Artist Of The Month – December, 2016!

It feels as though it was just yesterday that we welcomed 2016 in with open arms – suddenly it’s December and we’re rushing to get last minute Christmas shopping done, as well crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s on our New Year’s Eve plans. Where the hell did this year go?! Quite frankly, I can vouch that here at Alive At Night, my year was spent partying, filming, writing and being a 100% bad bitch.

Anyway, enough talk about how fast the year has gone – let’s squeeze out the last bits of 2016 by showcasing our final ‘artist of the month!’ 

Our chosen artist has experienced a spectacular year, with one particular achievement surfacing a matter of weeks ago when he dropped a game-changing second album. Yep, we’re indeed talking about one of the most energetic dudes our scene possesses – give it up for our final ‘artist of the month’ for 2016, Audiofreq!

Believe it or not, but Aussie-born Sam Gonzalez began his music production career specialising in UK Hardcore under the alias Acolyte, before re-launching himself under the name Orbit1 in 2007. Long-time UKHC fans would most likely be familiar with some of Sam’s earlier productions such as “Got Any” with Compulsion, “Welcome 2 Tomorrow” with Inverse, “Anti-Matter” with Milo and “Jitter 0.5.” Deemed an exceptional force in UKHC, Sam attracted support from the scene’s biggest legends such as Mark Breeze, Weaver, Al Storm and Robbie Long amongst others.

Aside from his success in the UK Hardcore scene, Sam’s interest began to shift toward the lower BPM’s as he began unleashing his creativity into the Hardstyle genre. Together with fellow Aussie-in-crime Corey Soljan (Code Black), the pair formed and launched the legendary duo Bioweapon in the midst of the golden era, 2008.

Representing down under, Bioweapon’s skills and talent were picked up almost immediately by mega-imprint Scantraxx Recordz, who signed the pair to the label in 2009. Soon after, a stream of unforgettable releases followed, including their remix of “Toca’s Miracle” by Fragma & Coco Star, “Move Your Body,” “Bass Power” and “Turn It Up.” After embarking on a successful three month tour throughout Europe in 2010, the pair made the decision to leave their roots behind, pack their bags and permanently move to The Netherlands to pursue their careers further.

In 2011, the scene was struck with the devastating news that Bioweapon had decided to part ways, however Sam’s musical career was far from over as he continued on to launch his solo alias Audiofreq in 2011. This fresh project signified new beginnings for Sam, was on the verge of unlocking an endless stream of creativity that would evidently change the face of Hardstyle forever.

Audiofreq’s first release “Tear U Down” marked new adventures for the audacious trailblazer, as his funky and experimental take on the genre quickly earned him a spot at the top of the industry’s ladder. Following up his debut with a stream of game-changing productions in 2012, fans, fellow artists and professionals fell in love with Sam’s raw energy, intelligence and the complex storylines he portrayed through sound. Boasting a sound that was years ahead of its time, let’s take a moment to appreciate some of his finest productions from that time, namely “TMU” with Waverider, “Lose Control” and who could forget about his stellar collaboration with Scope DJ, “Robot?!”

Deemed an absolute machine in the studio, it wasn’t long until creativity struck, taking Sam’s soul hostage and submerging him in one of his biggest projects to date – his debut album, ‘Audioception.’ This voyage of audio alchemy and personal discovery presented itself in the form of 17 exceptional tracks that exhibited individuality, unpredictability and cutting-edge sound design. Opening the minds of hundreds of thousands of listeners from all shores of the globe, this album allowed fans to listen to and interpret Hardstyle from an unseen perspective. Some of Audioception’s biggest hits include “Desire,” “Screwdriver” with TNT, “Drumz!” with D-Block & S-te-Fan and “Welcome To The Future,” just to name a few.

By the time 2014 was in full swing, Audiofreq found himself centre stage at Hard Dance’s most elite concepts, including Defqon.1, Tomorrowland, EDC Las Vegas, Mysteryland, Intents Festival, Dreamfields, Bassleader, Qlimax (alongside Technoboy) and Reverze, where he delivered the tremendous anthem “Guardians Of Time.”

Spinning his ‘freqy’ signature sound week by week, the conclusion of 2014 marked a nostalgic trip down memory lane as Sam exclusively stepped on stage at De Tijdmachine to revive the Bioweapon legacy. This heart-warming spectacle sparked overwhelming feedback from die-hard fans and was unquestionably one of 2014’s biggest revelations. In 2015, this renaissance also became a reality for Australian fans, when Bioweapon made their triumphant return to home soil for an exclusive performance at HSU’s Knockout Circuz. With nostalgia and inspiration at an all-time high, for the first time in years, Sam and Corey joined forces behind studio doors, resulting in two hit-tracks “Make A Move” and “Reload The Weapon.”

Humbly maintaining his esteemed title as Hardstyle’s ‘creative mind,’ in 2015 Audiofreq sought out new ventures when he became the loyal host of Headhunterz’ monthly Hard With Style podcast. With this new project, Sam was able to guide and open the minds of listeners by hand-crafting a modish and eclectic selection of tunes.

Release-wise, 2015 was no less than remarkable for Sam, who pumped out several top-quality tunes such as “Audiophetamine,” “Back To The Underground” with Zatox and “Hookshot” with Kutski, feat. Ragga Twins. Aside from a hectic touring schedule that saw this energetic Aussie gracing crowds worldwide, back home in the lab Sam was also audaciously working on his second album ‘Audiology’, which finally saw the light just last month (November, 2016).

Promising a new wave of fresh tunes that spread across various Electronic genres, Sam proudly delivered a spectacular, surprising body of work that’s thrown a spanner in the works. ‘Audiology’ is unquestionably one of boldest album’s our scene has been graced with and is the breath of fresh air that Hardstyle so desperately needed. I won’t ramble, but for those who haven’t checked out our review of ‘Audiology,’ you can do so here.

Before we round things up, we’d just like to congratulate Sam on taking out our ‘artist of the month’ title for December, 2016 and of course, for all of his achievements throughout the year. We hope to hear and experience much more of his abundant energy in the coming year!