my studio homey so special; if you ever hear a sound or kick from him that is not perfect I would certainly recommend a hearing aid.

Ruffian: my music speaks a language, and there is just one man who can translate that into a feeling everyone can understand. We have been on the biggest stages together and it wouldn’t be the same without him.  And apart from being professional he is funny as hell; better let him do all the other interviews, as you would be laughing your ass off! No but seriously; this scene starts and ends with him.

Do you listen a lot to requests and the opinion of people on Internet?

For me there is one opinion that counts; the reaction of the crowd. After every event, performance or release there are a lot of people that make comments, but in comparison this is always a minority of people. When a stadium filled with people is completely going to the roof on a record I don’t care what a few people say afterwards, let’s not forget how we do this for eventually. For me it is really important to perform everywhere in the world to see this reaction with my own eyes; you have to be a DJ in order to produce the right records.

German superstars Scooter just stole your complete album to make theirs; are you angry?

Who me? I gave a short statement on my website, I believe that ‘covers’ this issue. I get mad when people say I stole the ideas from my tracks from other artists! There is a really big difference between just sampling another track and rewriting a fantastic verse or idea to fit your specific style. I have used any form of music with respect to the original artist and I had every vocal sample rerecorded to be as I would like to have it. Don’t know a lot of artists who have been to that kind of trouble and that wanted that level of perfection. And sure; you will recognize some music, well that music took me three times as long as it needed to make the original, believe me on that!

What is your honest opinion about the Australian people? Are we cool?

Australian people have their own style, which is why you invented the laidback beach culture for instance. Same goes for the people that live in the Outback; they are copied everywhere! Any country that is such a huge export of lifestyles has cool people. And you know what you want to have from other countries; that is why it is great to get so many requests from you guys.

What do you think about Defqon.1 Festival in Australia?

I have to admit, I respect Q-dance’s choice a lot; instead of just exporting all their events to Australia they are really picky about what to do and where. I know they have been searching a lot for the best venues to make sure the whole picture was right. It is the same in Holland and Europe; I have never been to a Q-dance event that didn’t feel completely right in every detail.

Are you happy?

Good question. The life of an artist can be lonely; I certainly had my share of that. But yes, I am a happy man and not just because I have the best job in the world. I have had the chance to tell the world what I thought about music while I encounter so many people who did not have the same opportunity. I live from one height to another and it is important to enjoy the moments in between as well.

What will you not be doing in Australia?

Cultural things … I would like to but I am an Italian; as soon as I see shops I am done, can’t help it! Anyway, every time I ask people, they say I have to hug a koala, jump from a plane, eat sushi or climb the Harbor Bridge. Believe me; as soon as I jump from the plane I will probably discover I have brought a koala instead of a parachute, choke on my sushi and hit that bridge headfirst.

You have the name to be arrogant and it is rumoured you are a great cook. Is there anything else we need to know about you?

No, being arrogant in the kitchen is everything there is to know about me. You say one word about my pasta and you can be assured you end up in one of my coming tracks. I had an argument two months ago with Brad Pitt and George Clooney about the right type of blender and they are still apologizing and hoping I will never release Channel KGB’s. I did however but let’s keep them thinking they are save.

But yes, I love to cook and there are a lot of similarities with producing music; the right track can be made with just a few ingredients and these have to be of the highest quality. I have always spent a lot of attention to every sample, bassline or melody and I hope people can taste that. It is hard work and fortunately there are a lot of people that take the time to listen to it closely. And about me being arrogant; I hear this so often that it might be true, yes. Just imagine flying every weekend and giving everything you have on stage. When I wouldn’t be exhausted it wouldn’t feel right. So when I am done with a performance and there is not a lot of time for signatures just remember you and everybody else already got the best of me, every single second of the ride.

With his monumental milestone, we’ve been lucky enough to be blessed with another (english) interview with Onne, in which over 17 minutes, he discusses the state of the scene, his own career and upcoming productions.

From both of us here at The Harder View, a sincere congratulations to Onne, as he is without a doubt one of the most undervalued and long standing artists within the hardstyle scene, and it’s only fitting that he is finally playing at what is considered one of the highest honors bestowed upon a hardstyle DJ, Qlimax.

Next year Q-Dance, I think it’s Zatox’s turn.

Now for the video!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Showtek: still saving the day

It is the year 2001. Hardstyle is starting to develop as a separate genre from hardhouse, hardtrance and hardcore, with former artists from all those genres pushing it most. At only 19 and 17 years old, Sjoerd and Wouter Janssen become some of the first completely new faces in the scene, delivering the smash hit Save the Day. The Showtek brand is born, and 8 years later it is going stronger than ever.

