Dr. Rude – Interview At The Hardstyle 2000 Countdown

Dirty Workz Label Showcase

From the 28th of December until the 4th of January, Revulsion FM has done the honourable task of putting on the biggest countdown show consisting of the top 2000 hardstyle tracks of all time! This week isn’t only about the countdown however, there’s a lot to keep your eye on such as interviews, guest mixes and who could forget about the label showcases!

On Saturday, the 3rd of January I had the pleasure of hosting the Dirty Workz showcase which included token experimentalist Dr. Rude. After his guest mix, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Dr. Rude to chat about his move from the tek/jump scene, his newest productions, releasing on Hard With Style records and much more!

1. Thanks for chatting with me today Rudi! First of all, can I start by saying congratulations on having such a huge year in 2014!
I loved it, it was a real game-changer for me but I’m happy with all my achievements!

2. You recently played at Freaqshow which is held in the Ziggo Dome, a huge venue – how was the response from the crowd, especially on your newer tracks and sound?
It was amazing – it was the first time that I got to showcase my new sound at a such a huge stage in front of so many people. The response was so great from the beginning, I loved it so much and I’m looking forward to 2015!

3. I want to talk about your musical vision and direction at the moment. You started off in hardcore and moved your sound over to jump/tek and now you are heading towards hardstyle. Can you describe your musical journey a little further and describe the moves?
I love to do what I love at the moment. Firstly, I played at Thunderdome in 2004, 2005 and 2006! A few years ago I began playing in Belgium a lot and the Belgian sound really spoke to me and I got into tek/jump. About one year ago, I began feeling very demotivated and I wasn’t very inspired anymore so I began searching for a new kind of sound. I’ve always loved the sounds of TNT, Crystal lake and Headhunterz so I thought “Let’s combine that with my sound” and here I am!

4. Are you hoping that more artists go down that path and experiment a little more?
Yeah definitely, there are some artists who are coming over to this side in the next year. Isaac is beginning to experiment a bit, TNT and also Wildstylez are already playing around with the sound and different influences.

5. You released some amazing tracks not only on Dirty Workz but also on Hard With style, how did these releases come about and how did you decide to release them on HWS?
I got in contact with Crystal Lake who are Hard With Style artists and when we finished the collaboration together, we decided that the natural route to release was on Hard With Style. I also think that the style of music I make really suits the label very well. I think next year I’ll release more on there as well as on Dirty Workz of course! It’s nice to have the freedom to move around.

6. Coming back to Crystal Lake, how was it working with them in the studio?
Well, they’re based in Israel so we did the collab online. There was a lot of sending back and forth but it was fun, they’re cool guys and very talented!

7. What other artists are you hoping to work with in the future and why?
I have a collab planned with TNT which I’m very excited about. There’s some other collabs that I cannot talk about just yet but I’d really love to work with Headhunterz in the studio as he’s open minded. I want to work with open minded artists.

8. I also saw that you are working on a remix for Da Tweekaz “Break The Spell,” what can we expect to hear from that one?
That’s a difficult one because I’m really struggling with it actually! I love the original and I really want the remix to be perfect but I’m hoping to have it finished this month!

9. Just coming back to your old ‘Tek’ roots, are you hoping for hardstyle and tek scenes to come closer together?
To be honest, I don’t hope that Tek combines with Hardstyle. I am pretty much finished with the tek sound and I feel as though it would combine with freestyle sounds, such as trap. I hope that the hard EDM that I make as well as artists such as Crystal Lake and Phrantic combines with the mainstream hardstyle – but who can predict the future!

10. What is one country that you are dying to play in?
I’d really like to go to Australia and the United States for sure!

11. What did you eat for breakfast?
I ate a toasti!

Thanks for chatting with me Dr. Rude! We cannot wait to hear what you come up with in 2015, including those killer collabs! It’s nice to see some versatility and style back in hardstyle and we are hoping the very best for your career! Also, a huge thanks to Dirty Workz for coming down and showcasing their label at the Hardstyle 2000 countdown!