House Going Hardstyle? – Thoughts about the rising ‘outside attention’ to Hard Dance.

I’m just going to come out and say it; over the past five years we’ve lost a lot of Hardstyle legends to the big, bad commercial whirlwind of EDM. First it was Showtek; the duo swiftly exited the Hardstyle scene quicker than my mum could recite the lyrics of “FTS” and began their triumphant journey down the avenue of *buh-buhhhhhmmm* big-room house… It soon became the case that artists had either become more open with their experimental tracks or fans simply put them under more scrutiny for branching out. Then, suddenly, quicker than ‘you see colours,’ Headhunterz up and left, just like that.

You see, it’s always been this way; we lose our legends to mainstream EDM, a movement that quite few of us don’t quite understand, nor appreciate. Despite the fact that the production of Hardstyle is immensely complex and is (along with Drum & Bass) the most difficult style of electronic music to execute, the genre lacks in its appreciation that it generates from the mainstream public. The harder styles of dance music have always been a bit of an ‘underdog’ amongst society and outsiders to the movement hold a brain full of misconceptions when it comes to the music, the community and the all-round idea. However, in the past year or so, it’s come to my attention that there has been some kind of ‘new-found’ appreciation for Hard Dance music, specifically the accessible sounds of Hardstyle.

Remix, bro?

For quite a few years, remixes have been the thing as guys like Frontliner, Sephyx, Psyko Punkz, Wildstylez, Isaac and Audiotricz have spun their own flavour on prominent EDM tracks, scoring official releases on some of the biggest labels in dance music. The rise of these remixes caused quite some growing pains amongst die-hard fans, but many others celebrated the fact that outsiders were realising Hardstyle as a force to be reckoned with. These remixes weren’t necessarily more ‘accessible’ or ‘softer’ than the average hardstyle track. For example, Frontliner’s remix of Armin van Buuren’s “Shivers” was and still is one of his most phenomenal works, Headhunterz’ remix of Hardwell’s “Spaceman” is my guilty pleasure and of course, Zatox wasn’t holding back one bit when he remixed “Wakanda.” Come to think of it, many of us can probably agree that the collection of Hardstyle remixes are a hell of a lot better than the original; but hey, that’s coming from a brain that begins functioning at 150BPM.

Another regular offender who manages to make house music concepts sound amazing at 170BPM is UK Hardcore legends Darren Styles. He’s created some colossal remixes for “Lights & Thunder” by Gareth Emery and Krewella, “Beneath The Lights” by Molly and most recently alongside his partner-in-crime Gammer, the pair were given the honour to cook up a massive remix of Porter Robinson’s “Sad Machine.” They had the chance to showcase the UK Hardcore sound to the world and man, Gammer and Styles grabbed this opportunity by the balls and blew listeners out of the water! In reverse to the usual ‘house gone hardstyle’ scenario, trap-queen Mija recently added her own spin onto Darren Styles’ all-time hit “Come Running,” which was quite different to what anyone was expecting. The fact that Mija took special interest in remixing a hard dance track really says it all…

With all of these official remixes floating around, it’s evident that the harder styles are having their chance to shine amongst other genres. Artists from other genres are also well aware of the sound and movement behind it which leads me to point out specific artists who have been showing a rather special interest in the sound by playing 150BPM loud and proud on various mainstages.

Dominating mainstages

As many of you have already noticed, last weekend Hardstyle made quite a few cheeky appearances throughout the prominent EDM festival Ultra in The United States. Artists such as Carnage, Hardwell, DVBBS and Dash Berlin amongst others surprised visitors by spicing up their sets with Hardstyle tracks and judging by the crowd’s reaction in videos posted online, it’s a fact that some partygoers loved it and some simply didn’t know they felt about the shifting BPM.

Last weekend wasn’t the first time that the harder styles were represented on a mainstage scale; there are plenty of other events that are graced with the occasional Hardstyle track, however the sheer amount played at UMF was astonishing.

Hardwell having a go

Aside from Hardstyle being represented on some of the biggest stages in the world, specific artists have also taken a liking to the genre to the point where they are adamant on giving the production side a go. One name that instantly comes to mind is Hardwell; this Dutch EDM superstar and former #1 DJ in the world has not only spent time in the studio with Atmozfears but has also taken a shot at creating his own solo track. With Hardstyle sporting one of the most protective fan-bases in the dance music world, it was nice to see that fans reacted so positively to Hardwell’s new interest, commending him for having a go and connecting with the artists in the scene.

Personally, I must admit that I feel that protective spark hit whenever an artist drops Hardstyle on a mainstage or takes a special interest in it. I mean, the genre is open for everybody to enjoy and play, but the one thing that I can’t stand is when outside artists suddenly think that they’re all ‘hardcore’ or a top-dog for playing Hardstyle without actually getting to know the ins and outs of the genre. However, in terms of Hardwell, I have a lot of respect for the attempt that he’s making; he didn’t just storm into the scene thinking “I’m the fucking boss and will dominate,” he took the time to get to know artists, get to know concepts and actually respect the production process – so big ups to Hardwell for that!

Pros & Cons

As I’d like to round up this article with a smile and burst of positivity, I’m going to start off with my pet-peeves when it comes to ‘outside attention’ to the harder styles. First of all, only a tiny flashlight is shed on the harder styles; never have I once seen an artist dropping a raw Hardstyle track or even a Hardcore track; it’s a fact that outsiders have little to no knowledge about the ‘rougher’ sounds in our genre. I mean, it would be pretty fucking epic if a Radical Redemption track was belted out on a mainstage! I can only imagine the shock and horror of the crowd; the sheer amount of kickrolls would absolutely annihilate the area!

Another one of my biggest worries is the ‘commercialisation’ of Hardstyle. Sure, growth is great and will create a bigger, more diverse market; however saying that, one thing that’s extremely special is how niche the scene is. Fans and artists are close with each other and I would hate it if that ever changed. This is probably the biggest concern that fans have; none of us want a bunch of dickheads storming into the scene that we’ve spent years building up and suddenly slap some commercial-ass profitable shit on there and eventually ruin everything we’ve worked towards.

Finally, the standard of production in the harder styles is extremely high compared to mainstream house music and not to mention, there’s also a certain level of respect that comes with producing your own music. The quality needs to remain high in the harder styles, therefore we don’t need random EDM producers who are used to crafting basic tunes to suddenly attempt Hardstyle – it will bring down the overall quality.

However, with the negative always comes a silver-lining of positivity. Personally, I feel as though the harder styles will always a niche movement due to the high BPM’s and sheer fact that the intensity isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Come to think of it, it’s highly unlikely that Hardstyle will follow the same path as Dubstep or mainstream house. The extreme sounds of raw Hardstyle, Hardcore, uptempo and Frenchcore add that underground touch to the movement, making hard dance music a collection of music that’s not for everyone (which is totally fine by me).

Collectively, the growth of Hard Dance music has been positive in the sense that previous misconceptions that outsiders have start to diminish. Once the tracks are played out loud on mainstages, party-goers can immerse themselves in the full harder styles experience which subsequently makes them realise that the music itself and the scene behind it is crafted with love and passion…

All in all, there’s good and bad that comes with the recent spark of interest in Hard Dance music, however let’s now take it to our readers! What do you all think about the rising popularity of the harder styles? Do you like the growth or do you prefer the movement to stay in the underground? Let us know in the comments below!