In those eight years between their first release and current time, Showtek accomplish things most colleagues could only dream of. After only five releases at Tr@nsenti@l and Q-Dance/ID&T, they start their own label: Dutch Master Works (DMW). Now in control of their own release scheme, their fame expands exponentially – not in the least due to their solo projects, Walt and Duro, and the Wouter + Zany project, Southstylers. The move also provides the opportunity to release an artist album, a first in the land of hardstyle. Today is Tomorrow sells out in mere days at most record shops – their strategy is a success.

After such massively popular releases as Seid Ihr Bereid, Puta Madre and FTS, the Dutch brothers have also gained a huge following abroad. Unsatisfied with the opportunities to please their fans worldwide, they decide to take the plunge and leave the almighty Platinum Agency. Together with none other than trance legend Marcel Woods, they kickstart the new 2-Dutch bookings office. “2-Dutch is a ‘platform’ for us. We never made it a secret that we want the focus to be on ourselves,  and to quote someone we respect very much but sadly do not meet anymore: “everyone is responsible for their own career”. We were the first ones to take this literally and merge music, merchandise, management and bookings all together. The point is to control everything, and that works for us. Leaving everything to others doesn’t get you to the top.” So if 2-Dutch is mainly a Showtek platform, is there an opportunity for other artists to join it as well? “In the future, who knows! It probably will happen, we’re always open-minded towards new artists and producers.”

Daring as it may be, the move again illustrates the brother’s strategic masterminds. During a lost moment on a plane, they calculate that just this July, they’ve spent 90 hours flying, catching up with bookings all over the globe. In the meantime, work is in progress on a second album, scheduled for release this fall. And combining production with being permanently on tour is not easy. “It can be very heavy at times, especially these days. Our summer schedule is totally madness. It’s hardly normal to spend only 5 nights out of 3 or 4 weeks at home. Combining everything is a hard job and time management and focus are very important to us. At times, we spend 80 to 90 hours per week on our job!”

With this rockstar-like amount of international gigs, certainly there must be some rockstar-like escapades going on behind the scenes. “Haha, yeah, there’s a lot of crazy stuff going on in that Los Angeles video (www.showtek.nl, follow link to YouTube channel) – especially the women there were bizarre. Still, the USA aren’t the only country that goes nuts to our music. Some of our other favourites include the UK, Australia, Spain and Canada. On the other hand, except for the people going crazy, there’s not that much don’t-tell-my-mum stuff going on; lapdances and stripteases aren’t a weekly occurrence and drugs are simply not our thing. Besides that, they are out of the question at this level.”

With their crazed schedule and wild gigs, the guys certainly don’t have time for a family life, one might conclude. Much to the occasional observer’s surprise, however: “No, we actually value our social life a lot. We both have girlfriends and live together with them. Still, we really do live for the music. Our women often have a hard time at home… Take yesterday, for example, if we’re working on the album and we’re in a kind of flow, we’re not gonna stop. We ended up working till half pas three at night. Not really your average Monday night. And the next morning, we were already blasting the studio at half past 10 again. It’s all part of the game if you really want the sky to be the limit.”

Though they may seem unstoppable, Showtek’s success has also worked against them for years. Primarily in the Netherlands, certain people tend to criticize them for being too ‘commercial’ and ‘easy’, looking down upon tracks like FTS. The brothers, of course, think differently. “We don’t look upon it like that. Compare 10 negative comments on a forum to over 4 million hits on Youtube. Numbers don’t lie, and neither do dancefloors. Abroad, we can’t even get away with not playing FTS. People literally scream for it, and why? Our world has become so much bigger than it was two years ago. In the Netherlands, you can see your favourite artist every weekend, at every street corner. For us, it’s different now: with the places we visit being further and further apart, it’s like a mini-concert every time. Even in the Netherlands, people really come to see us, so they want to hear our ‘hits’, which happen to include FTS. If you’re going to see Madonna, you want to hear Like a Virgin just as well.”

Likewise, “What do you think made Tiësto so big? He had hits that were such high quality that they became radio/tv-worthy – not because he wanted them to be on there, but because they were just superb. They were accessible yet refreshing. And if we too can cross borders like that, why not? You can’t blame us if a track is received extremely well on the digital net!”

