Nightbreed Records – Pioneering in nurturing up and coming talent!

Although it’s been two years since super-trio Endymion launched their game-changing record label Nightbreed, the continuous spray of freshness delivered from this platform is still highly evident amongst the scene. Going on to conquer a remarkable position in the industry, Nightbreed Records has not only become a renowned platform for sophisticated and creative raw Hardstyle, but has also become home to a handful of promising up and comers.

When Nightbreed opened their doors in 2015, their roster consisted of Endymion, High Voltage and Bass Chaserz, however over the course of two years they’ve recruited an unstoppable team of artists including Degos & Re-Done, MYST, Break Zero and most recently, Crystal Mad.

Something rather unique about this musical platform is that head honchos Endymion go above and beyond to guide and assist the next generation in more ways than one. When we spoke to Nightbreed’s AR manager Bart Revier, he made an interesting statement regarding the importance of guiding upcoming artists, ensuring they’re on the right path to success.

“Nurturing upcoming talent is extremely important. We (Endymion) hold many years of studio experience, so we feel as though it’s our duty to pass this on to the next generation. This is the very reason why we started Nightbreed Records in the first place – to help nurture the talent of these emerging artists. The good thing about the ‘Raw’ Hardstyle scene is the amount of producers that we have; however I do wish that more of them had proper guidance, so their production quality would be higher. With that being said, we cannot ‘give’ them talent, as that’s not something you can hand to someone on a silver platter. Conversely what we can do is help them develop the natural set of skills they already have.”

We’ve watched numerous Nightbreed-signed artists climb to achieve their musical pinnacle. With the proof laying in the remarkable quality portrayed in their most recent releases, the careers of Bass Chaserz, MYST, Break Zero and Degos & Re-Done have all vastly improved.

The wolfpack expands!

With an unstoppable rota of talented producers, the Nightbreed wolfpack has recently expanded, opening their arms to the foreign weapon Crystal Mad. Hailing from Plymouth, England, 27 year old Matt Radley has broken into Dutch territory, scoring his place amongst the Nightbreed records kinfolk.

“When Nightbreed started back in 2015 I was instantly caught by the sound of the label and its artists. They released bomb after bomb and within six months I thought, ‘yeah, this label is something I want to aim for.’ As a fan, it was truly exciting to watch this young label flourish so quickly in such an organic way.”

Matt goes on to excitedly state “It was something I really wanted to be a part of and when they gave me the opportunity to sign with them I jumped at the chance!”

After getting in touch with Nightbreed by sending one of his tracks to their demo box, Matt received a response stating that they liked the track and also requesting him to send more of his material.

“The funny thing is that I sent them that track on the first day of my three week holiday in South Africa. All of my other music was on my studio computer back in the UK, so needless to say the entire time I was on holiday all I wanted to do was get back home so I could finish off the new tracks and send them over! Once I arrived home I eventually finished the two tracks and thankfully the guys really liked them and asked how I felt about joining the Nightbreed Records team. When I read that e-mail I kinda started jumping around my studio like a crazy person, haha!”

The ins and outs of Crystal Mad!

“No other genre has ever influenced me the way that Hardstyle has” states Matt.

It’s evident that although he grew up outside of the Dutch Hardstyle ‘sphere,’ he still clutches an undeniable connection with the genre. For Crystal Mad, the perfect track tells a story in an emotionally-raw way, allowing the listener to not only dance, but close their eyes and lose themselves. This is something he aims to achieve within his productions.

“I try to produce something that goes beyond the kick and the screech. Obviously both of those elements are extremely important, however I often find that they are the easiest components to create. It’s the finer details that are difficult and it’s these details that make a good track great or a great track timeless…”

Born and raised in the United Kingdom, Matt battles the slight logistic disadvantage that many ‘foreign’ artists face; however, on the flipside, signing to a Dutch label was a massive leap in the right direction.On the home-front, Matt raises some interesting points about the Hardstyle scene in the UK:

“Personally, I don’t think that the Hardstyle scene in the UK is as big as it was five years ago, however I do think it’s gaining a lot of momentum in places like Wales and Scotland. With regards to the raw sound, from my experience, the UK has a larger demand for reverse bass with pockets of raw Hardstyle. Promoters are also beginning to book more raw names, so hopefully this will mark the beginning of new growth over here.”

