5 Things that we’d love to see more of in 2016!

2015 was a huge year for hard dance music that was filled with new, exciting developments, however as many of you would’ve seen there’s always room for improvement. Together, we can always work together to make our scene, bigger, better and more friendly. In light of the New Year, we’ve covered a few points regarding some things improvements to be made and also some suggestions of happenings that we’d love to see more of in the coming year!

1. Underrated guys getting their turn on mainstages
It’s a little bit of an overkill to see the same names playing at the same times on the mainstage at every single festival; hardstyle has more than enough followers to allow organisers to experiment with their line-ups and put the unexpected on their mainstages. It’s time to give the new kids a turn or even celebrate ‘different’ sounds on a more commercial level.

There are several underrated artists who are talented and deserve to share their music to a big audience, however due to many unfortunate factors, they won’t get the opportunities they deserve. I say, fuck it, if you’re running a big enough event that’s going to sell out then you may as well take a few risks with the line-up!

2. UK Hardcore in the spotlight
Just because a track is at 170BPM, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it has to be aggressive and be classified as ‘traditional’ hardcore. Especially amongst the Dutch crowd, UK Hardcore or Happy Hardcore gets a fair beating and enough is enough – it’s time to discover the endless possibilities of this genre and not to mention, how freaking fun it is to dance to!

Isn’t it time that guys like Darren Styles and Gammer have the honour to perform on big stages and close down festivals instead of seeing the same hardstyle acts close down every fucking festival? It would also be amazing to see upcomers in UK Hardcore gaining support from Dutch organisations. Once they start getting booked it’s only inevitable that fans in The Netherlands will open their minds to it.

It’s time to take the leap and change things up a little!

3. People admitting that inevitable fact that sub-genres exist
Raw, euphoric, freestyle, tek, whatever! It’s time to admit that these sub-genres very well exist. It’s okay that these sub-genres exist, I really don’t understand the stigma that’s associated with it. Ask yourself this; if sub-genres don’t exist then why do promoters put certain stages to represent certain sounds in hardstyle?

For those who write all over Facebook “I don’t give a fuck, it’s all hardstyle,” do you visit early hardstyle stages or raw stages? Or better yet, do you ever catch yourself using the words raw or euphoric? If so, you’re somewhat contradicting your thoughts that sub-genres don’t exist. It doesn’t mean that hardstyle is going to divide and become so far apart, it just means that there’s simply more variety and choice for different tastes. This growth and diversity is only a good thing and it should be embraced!

“I’ll have some euphoria with my raw steak thx”

4. More EDM guys giving hardstyle a shot (and giving our producers credit for hour f*cking hard it is to produce)
In 2015, Dutch EDM superstar Hardwell paying extra special attention to the harder styles by releasing remixes by the likes of Frontliner and Sephyx, producing a solo hardstyle/house crossover and also collaborating with Atmozfears. After his hardstyle-flavoured track was dropped online, fans worldwide commended him for his attempt and interest in the genre.

Maybe it’s time that other EDM producers took a leaf out of Hardwell’s book and accepted the challenge to test their own production skills and create decent-sounding hardstyle. They’ll soon come to the realisation that producing hardstyle is harder than it seems and maybe, just maybe they will show some appreciation to our talented artists!

5. Revival of old event concepts
In December last year, the Melkweg in Amsterdam flooded with eager hardcore die-hards for the ‘Thunderdome Die-Hard Day,’ a concept which truly warmed my heart. What would be even better is if the notorious party made a grand return and the dress-code would be 90’s early rave.
Another revived event that I and many other hardstyle fans would be overjoyed to see again is In Qontrol. Even if it was just for a one-off, it would be cool if event organisers brought back a classic party, instead of repeating something that’s been done for the past 5 or so years.

Do you agree with our suggestions or would you like to see a few more things added to this list? Let us know in the comments below and tell us what changes you’d like to see happen in the hard dance scene! Let’s make 2016 a year to remember!