Producer’s Paradise – Two Days At Dancefair!

Production workshops, checking the newest and hottest gear, panels, industry speeches, presentations, sharpening up social media competence skills and tons of fun. That’s Dancefair in Utrecht every year! The program seemed overwhelming: workshops with the elite, every big player in the market basically had a booth, demo drops, showcases, product demos,… Needless to say my gear-loving heart trembled in excitement! This year the Harder Styles Of Dance Music had their own room and I went to check it out and see what’s going on!

DAY 1

On Saturday I left my hometown quite early to check on the newest gear and get a overview of what’s happening. I got off at Utrecht Central Station, from there on i took a 5min walk to the Jaarbeurs. On my way there I already saw DJ’s and Producers chatting about the highlights of their own agenda. I entered the Jaarbeurs, got my ticket checked and got handed a pretty Reloop bag (in which i stored all the goodies and my jacket). I took the stairs up (twice) and found myself in what must have been heaven. Gear and music everywhere. Friendly conversations and loud chatter completed the audible image. For a second I just stared and was hit quite heavily by a complete and total sensory overload. I had no idea where to go (and at that very moment I didn’t care) – so I checked out one booth after another at first. From Native Instruments to Novation and Pioneer. Everything a DJ and Producer would have wanted, everything was here. Ableton, Steinberg, Alpine, Bax Shop, UDG, Rob Papen (HIMSELF!! I WAS SO STARSTRUCK!!!), Spinnin Records, Armada, Nord Instruments, several Audio and Production schools (including SAE, Pyntago,..) – EVERYONE must have been there. It was incredible. I after a first round through the confusing complex, I decided to sit down for a bit and let my senses rest. I thought I was overdosing on awesomeness. I sat down in the biggest “demo drop” area of Dancefair: the room of Spinnin’, Armada and Cloud 9. Some guys were nervously staring at their USB-sticks, probably mentally preparing for their demo drop. The crowd was pretty mixed in age (i saw kids that were not even 12 years old and guys that looked like they could have been Bob Moog), but not so much in gender. Besides a few DJanes and Producerettes here and there, the only girls I saw were booth babes. I decided to check a bit more gear before I headed to my first stop at the ‘Harder’ area. I quickly tested out the Novation Ultranova, some Korg synths and stopped at Sennheiser. At the Ableton room i got introduced to the possibilities of Live (I even scored a free trial CD) and the new Ableton controller. It was NAMM and WMC for the dance music production and dj’ing scene for me. Paradise. Bliss. Ecstasy.

With a full goodie bag I quickly bought a Red Bull (which was a bit expensive) and soon headed for the first seminar on my schedule: The Raw Panel. The Rawstyle trend was discussed by Thera, Jack Of Sound, Titan and MC Da Syndrome. I expected a quite heated discussion, but the general tone of the discussion was more of a “trend panel” one, and less focussed on the artistic output of the raw scene. Of course everybody agreed that there had to be more technical and artistic aspects in ‘Raw’ and that the general quality had to improve. What was also interesting is that the crowd, speakers and presenter experienced Raw Hardstyle as some form of counter-culture within the counter-culture that is Hardstyle. It was speculated that Raw Hardstyle fans are generally ‘more into it’, they are significantly more active on online media and tend to be “do or die” fans. I found that aspect of the conversation of particular interest. At the end of the conversation Thera named innovation as inspiration for expanding the Raw scene, Gearbox as possible new big thing and Jack Of Sound and Titan both praised Fusions new hot shot ‘Requiem’. What was also noticeable was the strong trend for Studio One as DAW of choice for producers right now.

