Samination Advanced Member
Sweden
13,076 posts Joined: Jul, 2004
195 hardcore releases
Posted - 2018/12/25 : 16:10:27
quote:Originally posted by djDMS:
....unless you include the ones locked in your basement
Hush, we don't talk about them, nor the raver baby DATs I have in there...
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Samination, Swedish Hardcore DJ
Happy, UK Hardcore, Freeform, Makina and Gabber http://samination.se/ ---------------------------------------------
Icewind Junior Member
Canada
116 posts Joined: Jun, 2013
Posted - 2018/12/26 : 02:22:16
quote:Originally posted by Skidzorz:
quote:Originally posted by Icewind:
I come on here periodically, and I gotta say that this is a sad state of affairs. I remember when I initially got into hardcore somewhere during the mid 2000's trancecore phase, listening to all the bonkers CD's, going to my first events, and starting to dj/produce. It never occurred to me how niche and fragile the scene was back then, and I could have never imagined it coming to this. These forums were also much more active at that time.
I think the problem is that hardcore is trying to appeal to everyone and has spread itself too thin. When I go to a hardcore event, I am expecting to hear hardcore and other rave elements like perhaps jungle/dnb/gabber etc (which is in the same BPM range). When I start hearing a trap section or a Justin Bieber vocal, well, something is wrong. I get that producers are looking to diversify, and find that "new sound" that pushes hardcore and can appeal to fans outside of hardcore but I think it's gone maybe a bit too far now. Hardcore needs to go back to it's roots.
I can say that in Toronto where I live, there is still a small tight knit scene, and there is maybe 1 event every 2 months on average, sometimes more or less depending. People do still come out and dance, but even here it is kind of fading and just barely hanging on. I remember when there used to be an event almost every weekend.
At the end of the day, I am happy that there are still people who care about the state of hardcore. I think hardcore got a bit too big and couldn't sustain itself. Perhaps it's time to start fresh and build the scene back up from scratch and keep it underground where it belongs.
...and I apologize for the self plug but it really is hard to find exposure, so for what it's worth..
It's because there isn't a new generation of promoters ready to take the reins. Goodfellaz evolved out of Hullaballo, and Daydream/Nocturnal Commisions evolved out of of GF, and with George & Daydream basically finished, and TRR10 in April being Timmy' last event, it doesn't appear like there's a next gen being primed by then to continue things. I'm sure the death of the HC scene as a whole helped, but without any under their wings to continue things it'll die quickly. You don't see as many new comers as you did when I firsst started going up to Toronto in 2011 for the first Heart Of Gold. HoG5 was filled with 24-32 year olds, and I'm sure those numbers will continue to rise as the years go on
We got a few new guys coming up right now...including myself, spun at tims birthday a week ago, hoping I'll get called out to spin again soon. I would prefer not to sit back and see the scene fade out...if that means learning the ropes on hosting my own parties, then perhaps that's something I should look into. It's okay if there's never going to be hullabaloo size events here anymore, because that was too big to sustain anyways.
d2kx Junior Member
Germany
127 posts Joined: Dec, 2011
Posted - 2018/12/26 : 17:20:18
This post was initially a response for the Technikore appreciation thread, but I am way too ADHD to keep it to a single subject.
I admit I do not like *all* of Technikore's more recent material, but he is still one of the best hardcore producers ever with absolutely unforgettable tracks that I'll never forget the first time listening to.
He recently released his fantastic cover of 4AM on Electric Fox (Tweekacore & Darren Styles' label) with another track coming soon on there, and it was played in Tweekacore's Qlimax set:
(19:27 - the whole set is great btw.)
I kind of hope that he'll cuddle up with DS & Tweekacore some more, keep his future tracks as simple and catchy as 4AM and continue from there. I know that Q-dance has been happy with Darren Styles & Tweekacore at Defqon.1 aswell and can definitely see them adding Technikore or another hardcore producer to the Defqon.1 lineup or their other events in the future.
There are still other great producers out there, and there are also definitely some doors that are open to this kind of music. But just putting stuff on Soundcloud or playing at niche parties (as great as those are) is not something that is of interest to or will get noticed by a brand like Q-dance. They are not gatekeepers, but they need a reason beyond someone working hard in the studio. It's not like a videogame where you earn points and deserve better by just releasing something, somewhere.
But whenever they see something new getting played in a Da Tweekaz/Tweekacore set (Technikore - 4AM), or The Chainsmokers ending Ultra Music Festival with hardcore (Gammer's Ran-D - Zombie remix) or Gareth Emery admiring Hixxy on social media, or how great the response to W&W's collaboration with DS has been (W&W & Darren Styles - Long Way Down), or see someone featured on Dirty Workz/Monstercat (Stonebank/Modulate), they look into it.
The Psytrance scene has been very successful recently, with Vini Vici, Blastoyz, Liquid Soul, Astrix & Ace Ventura being able to work with people from outside the Psy scene, and they didn't have to water down their music either - the music was never the problem, the communication was.
I am convinced more people from the Hardstyle community know that Orbit1 (Audiofreq) and Modulate (Stonebank) have released hardcore tracks to great success lately than people from the Hardcore community even realized when Da Tweekaz started their push into Hardcore last year with Tweekacore. And that is totally fine - but people like Darren Styles are where they are today because they do care about what's happening elsewhere and how that might be relevant to them, and not by "holding down" some obviously glorious bedroom producers or whatever.
If some Hardcore fans & producers would prefer it to stay Underground, so be it. I super disagree and think it fits in just as well at mainstream electronic festivals. That is not a play of words on the HU label btw. - I still like them and have my Hardcore Underground CDs sitting close to me - even though I think it was a mistake to overwork themselves to death, for years now, trying to chase down people like Sharkey or getting those final touches on that Blu-ray or hoping to get support from only within Hardcore, rather than slowing down, relaxing and getting some sanity back and figuring out where there could be a possible match or interest in a collaboration with other innovative labels from other scenes. I know this must have happened before (Wasted Penguinz - Bittersweet remix from Fracus & Darwin is a good example), but they still drain too much of their energy just to deliver those perfect physical products while you can barely find official Hardcore Underground or Fracus & Darwin videos of recent releases on YouTube.
Is it just me, but does anyone feel....
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Posted - 2018/12/25 : 16:10:27
