Hardstyle (Mixmag)

[MARKEG]

Right guys, Mixmag are on the case with Hardstyle. They interviewed Tobe & Ginge @ Cypher, Uberdruck and myself. Dunno if it's a good thing.. but I'd rather be there putting my 2 cents in than not be. I just hope they don't hype it into something it's not.

Here's what I gave him. Please let me know your thoughts....

'Hard Style, to me, is a reaction against commercialism within the hard underground music community. As well as focusing on driving techno, myself and M-Zone were two of the first DJ's to play German hard trance in the early 90's, often at the happy-hardcore based raves such as Helter Skelter. But recently, much of the German sound has become so formulated, with artists such as Scot Project churning out the same track time and time again. So DJ's such as M-Zone and myself have been looking somewhere else for inspiration.'

'This year, Italy has really come through as doing something very different but still at a sensible speed of 138bpm. Their sound is essentially German hard trance but minus the cheese and awful trance riffs that have become such a cliche in modern dance music. And it reaches back to the early days of Belgian techno - which is probably why it appeal to lots of differerent genres. I've been playing this sound alongside my acid techno and techno sets and others are playing it amougst the non-cheesy forms of hardcore. It's created a united resistance against all things commercial - something that we call Hardstyle.'

'European artists such as Uberdruck and Don Diablo originally put the seeds in place for the Italians. I remember thinking 'Wow, this is different from the usual German style. It was much harder and more techno influenced than ever. Although it's now mainly an Italian thing, you'll find alot of the tougher hard trance producers throughout Europe now coming out of the woodwork and focusing on taking that Italian sound even further.'


MARK EG HARDSTYLE TOP 10 2002

1) TAMOK - RESISTANCE IS FUTILE (SUBWAY - ITALY)
2) BRAIN OVULATION - KICKS AND BASS (59 - ITALY)
3) UBERDRUCK - THE SPEED (UBERDRUCK - GERMANY)
3) K-TRAXX - HARDVENTURE (TITANIC)
4) JULIAN DJ AND DAVID SONAR (KICKIN - ITALY)
5) THE FUZZ - DIBBLE DABBLE (CLUSTER - UK)
6) ANALOGIC DISTRURBANCE - THE SECOND CHASE EP (SUNTEC)
7) GLENN WILSON - TANTRUM RMX (HEREOS - UK)
8) C.O.D - UNTITLED (UBERDRUCK)
9) DROID - FOCUS (DANCE POLLUTION)
10) HYDRAULIX VS BLACKOUT AUDIO (HYDRAULIX - UK)

Check out the link. It lasts for 13 minutes. Most of these trax are in the Top Ten.

www.blackoutaudio.co.uk/slut.ram

[Hakka.]

Hi Mark.

That's a similar thing that I have naturally drifted too this year.

below is a Trance Music Review I did for www.HighLightUk.Co.Uk
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Future of Trance in 2003

Trance music has hit its peak in 2002 and it’s interesting how it will develop in 2003. It saw off Hard House music in 2001 and we have had some absolute fantastic trance titles come through with the German producers showing us how to be uplifting as well as dark and nasty. The Germans have definitely set the pace in the trance industry for most of 2002.

2001/2 for producers like Scott Project have had extraordinary results with fantastic remixes as well as their own work in Twisters Silence - Listen To Me MaMa and Arome – Hands Up. SHOKK & Flutlict saw their efforts be praised heavily in remixes of Dave Joy- First Impressions and Marc Dawn – Expander and DuMonde showed their class with such tracks as Can U Dig It! Uberdruck have more recently been getting the raves they deserve for there superb production work which is getting better and better. Overall, it’s been a good year for the German Trance… although it’s they have a fight for who will be setting the score for 2003.

As trance music has become so popular it means that there is far more tracks being produced than before. This has led to the part commercialism of trance music. Commercialism is always something that happens to a genre of music when it becomes popular, however people who are worried that the underground world will be wiped out can think again, as the Italians have had something to say.

The last six months of 2002 has seen a dawn of a new sound in Hard Trance… the Italian Sound! – And boy are they playing it hard! Look out for producers such as Technoboy, Luca Antolini, Giada and Trance Generators who are really pushing trance music to the techno edge. Trance music is now more about the percussion than the melody and is how I think 2003 will progress. We can expect a lot of hard and nasty tracks before we can see cheesy snare rolls and uplifting breaks being what trance is about.

Either way, enjoy your music and have fun!

Hakka

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Interesting stuff...

:)

[djjaym]

wooooooooohoooo Bring on the Hardstyle
well said mark its about time you got some recognition (hopefully us scottish hardstylers will soon too )

[MARKEG]

This recognision thing. It scares me big time. I'm happy thank you very much doing my little thing, playing the sounds of hard techno and hard trance to people who genuinely love that music. And half the appeal I'm sure, to the people I play to, is the fact it's underground, fresh, new and exciting. Once it starts getting recognised commercially - it looses its appeal. But it's that line between underground and commercialism which is so hard to see these days.