The guys’ stubborn attitude towards criticism clearly shows in their label’s repertoire. All music released on DMW is characterized by its distinctiveness and its lacking the ‘rules’ of modern nustyle. “You always have to keep doing what you like most”, is their simple comment on the matter. So what do they think about the current nustyle trend? “The worst thing is, it isn’t popular everywhere. In Denmark, dancefloors stop when overly nustyle records are played. In Melbourne, they don’t want to hear it either. Besides, it sounds so much the same that it’s hard to recognize a producer’s own style. We never really did hop on the nustyle bandwagon; not that it’s not important to keep evolving, but we always try to incorporate our own touch. Levi’s and G-Star trousers are also completely different, yet they follow the same yearly trends… To us, it’s the same in music, we do our thing out of love for music and because it feels right, not because it makes us look cool or because it’s trendy.”

So that is exactly what they want to do with the aforementioned new album, Analogue Players in a Digital World. The title is quite a familiar phrase, but why did the brothers choose it? “The world of music in which we live is a ‘digital world’. In that world, we are the ‘analogue’ players. Everything we do is digital, but we as human beings remain analogue. Especially with today’s technology, everything is so different. Everything used to be analogue: guitars, drums, all recorded by analogue means. These days, everything has been digitalized: kick & bass, melodies. We are the ‘players’ controlling all these buttons now.

Rounding up, there is of course a question that has been on every true fan’s mind for years. Why is Sjoerd bald when Wouter is not? The answer is simple. “Sjoerd has grandpa’s genes, Wouter doesn’t… Haha.”

And after this upfront question, Sjoerd & Wouter only have one more thing to say: “Buy the fucking album! Stay tuned on www.showtek.nl … Oh yeah… We love you crazy freaks over there! Cheers!”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Keep an ear out for the incredibly forced and awkward segue in regards to his website and Q-Base!

Michel Pollen: hardstyle, behind the scenes

Fusion Records is one of the leading labels in the Dutch hardstyle scene these days. With artists such as Zany and Donkey Rollers and, on sister label Superplastik, The Pitcher and Dozer, anyone slightly into heavy bass or uplifting melody cannot ignore the company’s high-quality releases. However, as many fans as they may have, it is barely known that behind all these aliases is one man: Michel Pollen.

“I never did like discotheques and going out”, he explains his reasoning to stay out of the limelight for most of his career. Except for a single liveset at Q-BASE 2006 he has never performed on stage, and even interviews are rare. In fact, this is the only one you will find. “I’m happy if I can just go to bed at a normal time in the weekends. It gives me the opportunity to focus on production completely during weekdays. At daytime.”

Clearly, Michel Pollen is not your average run-of-the-mill DJ/producer, who flies around the worlds on weekends, only to spend all weeknights in the studio, and weekdays in bed. In fact, when he first started the Donkey Rollers project together with Raoul van Grinsven, aka Zany, they agreed on making it a live act. Yet the idea of having to go on stage worried him too much, so again he decided to remain in the studio, out of publicity.

Still, he needed a face for his own productions. After a few releases as The Pitcher, he found Luc van Veghel prepared to serve as a DJ under that alias. “Merely producing does not bring in the big cash. So I had already started producing for DJs like Jesselyn and Dozer, known as Tony at the time. Most DJs simply like to spin their own productions, so this way the Pitcher productions simply get in the picture more. I think the public does not really care about who is behind the music, they just want to see an artist perform. However, with more and more people trying their hand at production, interest does seem to be on the rise.”

He tells us he does most of the Pitcher and Dozer productions completely on his own, though taking into account the feedback he gets from Luc and Tony. The Donkey Rollers and Zany tracks, however, are a different story. “There are only a few people with whom I can cooperate in the studio. Raoul is one of those few. We do most of the Donkey tracks completely together, and we do not have set tasks. We always get the best results when we have to fight about who holds the mouse and who gets to edit. Raoul and I are well-matched and I think that bit of competition in the studio gives our tracks that little bit extra.” Surely, the way their cooperation pays off, he cannot be wrong about that.

So Michel cooperates a lot, albeit with just a few people. A few people who, like him, happen to be very good at what they do. Still, the Fusion crew met through what is seemingly pure coincidence. “I first started producing at a professional level in Coen Noordendorp’s studio. He is the real owner of Fusion and I owe him a lot.” Fusion and Superplastik are both sublabels to Freaky, a label that also runs a record store. In the back of that shop, there was Michel, working on club and trance tracks at the time. At the counter, Raoul. “We are very different as persons, he must have thought me an odd character at first. But in the studio, there immediately was this chemistry between us.” Jowan also worked at the Freaky shop, where regular customers included DJ Tony. Zany introduced MC DV8 to the crew, who in turn brought along Luc van Veghel. In the meantime, Fusion and Superplastik were created to accommodate the guys’ ever-harder productions.

