Breaking Boundaries – A Perspective on Hardcore with Wavolizer

A bold, yet true proclamation: very few artists walk the line of challenging themselves. It’s a lot more common for artists to follow a stream of what has already become established within the rectangle-like boxes of their genres, rather than to try something different. One artist that thinks outside of that box is Wavolizer, whom recently released his debut album “A Matter of Perspective”. With the album reaching sold-out status prior to its release, the Danish producer was given a reason to cross at least one objective off his bucket-list.

Unleashing his experimental approach to music for many years within the Hard Dance scene, he embarked on a different journey and pursued a career within one of the darkest subgenres of Hardcore. We wanted to hear his perspective on today’s industry, his natural transition from Hardstyle to Hardcore and of course, what he ate for breakfast.

– Yo Wavolizer! Thanks for joining us on AAN. What’s going on today?!
Thank you for having me! Today has been a pretty regular day for me; I am currently studying Sound Design, so today was all about mixing-exercises.

–  Congratulations on such a successful album release! Given that it’s the first album you’ve made, would you care sharing some more about how it all went?
What a nightmare – can’t recommend. 😉 No, it has been a lot of fun and challenging as well! For many years I had a sketch for an album concept in my mind, so it feels really good that I actually managed to execute it!

– Sitting in a studio for hours on end must open up for some memorable moments. Care to tell us about any noteworthy happenings during the production of this album?
It’s always something else to work on collaborations. Most of the collaborations on the album are done via the internet, so it can sometimes be very challenging to work on. However, with that said, I love challenges. 😉

The most memorable moment, however, was when I could finally say “wow this is done.” I actually couldn’t believe it at first – especially since I’m that kind of producer who tweaks the crap out of a track for months.

– What did it feel like when you heard the news that you’d sold out all hard copies of the album prior to its release?
I was overwhelmed! It was such a great feeling and even though I felt a bit bad for those who didn’t manage to get one in time, it felt simply amazing sell-out, haha! Achievement unlocked and all that.

– A while ago you made a collaborative track with Geck-o, released on his album ‘A New Wave’ and now you guys made another track together called “The Internet.” You’ve both focussed mainly on producing Hardstyle in the past and now moved onto other subgenres. Tell us, what was it like working together?
Rik is amazing and we have actually worked on at least 5 tracks together (if you don’t count other small things), so it always feels very comfortable to work with him. We never try to impress each other – we just make music, have fun, learn stuff from each other, make compromises and in the end, finalise a tune that we are both very happy with.

– All 12 tracks are great, but which one did you become most proud of upon its completion?
It’s such a tough question, but well, I had the plan for “The Showdown” in my head for more than a year before I even started on it. I simply had so many expectations to this ‘finale’ that I knew I needed to wait until most of the album was completed before making it. I wrote the melody a year ago, but I only had it in my head and played it on the piano once a month or so until I finally felt confident enough to build the track. I am very proud of the result!

I am aware it’s ‘cooler’ to brand a unique and (most importantly) fresh style with a name, but to be honest I just want to make music, regardless of its style.

– You’ve made yourself known to be someone who’s very open minded in terms of tempo, or rather the BPM you play at. Would you still call it Hardcore with the tempo on some of the tracks being slower than Hardstyle?
Yes. To me, Hardcore was never about fast BPM’s only – Hardcore is a very broad genre whilst Hardstyle is a very concentrated genre. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Of course you can try to categorise things and call everything that’s below 150BPM ‘slowcore’, but I just call it Hardcore. I am aware it’s ‘cooler’ to brand a unique and (most importantly) fresh style with a name, but to be honest I just want to make music, regardless of its style.

‘Crossbreed’ was a term I have been using on some of my 175 productions; The Outside Agency clearly explained what it was, with both words as well as music. Other than that, I much rather lean back and sometimes read funny discussions on forums about ‘corestyle’ or ‘uptempo rawcore’ or whatever. I used to care a lot about the categories, but now not so much, haha.

– Alright so let’s leave the album and put some more focus into your artist career. You moved from Theracords to The Third Movement 2 years ago; how have the past two years been like coming from the Hardstyle scene and plunging yourself right into one of the darkest subgenres of Hardcore?
One word: comfortable. I had a great time at Theracords, but both the Theracords crew and I knew it was better to move on. As I mentioned before, Hardstyle is a very concentrated style, so stepping into the ‘bigger’ box of Hardcore really felt like getting an extra lung.

– How did you and The Third Movement find each other? Was there talk of turning to the dark side long before you announced that you were leaving Hardstyle?
Back when Theracords and I agreed upon parting ways, they didn’t just kick me out of the door. They knew I wanted to pursue Hardcore, so they were very helpful in making the transfer! And yes, I admit that I actually had it in my mind to make a Hardcore alias before I left. I realised it was better to give my full focus on it with my main alias, Wavolizer.

– Most Hardcore DJs that decide to try new genres go for Raw Hardstyle these days, however you went quite in the opposite direction. Ever had thoughts about moving back to your old roots, or do you ever produce Hardstyle just for the sake of it?
Every once in a while I mess about with both old-school Hardstyle and Rawstyle hooks for fun. Is it something I want to go back to doing though? Not really. I am open for Hardstyle collaborations in the future, however. 😉

– Seeing as you hail from Denmark, can you give our readers a little run-down on Hardcore’s presence over there and its scene?
Sadly, the scene is very small here, but once in a while I see some great party attempts. They are usually created by actual Hardcore fans, meaning that it’s usually not about the profit. This is great to see!

Something I’d like to point out is that it seems to be a general thing with both Hardcore and Hardstyle to go faster and faster. It makes sense really; the need to be ‘harder’ and ‘more extreme’ is very common. Eventually though, things will reset and become slower again; to be honest I don’t see it happening any time soon, but hypes always come and go.

– Crossbreed and Industrial Hardcore has been shifting more and more to higher tempo and heavier basslines, however you hold a lot of ‘slower’ tunes in your discography. Do you feel as if Hardcore music is more than just high amounts of beats per minute?
Yes. To me, Hardcore is primarily about the distorted kickdrums in all the wonderful ways it can be done.

Something I’d like to point out is that it seems to be a general thing with both Hardcore and Hardstyle to go faster and faster. It makes sense really; the need to be ‘harder’ and ‘more extreme’ is very common. Eventually though, things will reset and become slower again; to be honest I don’t see it happening any time soon, but hypes always come and go.

– What do you think of the current state of Crossbreed/Industrial Hardcore, and where do you think it’s heading in the future?
I try to stay positive and enjoy whenever I find some new golden tunes to play, but it’s definitely not as frequent as it used to be. I do hope more artists will join me in getting a slower average BPM in Hardcore again, but I don’t think it will happen just yet.

– You also turned 25 recently, happy birthday! You’re now halfway to 50. Do you think you’ll be producing Hardcore even by that age?
Music will always be a big part of me, but one day at a time, please! The future is a mystery… 😉

– Now that your album is out in the open, what’s next for you?
I already have new ideas for singles and EP’s, as well as other projects that aren’t Wavolizer-related. I am not really stressing about it though. 😉

– Finally, what did you eat for breakfast today?
Homemade buns (leftovers from my birthday, haha)!

Big thanks to Wavolizer for this interview! First of all, we’d like to congratulate him on the release of his debut album ‘A Matter Of Perspective’ and we can’t wait to see what musical experiments he’ll be cooking up next!

Read our review on ‘A Matter Of Perspective’ HERE.

Be sure to follow Wavolizer at the social links below.

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