I headed for a quick smoke and then ran off to the next presentation: ‘Crossover’. Audiofreq, Audiotricz (1/2 due to sickness) and LNY TNZ were moderated by Mental Theo (who seemed really into it). The first statement that caught my attention was that we should never forget that Hardstyle started out as a crossover, that it lives as a crossover and that it (inevitably) will evolve as a crossover between styles. Hard Drop was discussed, Freestyle was discussed and it was a general chatter about a “quo vadis” in Hardstyle and the Harder Styles in general. I found it interesting that everybody kind of expects everyone else to be the next big game changer. The negation of genres as well as ‘being authentic’ versus ‘selling product’ fired a heated discussion about Headhunterz’ and DBSTF’s intentions in House, but also the crossover on the other side was discussed . After all some House is inspired by Hardstyle too nowadays, believe it or not! It was more of a philosophical discussion than an actual seminar and I enjoyed listening.

Once again I went for some fresh air, downstairs I already ran into Endymion and Gerard Henninger (GHBTV represent, bitches!). I rushed my dose of nicotine, and headed back to the room. The ‘Endymion Production Masterclass’ was about to start and this time I even scored a decent front row seat! The seminar was more like a “advanced beginner’s seminar” than an actual Masterclass in my opinion, but still very, very informative. It was great to get a glimpse into the workflow of real professionals, hear the names of some cool new plugins and learn a new technique here and there. Fellow producers were (of course) particularly interested in kick drums and mix down and the Endymion guys answered generously and without beating around the bush! The workshop was probably the one that had the most use to me of Dancefair and I really liked it!

After the workshop I take a stroll around and try to figure out the map that was showing up on several screens and walls in the building. I failed miserably. The guiding system and program schedule seemed extremely chaotic. I tried to find some hints in my DJ MAG guide that I got handed but just found a map. I would have loved to get a schedule with a map like I knew it from festivals and other conferences like HDE. Sidenote: I COULD have seen the first workshop, but I simply didn’t find the room, because the guidance system was just so extremely…weird? I put the magazine back in my bag and decide that I’ll take a stroll. A guy handed me a flyer for ghost producing. Thanks mate, for appreciating my skills and trying to get my into your production roster, but that shit ain’t gonna happen here. Or did you seriously try to convince me to get ghost produced? That’s “VIP+guest” on my shit list, bro.

I was too late for the Digital Punk workshop. I also heard that Rudy Peters could unfortunately not participate. I was kind of disappointed. I really wanted to hear the presentation, since branding and creating a concept around my own music sounded like a fun and business-wise smart idea. For the next hour or so I was walking around, checking gear, catching up with people I hadn’t seen in a while. I also saw some guys that I got to know when I started out, but who are now producing different kinds of electronic music! There was this certain thirst for knowledge in the air, that I loved to much about these industry gatherings. My heart skipped a beat or two when I ran into a Doepfer A-100 modular system. It beeped and made all kinds of cute sounds in it’s finest analogue matter, my inner ‘machine mother’ stared at it in wonder. It was just so pretty. Even the seemingly random sounds. Producers know the feeling: when you hear a sound, suddenly your head starts being a DAW and starts producing. My adult-me had to pull my inner child away from the magic A-100 and further into the complex. Then I saw him. Rob Papen. The (to me) Steven Slate of Software Synthesizers. He was presenting ‘RAW’, a new synth of his which is aimed at producers, sound designers and composers who are looking for a little bit more of an edge in their sound spectrum. I was so starstruck that I wouldn’t have known what an oscillator was at that time, if you had asked me. I watched the presentation for almost quarter of an hour and then went for food. I bought an Ice Tea and a slice of veggie Pizza, which almost cost me my left kidney and probably my first born son. It wasn’t the best deal, but after almost eight hours of Dancefair I was so hungry that I didn’t care.

