20 Apr 2017 
Posted by Nicki Ranger
‘Hardcore ‘Til I Die’: Midnight Mafia 2017 Presents – Hixxy & Dougal!
On Saturday 13th May this year, Sydney Showgrounds will once again welcome the Midnight Mafia! The creators of Midnight Mafia, HSU Events, will bring together 15,000 dedicated hard dance fans under one roof to experience a phenomenal show starring some of the world’s greatest hard dance artists.
In keeping with the Midnight Mafia theme, each artist is assigned a mafia persona for the evening. Tonight, we meet The Loan Sharks – all the way from the UK to make sure you either dance or pay the price – Midnight Mafia presents: Hixxy and Dougal!
If you were one of the lucky punters to get your hands on a copy of Hixxy’s exclusive Hardcore ‘Til I Die (HTID) mix CD handed out at Knockout Circuz in December, you’ll have had a taste of what might be to come in Hixxy and Dougal’s back-to-back set at Midnight Mafia. New tracks “Let It Rain”, “Where Do We Go” and “Don’t Stop (Monody)” have all become new favourites among fans, along with Hixxy’s latest remix of N-Trance’s “Set You Free” – if Hixxy drops this remix at Midnight Mafia there will be 15,000 voices singing along!
Dougal’s renowned production partnership with Gammer has brought us some of the best known UK Hardcore tunes of all time, including most recently “Kryptonite”, “Shoulder Lock” and “Snakebite” to name but a few. Dougal’s also recently been in the studio recently with Joey Riot, so it looks like Dougal just might be cooking up even more new music to share with us in time for Midnight Mafia!
Read on to learn more about Hixxy, Dougal and the legendary HTID but first see if you can spot our UK Hardcore heroes in the Midnight Mafia 2017 trailer:
If you ask almost any UK Hardcore artist about their own greatest influences and their gateway into the scene, they will without a doubt tell you about ‘DJ Hixxy’ and ‘the Bonkers CDs’. In fact they won’t stop there, they’ll tell you exactly which “Bonkers” CD they first listened to, who gave them the CD and the names of the tracks on that CD that turned their interest in the music into pure devotion. Hixxy and Dougal have been major players in the scene since the early days and have inspired a whole new generation of artists and fans.
Dougal started his music career as an eager fifteen year old and was soon a regular headliner at major events such as Dreamscape and Hardcore Heaven up and down the UK. Hixxy meanwhile was also starting to get himself noticed in the rave scene and it was not long before he released his first record, “People’s Party”. When Hixxy and Dougal became friends, they shared a similar vision in music and decided to realise this vision by founding the label Essential Platinum. The label started with huge tracks like “Toy Town” by Hixxy and Sharkey and from that moment onwards Essential Platinum was unstoppable.
With Happy Hardcore, as the music was still usually known, booming in popularity Hixxy started working on an idea for a compilation CD. “Bonkers”, mixed by Hixxy and Sharkey was the start of the album series that defined the genre and won the hearts of new fans all over the world. Dougal soon also became a regular member of the “Bonkers” series crew. Hands up if you owned a “Bonkers” CD before you were old enough to even think about going to a rave!
After a few years Hixxy and Dougal began to take different directions in music for a while, leading to Hixxy starting a new label, Raver Baby. Raver Baby became home to Breeze & Styles, Re-con, UFO and Technikore as well as being the label for some of Hixxy’s own biggest anthems including “Just Accept It” and “Sacrifice”. In Australia, the Raver Baby Crew tours in the mid-2000s are still some of the country’s most talked about rave events.
Around the same time, Dougal happened to meet a family friend who was just getting started in music production. Dougal happily took this talented youngster under his wing and they started to work together on some music – that young artist was Gammer and the pair went on to create countless tracks together including “Knight In Shining Armour”, “Trust In Me”, “Everytime I Hear Your Name” and many, many more, and are still producing music together today.
Hixxy meanwhile was not only achieving worldwide success with Raver Baby but also became one of the founders of the phenomenal HTID events. HTID is undoubtedly a name that defines the UK Hardcore movement.
The management of Australia’s HSU Events have always been huge UK Hardcore fans and now HSU Events has made the big move into becoming an international event company – by becoming the new owners of HTID!
HTID is more than just a brand name; it’s a way of life. ‘Hardcore ‘Til I Die’ is an oath of allegiance to UK Hardcore music and to rave culture – welcome to the family! HTID carries a proud legacy of events throughout the UK, from nightclubs through to action packed camping weekenders.
A decade ago, HTID took the rave vibes out to Spain to create HTID In The Sun; the ultimate party holiday. Presenting club nights, boat parties and a whole lot more in a beach holiday resort destination, HTID In The Sun became an annual event attracting ravers from all over the world, including Australia and New Zealand!
Now taking place in the famous party town of Magaluf, HTID In The Sun is the absolute mecca for UK Hardcore fans. With HSU Events now at the helm, this year’s event runs for 4 nights, from 7th to 10th June, and will be a whole new ‘In The Sun’ experience. Want to know more? Of course you do! Check out all the event details here: HTID In The Sun 2017 (HSU Events).
Hixxy and Dougal are both pumped to be returning to Australia in just a few weeks from now for Midnight Mafia – make sure you’re there at the front of the crowd to give them a big Sydney welcome!
Midnight Mafia 2017 takes place at The Halls, Sydney Showgrounds on Saturday 13th May, from 3pm ‘til midnight and as of today the event is now SOLD OUT online! There may be just a few hardcopy tickets still available from the HSU Events promotion team. Jump on to the official Facebook event page for all the event details: Midnight Mafia 2017 – HSU Official
Follow Hixxy and Dougal on social media, and be sure to also check out Hixxy’s set from Midnight Mafia 2015!
Follow Hixxy:
TWITTER | SOUNDCLOUD | FACEBOOK
Follow Dougal:
TWITTER | SOUNDCLOUD | FACEBOOK