Aspiring producers may want to know what has led to such a success story. Pollen’s favourite studio equipment include a Sony DMX R100 mixer and two Access Virus Bs. “I never use softhsynths. Contrary to that, I use the Cubase Quadrafuzz in just about every track. I have always been a fan of AKAI samplers as well.” He also has somewhat of a retro passion: “Currently I am quite proud of the most recent addition to my studio: a Neumann U87 microphone from 1969, older than I am, haha. I cannot actually tell you if it sounds better than a new one, I just like the idea.”

Everyone starts out somewhere, though. Like many DJs, Michel’s career started on tapedecks. He was featured on Dutch radio a few times and got to know Ruud van Reijen, producer of Twenty 4 Seven, a Dutch dance project. Taking Ruud as an example, he decided to start producing, and his brother bought him his first sampler. Later on, a lot of inspiration came from films: “I always like to work a kind of theme into hardstyle, as it lends itself very well to that purpose. However, I don’t want to mindlessly rip samples from films, even though they often inspire me. I try to create my own vocals and sounds as much as possible. Listen closely to Animated Audio, for example: I used a recording of a cutting pair of scissors in it.” You didn’t hear that one coming, did you?

Though he says that to him, producing is a more than fulltime job, Michel likes to get out and relax at times. “These days, you may often find me in the woods, mountain biking, camera strapped to my back. I also like to paint and I am currently writing the script to a graphic novel with a friend.”

Back to the area of music, the future of his Superplastik label is looking bright. With the addition of Noisecontrollers under various aliases, a new cooperation is taking form. “We have started work on a Noisecontrollers-Pitcher track, but it will be a while before that is released. I have also been working on some tracks with Raoul but they will probably be released on Fusion. Besides all that, I like to work with good vocalists such as MC DV8. Unfortunately, they are hard to find, but I also enjoy incorporating vocals in different ways, like I recently did with Serenity.”

As much as he does in hardstyle, it is not the only style he focuses on. Leaving projects such as Silverblue in the past, he now very much enjoys working for – oh yes – Kim Leoni. “I write the songs with Brane Kovak. They are dance-oriented but have some extra depth, primarily because of Brane’s lyrics. I would also like to create something in the style of Wheatus – Dirtbag once. So carefree, laidback…”

As Michel likes to say: “Enjoy the music, and enjoy the music, and here’s something to think about: Enjoy the music!”

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Activator: Authentic Italian Style

About three thousand years ago, a pre-Roman civilization first started to cultivate a seemingly meaningless region in the northeast of Italy. During the height of Athens’ democracy, they laid the foundations of a town that would later be known as Venice. During the reign of the Israeli kings David and Salomo, they ventured northwest, into the foothills of the Alps, and settled by the river Brenta.

Little did they know, they were creating the cradle of one of the greatest figures in a music style that would only evolve 3 millennia later.

Manuel Tessarollo was born and raised in that town northwest of Venice, now known as Bassano del Grappa. The boy always had a passion for music – inherited from his mother, he suspects. He became particularly fascinated by the danceable side of it. “The first time I saw myself becoming a DJ was at school. I used to make audio cassettes for my mates, and when I grew up I started to play music at my friend’s parties.” And as he grew up, things slowly started to get more serious. He became supporter DJ, sidekick to a resident, and eventually got his own residency at the J&J-Orbital club. “After that I felt the need of creating my own music, making my custom made vinyl. I bought my first sampler, my first keyboard and started creating my own music, and luckily, up till now, everything has gone well.”

In the year 2002, after releasing a number of tracks under various pseudonyms, Tessarollo sent a demo to an Italian label called Activa Records. The response was highly positive, and an artist name was quickly found. DJ Activator was born.

Now, 7 years and an already glorious career later, DJ Activator is about to release an album with 18 almost all-new tracks, a commendable feat. Yet it is way more than just a collection of tracks – Manuel has his reasons for releasing a small, shiny disc instead of a large, black one. “The idea of making an album started 2 years ago, because I think that with an album you have the opportunity to express whatever you want. I consider an album a musical journey, a path. Inside Authentic Style is all the experience I’ve gained during all these past years, and all that I always wanted to achieve. By releasing singles only, you can’t do that, because the market prefers whatever sound is popular at the time. When you do an album instead, it is more free. You can make some of the tracks more dark, some of them commercial or cheesy, some of them experimental. Basically you can express anything you want.”