If Mixmag would have phoned me up today and told me we're doing an article about hardstyle and I was the only person they were interviewing about it, I would have thought twice about doing it. Seriously. But it wasn't like that. He was writing it no matter what because I was one of 4 people he was interviewing. So I had to get my point across. Someone has to represent this damn thing properly or else we all turn into a fad (not saying Tobe and Ginge don't know but I reckon I know what I'm talking about when it comes to hard trance.). In fact when the journo actually told me what angle he was coming from I nearly died! So I spent 3 hours writing the above to clear it all up.

But FFW a few months. Perhaps Hardstyle becomes a huge buzz word? And I'm getting alsorts of people asking me about it? And I have to tell people about it cause I'm trying to represent it properly (from an underground point of view) but it all gets blow up to big? What the hell do I do? I can't help feeling I've stepped on the f*ckin slope and there's going to be no way off. Perhaps the slope is good, perhaps it's bad. I just don't know.

God it's all happening at once. Call me paraniod if you will but it is my life - 24-7-365!!!!!!

[Hakka.]

What do I play? Hard & Underground music.

What do I love? Hard & Underground music.

What will survive? Hard & Underground music.

Let's keep it this way.

[Voorheez]

What do I play? Hard & Underground music.

What do I love? Hard & Underground music.

What will survive? Hard & Underground music.

Let's keep it this way.

But the problem with this is that I love what I play at the minute, and i'd have to change my style if it went commercial, to stay underground, and I really don't want to because I love the italian hardstyle sound now!
It's dodgy Mixmag doing a feature on it, doesn't sound too good to me, I think you did the right thing though Mark. I think Uberdruck will become a big name next year, lets just hope they don't do a Scot Project on us!

[Voorheez]

Double post, sorry

[DJCraig Ryan]

In my opinion the future of Hard Trance is looking good. Of late the Italians have come with the new sound of Hard Trance - The better sound.
The Germans of late have been lacking. Labels such as Overdose and Tracid Traxx getting lighter and more cheesier. Artists such as the legendary Scot Project + Hennes & Cold not producing the goods. I could name a lot more labels/artists but i'd be here forever. What i'm trying to say is that the German labels / Producers are going to notice it. There going to hear the new Italian sound and the sound of Hardstyle with no cheese! The germans are going to want to reinstate the status as the Kings of Hard trance. So i think they will compete with the italians and bring out some fresh new sounds - they have to do. Scot Project getting back to his best is what i want. Tracks such as Acid Headcracker, Angel Of Death, Second trip and Klinisch Tot "Der Tropf" will be back !!!!!!!!!!!
No more cheese from Germany. Please follow Uberdruck!!
Tracid Traxx know they have got to compete and the only way is with Hard, fresh dirty sounds. Surely they are gonna see all the rave reviews about the fresh new "Percussive" sound from Italy.
So 2003 in my opinion = a lot of competion

[MARKEG]

yes i think you've got a point. it's dodgy mixmag doing something on this. but thank god i had the chance to say my point. i just hope it gets represented the right way. remember - i'm a journalist myself - so i know what the press is all about.

as for changing your style. well that's made me think. i always do that when something goes commercial!!! ok so hardstyle goes super commercial uberdruck gets labelled 'hardstyle'. so i get labelled 'hardstyle'. so what the hell do we do..

no serious now. i've been thinking. hardstyle is for sure a reaction against commercialism. it isn't a genre.

ok, so get this. 5 months down the line and everyone and his dog is onto the italian sound cause they think it's hardstyle. but i know for sure Uberdruck are not into commercialism. i KNOW. i speak to them both regularly! If everyone is playing a certain sound and they see it as becoming commercial, they will move. so will i. we'll still be playing hard music, but it just wont be what the press has labelled 'hardstyle'!

music moves on. and if you're underground you move with it. you're at the forefront of it. commercialism cannot catch up. the press cannot catch up. so 'hard style' becomes commercial and we all go back into the underground to continue our mission.

you know. hard style is such a good word. it encompasses everything i like about dance music. if it get's exposed and then retracts into the background, then great. if it becomes commercial then hey great, we helped to create something, we buzzed off it for a bit, but then we look for something else.

[Voorheez]

You can't predict what the future holds anyhow, thinking about it, if a year ago someone had suggested that in a year's time I would consider Scot Project cheesy/crap, I don't think I would have agreed!

[Hard Trancer]

hey you never know mark, you and mick could be presenting your own show on ch4 late friday night LOL!! a weekly battle & reviews!

HAHAHAH :P :P :P

[djjaym]

thats what really pisses me off(excuse my language Mark) but when we are in to a certain style of music because we love it ,then the media catch on to it and everyone start to catch on then we are bombarded with shit imitations of the real thing and then thats what people who aint in the know think it is. AAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargggggggggggggggggg ggghhhhhhhhhhhhh
well thats my rant for this evening :P