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Q-Dance World Tour Special

Author: Rezo
Monday, March 16, 2009

With The Sound of Q-Dance World Tour just around the corner we pitted 3D’s Rezo up with four of the DJs making the trek to bring you the hardest sounds from across the world. Read on, dear readers, to find out what you’re in for, as we chat to A-Lusion, Scope DJ, Fausto and Davide Sonar.

A-Lusion
So why hardstyle-
Well, when I visited one of the first Qlimax parties in 2001 I got hooked to the sound, the energy, the crowd and the parties! It’s the ultimate music to party on during the weekend to forget all about the weekly stress. I think I’ll never get bored of the hardstyle sound. I simply love dance music like trance, house, electro, hard trance, hardstyle and hardcore. 


You’ve been around a while – how have things changed over the years-

Between 1998 and 2001 the trance genre got more and more popular and there was no genre for the people who liked it a bit harder. When in 2001 the sound changed a bit to hard trance and what we call early hardstyle now the door was open for new and harder sounds. The hardstyle between 2002 and 2004 can be described as round, fresh, uplifting and open. Then later, the sound changed again and got harder and faster. Back in 2002 the original BPM of a release was 140 – 142 BPM. Nowadays this is 148 – 150.

You did Veritas and Voodoo – what else have you been up to in the studio- You have also got a lot of remixes, tell us about those.

Veritas and Voodoo did really well so that’s why you probably mention them! But besides that I did Perfect It, Music in You, Just Ask, Drummer Beat, Talk iz Tomorrow, The 4 Elementz and many more on labels as Scantraxx, M!D!FY, Blutonium, DJS Records and Activa. Mainly in the beginning of my producing career I did some remixes which I was asked to do or I did of my own initiative. In 2008 I got some of my own tracks remixed by Frontliner (Perfect It) and Scope DJ (Music in You). They did a great job! 2009 starts well for me with two releases. DJ Nightkiller – Skwert (including an A-lusion mix) and A-lusion meets Scope DJ – Between Worlds / Reaching Out. The Skwert release was done by Nightkiller and me. Together we produced the ‘Original Late Night Mix’ and I did an additional ‘A-lusion Mix’. Recently I also finished the first versions of my own new tracks. They are called Elixer of Life, Too Close and Intensify.

Any plans for an artist album-
Well, if I were to do an album I would really like to have evolved my style into a completely recognisable style with fresh sounds. I’m working really hard at that right now. So who knows, I might do an album in the near future. Oh, and of course it would reflect my club sets but I think it will be a bit less hard than that. During my club sets I can play really hard and fast sometimes. I would not do that on an album. It probably would be really musical and maybe a bit experimental too.

What are some of your inspirations and influences- What motivates you-
What motivates me are all those people who want to party every weekend and listen to my music. I love to get emails and messages about my music. I am really grateful for that and this motivates me a lot. Furthermore I get my inspiration from some other hardstyle artists and from movie soundtracks and movie sounds. Besides that I really like piano and classical music sounds.

Finally, what can we expect from you at the tour-
I will do my utmost to have all the people dance their socks off and enjoy to the max! I will play my older tracks, newest tracks and the tracks I like best from other artists. I can’t wait to visit Australia again. My first time was a tour back in 2007 when I played in Sydney and Melbourne. That was amazing, so my expectations for the Q-Dance are really high. And I have a feeling it will be an amazing night! Take care and see you at the party!

Scope DJ
You’ve only been around the scene a little while – how have you seen music change-

I have seen in recent development that the hardstyle movement is going back in time when it comes to the choice of bass/kicks (i.e. reversed basses); also the quality of the tracks has increased quite a bit over the last few years. This of course has to do with producing software and hardware becoming more advanced, but it also tells a lot about a producers capabilities!

And what was it about hardstyle that appealed to you-
I never actually get bored of it, only sometimes after hearing my own tune for the 14590th time on a day when I’m producing a track. But that will happen with any track I listen to many times in a row too. What appealed to me about hardstyle was that it is energetic and (most of the times) quite hard, but also very danceable and with a good party atmosphere in it. I can go completely insane when I hear big fat hardstyle bass coming from the subs on a party – I really love it.

You did Lockdown and Protocol – what else have you been up to in the studio either productions or remixes-
I did Rock Hypnotic/Twilight, Final Destination/Tuned In, the remix of Music In You (Sylenth & Glitch) and a co-op with A-lusion. I’ve also almost finished a new EP. And I’ve got a lot of unfinished projects and sounds that I’ve started on some day, which I will certainly work out. This also includes remixes. I’ve also been thinking about an artist album and I think I will do that some day, but I do not have any plans yet. And if I will make an album, I think I’ll keep it pretty secret ’til at least all the tracks are finished.