Then I headed to the Demo Drop. At 17:45 a quite a noticeable bunch of aspiring Hardstyle producers, including your humble narrator, stormed the ‘Harder’ room. Right away I bump into Devin Wild, whom I thanked for the interview (he thanked me with putting a Scantraxx sticker on my butt) and Energyzed, who were preparing to give feedback. Also Thera and his crew were situated in the room and also several other labels were taking part in this unique chance for the next generation. I saw people that were so nervous, they seemed like they were staring death into the eye – and of course I also saw the cool kids who thought they had it all figured out. The atmosphere was great – chatty, fun, stressed, a unique mix. I decided against dropping my demo this year and watched the spectacle instead, it was simply too interesting. Every now and then some head bobbing was visible at one side of the table and sparks of hope and joy were radiating from young eyes on the other side of the table. The feedback given was mostly very detailed and all young and aspiring producers I talked to were insanely grateful for this exceptional chance to get face to face feedback from a pro. The youngsters were extremely thankful for every word of feedback that they received – and to snap a picture with their favorite artists of course! A lot of them were nervous when I asked, but the happiness was even bigger afterwards. The audience was really mixed. One of the guys I interviewed made Future House and Rawstyle – what a cool combination?! I even saw another girl at some table! There was also a lot of chatter and feedback going on in between the young producers and a lot of names and contacts were probably exchanged that day.

Besides Theracords and Scantraxx also Minus Is More, Activa (I loved the 90ties outfits!!), Hard Music Records (who are having a party in the Netherlands with Thera and their full artist roster soon!), Neophyte Records and Dutch Master Works (yup, they’re still out there!) were present on the first day. I would have loved to see Dirty Workz, WE R, Derailed or other small, but popular labels here too. On this day the busiest tables were the ones of Minus Is More, Theracords and (you guessed it) Scantraxx. I talked a bit to the ‘big guys’ behind the tables afterwards and all of them loved the demo drop as much as the ‘newbies’ did. The chance to give and receive this very personal feedback is something special and it saves time typing long emails! In some cases it was difficult though (may it be of language barriers or quality) for some, especially when you wanted to be nice. What some guys did not like is that some producers went to every booth available, this made a ‘weird’ impression to some, even if the kids just wanted to get feedback. What the labels looked for were not just quality, but also presentation. Preferably USB sticks, music in good quality (WAV or 320kbs mp3), paired with a humble, but authentic personality. The atmosphere was busy until the very last minutes. I stayed until the very end and felt somewhat relieved when I finally left the building. I was tired, but happy, inspired and looking forward to Day 2!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

DAY 2

On Sunday, I decided to go in a bit later. I arrived around 14:00. The first thing I did again was (of course): Checking out more gear! Today I went for the Aira booth again (which was probably the most futuristic, it looked like a Star Trek film set) and the very back room in which Jan Morel and other more specialized brand names were situated. I was still confused by the architecture, schedule and floor plan, but today I was already a bit more used to it. I met up with some friends from Belgium and also got to know some new people too! Once again I was in a really good mood – conferences and fairs make great places for expanding your network. And a good network means great contacts – hey, you never know? It also fun to just talk to people, exchange thoughts and visions, music and ideas or see if you can collaborate here and there.

We decided to queue up for the Frontliner presentation. After quite some time of waiting we got the news that he wouldn’t be here today, it was a bit disappointing. It was also a shame that there was no alternative program for the ‘Harder’ room. Would have been nice to see something improvised, but I guess everything had to be on a certain schedule.

We tried to get into the Dyro seminar but the doors were closed already, so once again we were running around. We were a small group of people now and decided to head for the Spinnin’ Demo drop, where we sat down for a bit. One of us tried his luck, but had to wait so long that we decided to move on. I separated myself from the group and headed to the Ableton room for a bit and tried the Pioneer gear that was also in the same room. I probably went through all models that I saw. After that I played a bit with some more synthesizers (I still really, really, really want a Novation Ultranova and the new Nord is quite sexy too) and tried to collect as many stickers and keychains as I could. I ended up with three and quite a bunch of stickers. And of course quite some more folders.