Though making an album may be a journey of kinds, you still need inspiration for it. Of course, a major source of inspiration for many artists is simply other music. Activator stands by that. In fact, his new album is already being advertised as hardstyle influenced by all kinds of music you can imagine. “I like all kinds of music and don’t have any particular genre that I prefer, I listen to pretty much everything. In my album I’ve tried to combine different styles of music with hardstyle, but only when I found it possible to mix them well together. They come out very good…” On our review page, you will find that he is not bluffing.

When listening to Activator’s songs, one thing that is prevalent is melody. When he writes one, it is typically complicated, often experimental and last but not least, mostly very good. As a testament to his talent and passion for music, he hardly received any kind of education in music theory. “I didn’t go to a music school, I am a self-taught. I did 2 keyboard courses and learned how to play the instrument.”

One thing anybody with producing aspirations may wonder is how much work an album like this takes. “One day in June of 2008 I said to myself ‘That’s it, from now on every track I make during the next 6-7 months will be for the album’. So by the end of 2008, all the tracks were completed. The artwork, agreements with record label, distribution etcetera all took a long time, but I did not want to rush my project.” Quite a far stretch from the supposed three months Headhunterz & Wildstylez supposedly took for Project One, but still only half a year. “It depends, some of those tracks took me 3 weeks, others were completed in 3 days, and some took 3 to 4 months because I made them on my laptop, while waiting for my plane at the airport…”

Certainly, some of those songs must carry special meaning, like the album as a whole also has its story. “On the album there are some tracks that I feel the most because I made them at a particular moment in my life or because I originally thought of them long ago, and seeing them evolving was just amazing. Like Sinister Owl, because I collect owl figurines – I have this strange passion about that bird, I don’t know why. In this track, I wanted to create a horror atmosphere. Living it in first person, if you will, I made it at night, always and only in the dark.” Yet it is not just personal stories behind Manuel’s songs. “Another track that I particularly liked doing is Authentic Style. I didn’t care to respect any standard rule in hardstyle, I did it just like I wanted and how my style is.”

Speaking of rules in hardstyle, how does he feel about recent and future developments in the genre’s sound? “I think hardstyle has reached a limit over the past 2 years. We’ve reached the highest possible speed, you can’t go any faster than 150 BPM, it would sound too fast. I’m a big fan of melodic music, as long as it does not sound repetitive, which unfortunately happens very often. Melody is a good tool as long as it doesn’t have the same flavour, you have to be original, no doubt. I can’t tell you what direction hardstyle will take in the years to come, and I only care up till a certain point. Because in any case I will only do what I want, what I like the most.”

It is no secret that, even though he is stubborn about his music, Activator likes to collaborate with other Italians such as Zatox and Tatanka. “There are a lot of producers that I love among which Zatox, in my opinion, is the one closest to my style. I also like Tatanka, he is very precise, meticulous, strict. Hardstyle Masterz I like for the quality of his vinyls, they always sound very powerful and strong. As far as overseas producers go, I like… ehm… who the fuck do I like!?”

After declaring that he only likes Italian producers, Manuel has a final message to his English fans in particular: “Highest respect for all my fans, to everyone that has already listened to the preview of Authentic Style and to everyone who will buy it legally. A special thanks to the British fans who are always so nice and warm to me. They are probably the craziest crowd I’ve ever seen and I hope to do more shows in England because the scene is very open-minded, it gives you a chance to propose different things that you wouldn’t be able to do in another country.

That’s it, bye everyone, see you on the dance floor!”

So what is this Hard Axis Show? An interactive, global, quality harder styles program with a fresh look at things. Hosted by the American DJ Sogma, it is completely uninfluenced by the common image of what ‘harder styles’ means. Remarkably much like The Harder View, Hard Axis is merely looking to create a solid show, focusing on the international side of hard dance music for a change:

Ambitious as that may sound, Sogma has certainly made good progress in the small amount of time his show has been up.

Having said that, the fresh American anchorman also wants to create a new way of presenting the music to the public. You can listen to the stream on FearFM or on the Hard Axis MySpace page. On the MySpage page, there is a chatbox where listeners can request songs or just chat to the DJ. During the show, request will be played and shoutouts to the chatters will be made.

One can only conclude that Hard Axis is not only surprisingly similar to The Harder View in its goals and nature, but will also be a quality weekly highlight on FearFM. Should you want to decide for yourself, past shows are available from the MySpace page.

First broadcast is tonight at 9pm EST, which equals 3 AM Western European time.  Hard Axis will also host a Tuesday night show at FearFM, aimed at the European public and broadcasting 22.00-00.00 Western European time. For all our open-minded and/or international readers, be sure to check it out!