Pawel Goss, or better known on stage as the Polish wonder Regain has been touching the hearts of thousands of hardstyle fans with his uniquely striking sound. Already gaining support from some of the biggest pioneers including Adaro, Digital Punk and more, this young producer is undoubtedly on his way to the top and well, there’s a good reason for his early success. Striving to do something different than the other young talents out there, Regain’s music just goes to show that individuality still has its place within the hardstyle scene. We couldn’t resist to have a chat with this young Polish mastermind to chat about hardstyle in his home country, some of his highlights from the festival season and his productions!

Hi Pawel, how are you going today?
Hey, thanks for the interview! I’m going fine, thank you, I’ve just finished my student internship today so I can finally relax!

How has your summer been? Can you tell me about some of your festival highlights?
My summer was fantastic! This year brought a lot of hot days in Poland, so I could go to the swimming pool or just spend some time outside the house. I tried to make the most of my holidays and I had some great times with my girlfriend and friends. I also started some new music projects and of course I played at some fantastic events, including a booking in Spain, which was an amazing experience. The Spanish people really dedicated which was great and the beautiful weather in Spain makes me want to come back again in the future! Next to this, I also enjoyed playing at many festivals in Holland – it is starting to feel like a second home.

You recently played at Decibel outdoor in the Extreme Loudness area – How did it go?
Decibel is one of my favourite events, so I knew that it was going to be good! The Extreme Loudness area was packed during my set and I saw a lot of people dancing to the tracks that I played. It was such a fantastic feeling, especially when you see that it is raining like hell! MC Livid also did a great job to make this crowd even crazier!

So what music did you listen to when you were growing up? And how did you get into hardstyle?
When I was eight, I listened to a lot of Eminem, 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg – I was young and fully into the Hip Hop/Rap music, but my brother always listened to techno music. He showed me some tracks from Benny Benassi, Scooter, Rocco & Bass-T and I thought “Yeah, this sounds nice.” Along with that, I also found some hardstyle tracks, at that moment it was still too heavy for me, but for some reason I came back to this kind of music later on; maybe the simple structure and big bass made me more curious, so I started to search for some artists. I found tracks from Headhunterz, Technoboy, Zatox, Donkey Rollers and from there I fell in love with the genre!

Other than producing, do you do anything else? Work/study?
Yes I have a very busy schedule! *laughs* At the moment I’m studying social work because it’s something really interesting to me and this year I start the third year of my studies. Sometimes it can be hard to connect music with my study, but I’m a type of guy that wants to have a little backup plan for the future. I know I will not be able to produce music until the end of my life or be a DJ when I’m at a grandfather’s age, so this is a main reason why I also want to finish my studies.

You’re a producer from Poland, can you tell me a little bit more about the hardstyle scene there?
Sure! Some years ago, hardstyle in Poland was more popular than it is now; we had some nice parties such as Toxicator, where all the biggest acts played. Toxicator was actually the first event I went to when I was 16! *laughs* After this event stopped, it was quiet in the scene for quite some years, but now I see that some organisers are starting to bring this music back to Poland which is great! Polish DJ and event organiser DJ Driver is planning a lot of nice parties where E-Force and Crypsis have played and in September, Digital Punk will be playing there too. Let’s hope to see some more great events in the near future!

What is your favourite Polish food?
This would be pierogi (dumplings) and bigos. You have to google it! It looks bad but tastes very good. Now that I mention this, I have to tell my mom that she should prepare bigos for me tonight! *laughs*

I saw a video of you performing at We Are Hardstyle and your energy on stage was incredible! For you, what is the importance of being energetic and getting the crowd involved?
For me it’s really important to have fun with people. They are the ones that give me so much energy and in the end, I am there for them and they are there for me. I love having this connection with the crowd and it really pushes me to my limits during my performances.

You’ve gained a lot of support from raw hardstyle pioneers, including Adaro who let you have the honour of remixing his track “For The Streets.” How does it feel to have such a great amount of support?
Ahh, I think it’s a part of my dreams that came true. You are making music for the people that are listening to your music but also to show your producing skills to other artists. It’s fantastic when they appreciate your tracks and that’s very motivating!