What I found quite interesting during my “sticker and keychain collection quest” is the density of music and art schools in the Netherlands. SAE, Pyntago, Point Blank Online, Pro DJ school and SO many more. It’s like every music school in the Netherlands now also has a Dance focussed department! As a Dj and Producer this might be a interesting off-season opportunity, not just to learn – but also to teach, as the demand is strongly growing!

I met up with my friends at the Audiofreq workshop again. It was called “Audiofreq talks about stuff”, and it was very… Audiofreq’y! The workshop was probably one of the most important and best things a beginning harder styles producer could have seen this weekend. It wasn’t your usual technical masterclass or another production workshop: “the Freq” decided to do something very different that day. It was about inspiration and the long way there. From innovation to ideas, workflow techniques and “mental diet”, Audiofreq guided the aspiring producers in the room through the universe of their own minds – and everything they still had to explore. It was amazing, inspiring and very insightful. And hey – it was fun too! Sam definitely knows how to entertain a full room even if he doesn’t stand behind decks, but in front of a presentation screen too. He talked about imitation as a learning process, how past ideas define the future and the concept of everything being a remix somehow. Furthermore reverse engineering and the concept of ideas in a new context were discussed. He also have some tips on busting writer’s block and time management, as well as motivation and composition tricks. A completely different kind of workshop! Still: I saw some disappointed faces afterwards, I guess for some technique goes over ideas.

Before the demo drop I once again and got something to eat and drink – and also this time I almost had to sell my good kidney… After my snack I checked out the new Native Instruments stuff and got some information about the earplugs of Alpine. In the background I heard a booth babe play “Destination Calabria” on a Sax, if I recall correctly! On the Aira booth some guy was doing a impromptu live act, which was quite cool! I got some more folders and info sheets and slowly headed back to the ‘Harder’ room.

On the second day there were different labels at the Demo Drop: besides Activa (and Activa Shine) and Hard Music Records, who were already here on day one, there were also Fusion, Lusssive and Diffuzion Records represent today. It was a bit calmer today and the room wasn’t as packed as it was the day before, today everybody had time for very detailed feedback. Nervous faces once again. I met my friends again and some of them decided to try their luck today. They sat down for almost half an hour and were super happy about the very detailed feedback they got! It was a motivation for them to keep on going and I felt with them. Once again I decided to talk to the ‘new kids’ and the ‘old guys’, the beginners and the labels. I asked If a Demo Drop would be suited for HDE as well and got different responses: While Diffuzion thought it might be a great addition, Lussive and Fusion thought it might not fit into the purpose of HDE as industry conference for professionals that were already established in the scene. It was draining for the professionals to listen to demos for almost two and a half hour, but again they were as happy for the opportunity as the beginners were! The room slowly started to get empty and one label after another left. It was time to go home. What a weekend it was!

Conclusion: A few hiccups (paylogic being paylogic, on-location map and guidance system were chaotic, schedule a bit odd, expensive food,…) didn’t stop me from having a good time here! The actual location was fantastic and the atmosphere was great! I would have loved more production workshops instead of presentations in the ‘Harder’ room, but I was happy for every minute that I attended. I’m also happy my Dutch has improved quite a lot, otherwise I would have felt rather misplaced. The chance to learn quite a lot about the industry and it’s gears is something a producer should not miss, but of course you can also attend very possible production workshop! It was also great that the Harder Styles of Dance music finally had a own room this year! While HDE is aiming at networking within the professional industry, Dancefair is the place to go as a upcoming producer. A lot of gear has been added to my wish list and I came home with a bag full of small goodies and a head full of new ideas. For me it was a weekend well spent and I can absolutely recommend Dancefair to any producer or DJ of any dance music genre! There was something here for everybody!  So yeah: You love gear? You produce or dj’? Or do both? You speak dutch? FUCK YEAH. Then you HAVE to come here next year and find yourself in paradise!

Next year’s Dancefair is 13/14 February 2016!
For more infos check https://www.dancefair.nl/!