A (very special) day at work with… Toneshifterz!

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20 Nov 2014

Posted by Cassi Catsaros

By: Cassi Catsaros

When we were rolling around in our younger years of childhood, a few of us would have fond memories tagging along with one, or both of your parents, to check out what they did with their lives outside of the home. I know for sure that I have lurked the office where my Mother worked at many times, mind you, I think I annoyingly went to every single desk in that office in order to obtain an insanely large collection of paperclips and sticky notes (pretty sure that I put them to better use anyway…)

Veering away from memories of stealing paperclips and back to the point, I would like to tell a very special story. This story is also set in an office. However, this office is a far cry from the coldly traditional 10th floor enclosed capsule that reeks of hand sanitiser and paper…

This office typically consists of fire, lasers and yep, hours of the finest hardstyle. Visiting this office is definitely an experience that everybody should encounter and working at this office, well that’s why I’m here. Just to get you all excited and get the story rolling, this particular office is called “The Qontinent,” and the boss of this years’ incredible edition is one very special Australian representative.

Fresh off a 24 hour flight from Sydney, one of the most commendable Aussies in the hardstyle scene, Toneshifterz was crowned ownership of this year’s edition of The Qontinent. As the creator of this years’ anthem, Elie Abwi (AKA Toneshifterz) had one hell of a responsibility to ensure that this festival had one hell of an anthem to sum up one wild, wild weekend…

And guess what? Those long hours in the studio really paid off as Elie hit the nail on square on the head as he created a masterpiece that undoubtedly reminds every single listener of standing amongst the Belgian nature and embracing the existence of hardstyle.

On Day 2 (Saturday) of The Qontinent, I had the honour of getting up close and personal with one of the most respected Aussie kings in the world of hardstyle! In terms of being up close and personal, by this I mean that I had the cool job of following Elie around during the day, reviewing the special set that tore Belgium a new one and also capturing the finest moments on camera…

Sometime after 3PM, I met with the legendary Toneshifterz to touch base and begin the interviewing process! Elie had only just landed in The Netherlands less than two days before The Qontinent, and although he was probably tortured by jetlag, he radiated a genuine excitement and positivity towards the day’s events.

Being the creator of this year’s anthem and also representing the land down under, Toneshifterz undoubtedly gained an even bigger fan-base that he wanted to reach out to. In the lead up to The Qontinent, a competition was ran through his social media page for two lucky fans to win a special meet and greet and a little sneak peak of the backstage area. I, of course, got to observe the meet and greet and I was so delighted to see Elie being genuinely happy to get to know his fans. Although there were slight language barriers between the down-to-Earth Aussie and the excited Belgian fans, I really saw the connection that Elie engaged in when he was speaking to his fans who were incredibly excited to meet one of their idols.

*Toneshifterz & MC Villain – doin’ their thang*

At 6:00PM I did my “thang” and stood amongst the wild crowd, getting my analytical eyes and ears out to observe Toneshifterz’ set and most importantly, soak up some well craved Aussie vibes!
Picture this. The vicinity of the Mainstage was packed out, yet there was sufficient room to throw your arms around without accidently smacking someone in the face. Looking up at the stage in front, Toneshifterz emerges and what does he open with? He shows his Australian pride by opening with his trademark bootleg of “Land Down Under.” After witnessing Belgians, Dutch, French, Spanish and all different nationalities singing every lyric of Land Down Under, I come to the conclusion that hardstyle loving foreigners probably only know of this track because of Toneshifterz’ masterpiece bootleg, which (sorry Men At Work) puts the original to shame.

The spark of energy was far from jetlagged during this all Aussie hour, as Elie treated us mostly to his own creations such as “I Just Want To Party,” “Parachutes,” and “Leap Of Faith,” as well as some cheeky exclusives such as his brand new remix of Havana Brown’s “Better Not Said” which generated an unbelievable crowd response.
The biggest highlight of Toneshifterz’ set was when he proudly showcased his work of art “Wild Wild Weekend.” The crowds response was incredibly unique beyond the definition of wild. Out of nowhere, confetti explodes everywhere and everybody, including Elie, dances and parties so hard to celebrate this song that represents this amazing party as a whole. During the anthem, you could see how genuinely happy Elie was to share the track with every single person in that crowd…

At the conclusion of Toneshifterz’ hour of power, the fan-girl moments were far from over at when he quickly made his way from backstage to the merchandise stand to do signings. Once again, he took the time to have a conversation and also happily posed for photos with every single anticipated fan that lined up amongst him.

On the way back from the merchandise stand, I said to Elie “Well, that’s the hard part over!”
With a smile, he responded with: “I actually love meeting my fans! It’s not hard work at all… It’s so enjoyable for me to meet fans from all over the world and I also like seeing my fans happy.”

So, it’s all well and good to write a nice article about Toneshifterz as I accompany him to this fine day in the office, but there is nothing like experiencing it firsthand.

So, with the help of Kurse Media behind the camera, we filmed the best highlights of “bring your journalist to work day” as well as a short interview with some exclusive information about what’s next for Toneshifterz! So sit back, relax and enjoy!