Your remix of “For The Streets” has become so popular and reached number 1 on HS.com. Can you explain a little bit more about how you remixed it and a bit of a story behind it?
Of course! Adaro sent me a message asking if I wanted to remix one of his tracks which was something so unbelievable and exciting to me so of course, I agreed! I felt a little bit of pressure because HE IS ADARO, wow! So I worked really hard to get this track perfect. The vocals of “For The Street” are really good so I decided to do a little drum & bass part at the beginning of the track to make it more underground. I used some scratch on the vocals and then bam, the kicks! After this, I made the break of the track with a little melody and of course the anti with the screech that I called: “Godzilla Scream!” *laughs* The original track is also very great so I was a bit afraid to ruin this, however when Adaro and I played this track at our gigs for the first time, the crowd went totally crazy (including me!)

Another one of your tracks that has become big is ‘Broken,’ what is the track about and what inspired you to produce it?
The lyrics mention a broken heart, but don’t worry, I didn’t break up with my girlfriend or have some dramatic experience with heart-break! I cannot reflect these lyrics on me personally, however I really like the vocals because of the emotion in it. For me, the contrast was something interesting as I combined the vocals with some really rough parts in the track. Other people can see a greater meaning in it and that’s also what I like. After the release of Broken, I received a lot of messages of people that said it had a lot of meaning for them because they recently broke up with their girlfriend or they heard this track when they started their relationship. It’s so great to hear that music touches deeper than the surface.

What are your plans for the rest of 2015? Do you have any big gigs, releases or collabs?
This month I start back at university, so I will be crying because of the lack of time, but I will always find some time for music! Recently, I finished my collaboration with Blackwatch and MC Renegade, which will be released soon at Heart For Hard Records and I’ve almost finished a solo track too! I also have some new collaborations with some major artists to start, so there’s a lot coming up!
About gigs – I have a lot of bookings towards the end of this year and also in 2016. Some of them include Unlocked, Rebellion (vs Delete), A2 Records – Unstoppable, Indicator, Fusion 2015 (vs Adaro), Dangerouzmind, Shockerz 2015 and a lot more that aren’t announced yet! Next to this, there are some plans for my own event in Holland at the end of this year – this will be something that you definitely don’t want to miss!

There’s a lot of ‘raw talents’ out there who haven’t experienced your success – what sets you apart from the others?
I don’t know, really… Sometimes you can be lucky but from my perspective you also need to work hard to reach your goals. I produced music for more than 8 years and after such a long time some people could have a burn out, however if it’s your passion, you have to fight for your dreams. What’s also important is that you have to focus on yourself and don’t simply use Facebook memes to get some attention – instead you should be in the studio making some new sounds. 😉

How were your discovered?
I sent my first full track to Coarsection and these guys played it at Toxicator, they were very happy that somebody else was also producing hardstyle in Poland. After this I met X-Pander who helped me with my first official release and after this release, Heart For Hard mailed me to join them, which was the best decision that I’ve made in my life. They are working very hard and I’m very thankful that we can be friends and are also on one team!

What are 3 essential pieces of equipment that every young producer should own?
Young producers should know how to operate each DAW first, then they should learn how to make sounds on VST’s. You do not need equipment if you don’t know how your program is working, but when you know this, you should buy some good speakers to hear clean sounds – possibly a little MIDI keyboard? It always helps in producing music. The last important point is that it should be a good PC which will handle your big, messy projects, like mine! 😀

You’ve already gained a huge and dedicated fanbase, how does it feel to have fans send you special ‘regain’ tattoos?
Wow, it is always a big shock to me. It’s crazy but in positive way! You know, sometimes I think “Okay, I’m just a human, little Paweł living in Poland and making music because it’s my passion,” so it’s a great honour that someone likes my music so much to have it tattooed on them forever. It means that they love my music, so I’m always more than happy to see how dedicated my fans are!

*Fan tattoo inspired by stellar track “Broken”*

Do you have any tattoos yourself?
No I don’t have any tattoos, because it will be on my body forever and that is way too long! *laughs* So I don’t have any tattoos and I’m not planning to get any in the future.

Where is the strangest place you’ve woken up after a big night out?
I don’t drink too much alcohol because of some health problems, so I never experienced a situation like that. I want to know where I’m going to sleep and where I wake up.

Have you ever broken the law? If so, what did you do?
Yes of course, but let’s hope the police will not read this 😀 *laughs* But okay, let me see… I have done illegal things such as drinking beer in a public place, driving too fast in my car and having a loud party after 23:00. They’re not really huge things, I’d say that I’m just a calm and good citizen!

Finally, what did you eat for breakfast?
As always – cereal and coffee!

Thanks for the interview Pawel! We wish you the very best in your upcoming productions and we’re sure that we’ll be hearing A LOT more of you in the future! For those who are interested in attending his exclusive event in The Netherlands, click here for more information!

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