What are some of your inspirations and influences- What motivates you-
Some guys that inspire me a lot when it comes to producing are Headhunterz
and the Saifam Crew (Technoboy, Tuneboy, etc.) They pretty much always deliver an outstanding job in both sound quality and party-feeling or energy. What also inspires me is different music styles. I like, for example, Infected Mushroom, Amon Tobin, Sphongle. It’s not that I think I should use elements of their music in mine, but they have a certain complexity in their work that inspires me to try to work in different ways, to experiment.

Finally, what can we expect from you at the tour on your first trip out here-
I’ve always wanted to go down under, so I am really looking forward to it. What you can expect from me at the tour: my own productions but I might also spin a few older tracks, which I think still should be played in sets nowadays. These are the somewhat ‘forgotten’ tracks from a while ago. And of course hot tracks from these days of which I think really rock!

Fausto
Hard to get bored when you play so many different styles of music, isn’t it-

That’s right – I don’t consider myself just a hardstyle DJ. I consider myself someone who plays various styles and mixes up the best blends of music out there – as long as it comes into one hard and banging mix. I like to end up playing the fiercest hardstyle around. You have to build it up and tell a little story with the tunes. And that’s how I think about hardstyle; I love the energy from that music, especially because there is a big variety at the moment; from Germany to Italy – it’s all out there!

So you obviously quite like a bit of techno and trance-
I’ve been a DJ for nearly 20 years. I have a saying: as long as it’s banging, whether it’s techno or trance or schranz it works very well. It’s really boring I think to play one style of music. You can play diverse stages too and over all the years I have been a DJ, I notice that when you go to a good rave, people come for the diversity of the party. They can put me on any stage possible and I’ll just bang it out, man.

What have you been up to in the studio-
I’m slowly building work in the studio. I’ve just done a tune on Marco V’s label – and then released it on my own label with a hardstyle remix. There are a few other things that have been played as far and wide as on Radio 1 in the UK. I’m also doing Get Low, which I wrote especially for Sensation Black, so around the end of March I should be releasing that. And I’m also working on a bit of a project crossover between trance and hardstyle so hopefully by the end of the year I’ll have the opportunity to put a great album together, but I’m picky about the things I release.

Finally, what can we expect from you at the tour-
I’m really looking forward to it because it’s the first time I’m playing in Australia. I have heard from all the guys that the scene done there is growing, but amazing. Yet I’m not looking forward to the long flight – so what builds up during that flight I will release on the crowd. I’m very energetic and like to interact with the crowd so you better come after having a very good rest!

Davide Sonare
You’ve been at it for a long time – how did you transition from classical to electronic-

I was six years old when I started playing the piano; this was my first approach to classical music. Then I started to hear different sounds day by day until I went clubbing and discovered DJing. He was playing a progressive track on a 12 Inch vinyl. ‘I wanna be a DJ’ was my first thought and ‘I want to create my own music’ was the second one, so in 2002 I made my first hardstyle EP and in 2003 I started my international career.

As a DJ, you’ve been around a while. How have you seen music change over the years- What is the Italian hardstyle scene like-
Unfortunately within a few years the music has changed. The quality of production has increased but the innovation and experimentation have declined a bit, and so now the market is full of tracks similar to each other. In Italy we have a few hardstyle clubs and a few international DJs/producers. Anyway the crowd is always very enthusiastic on the dancefloor!

What was it about hardstyle that appealed to you- How have you managed to stay fresh-

In 2001 I was experimenting with some hard sounds – a strong kick and a distorted reverse bass. All at 143 BPM, between hardcore and techno. Then I started to hear the new name hardstyle. I never stopped loving this kind of music and in the hardest moments (when you want to stop everything) I have always tried to overcome boredom by going into my studio and experiencing new things.

You did The Message and Natural – what else have you been up to in the studio production or remix wise-
I’m preparing the follow up of Natural, another new single and a great co-production with another Italian DJ – but it’s a secret who. I also made an album in 2004 called Techno Noises. It was concentrated on my first tracks only – so no plans for a new artist album now. I want to collect more experience around the world and improve my producing skill in the studio. Then I’ll be ready to send everything to my fans through my album.

What sort of music are you into-
Techno, progressive and trance, but also classical and rock. I like all kind of music (except bossa nova!) and I like to feel the emotions of the melodies by closing my eyes. When I receive a message from a fan who says ‘thanks, your music makes me dream’ then I know that I’m on the right path and I find new strength inside me!

What can we expect from you at the tour-
I came for the first time in Australia last year in May for a gig in Newcastle and another one in Sydney. The atmosphere was amazing (I cannot say the same thing about the flight of almost 30 hours!) and the crowd really hot. This year on the Sound of Q-dance world tour I will present a journey through my famous tracks and my unreleased experiments. See you there!

WHO: A-Lusion, Scope DJ, Fausto, Davide Sonar
WHAT: Play The Sound of Q-dance: World Tour 2009 at Hordern Pavilion
WHEN: Saturday 21 March
MORE: q-dance.com.au

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