Although signing to Nightbreed was a dream come to true for Matt, he revealed that he’s aware that this is only the beginning and that there’s a long way to go. Channelling his energy towards developing his tunes, Crystal Mad’s current strategy is to stay in the studio, focus on producing music and not worrying too much about the future.

If there’s something we’ve seen in 2015 and 2016, it’s the emergence of numerous fresh faces, particularly on the ‘raw’ spectrum. This not only calls for more diversity, but also makes the scene quite competitive as artists attempting to break through and make their mark are required to create something truly unique.

When asked about Crystal Mad’s uniqueness, AR manager Bart stated: “Crystal Mad’s sound is so different from the rest of the Nightbreed crew, but in my opinion, he is a perfect fit. The cool thing about him is that his tracks are not focussed on being that hard and his sound reminds me of older Hardstyle, with modern technique. He’s definitely one to watch!”

What’s next for Crystal Mad?!

With the announcement surfacing the net earlier in January, Crystal Mad is settling in to the Nightbreed clan perfectly. With two previews out and available for listening, “Nu Skool Bangs” and “The Shadows” were released as a debut EP on the 31^st of January on Nightbreed Records.

“The titled track ‘Nu Skool Bangs’ is kind of a personal reference to how we can never forget our roots in Hardstyle, but to also acknowledge how much the genre has evolved over the years. The second track ‘The Shadows’ embodies a darker twist, but still contains as much drive and musicality. I’m really pleased with how both tracks have been received thus far and I hope that everybody likes them!”

Going on to state that he’s been working like a mad-man in the studio, Matt also revealed that he recently completed a bootleg of The Prodigy’s hit-track “Omen,” which is available on his Soundcloud channel. So far this one has generated an abundance of positivity, so be sure to check it out!

Modern ‘talent’ in retrospect

Did you know that on average, Nightbreed Records receive between twenty to forty demo tracks per month?!

With a goal to reply to each demo they receive, AR manager Bart states that “If people take the time to send us music, then they deserve our time as well.”

Many label AR’s run into some great tracks with a lot of potential, however the technical quality may not be quite on par with the label’s standard.

“If it’s an entry from someone in our demo-box, we usually provide feedback on what we think needs improvement, or what we’d like to see more of. Most of the time we’re looking for both a good set of technical skills and a good amount of creativity, so if any of that is missing, we advise them to take another look at the project (sometimes specific parts of the track) and review what can be improved. Most of the feedback we give is related to the kick, as it seems like most producers heavily focus on this.”

With artists already signed to Nightbreed, Bart adopts a more in-depth review process. Being continuously in touch with the guys, whenever a new demo is ready, it gets carefully analysed in Endymion’s studio. Bart is able to give them structural and in-depth feedback on the track, which is then used to improve the demo and thus gain the best possible outcome from the project.

As a label, Nightbreed truly cares about their artists and has intent to watch them thrive. Not only focussing on maintaining the label’s high quality, but Nightbreed also invest a lot of time into ensuring that their signed artists are equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to develop and improve independently.

“We assist our crew a lot to get their tracks on a proper technical level. The more they learn during a project, the quicker they’ll have a follow-up tune on the same level of quality. The younger guys on the label need this support a little more, since they’re still eager to learn, however the more seasoned producers know the ropes by now, and whenever they send us a demo it’s almost 100% perfect!”

Another beneficial contribution that Bart offers to his artists is his vast knowledge of arrangements. Stating that he sometimes cuts up and re-arranges a demo, he shows the artist how he would personally create the track, therefore opening up the producer to a fresh perspective of his/her project.

“Of course they still have complete creative freedom to create the track however they want, but it’s important to show artists an array of possibilities that they can explore. All in all, it’s a good back-and-forth communication we have with our artists and in the end both sides are always 100% content with the tracks we release.”

Nightbreed’s position in RAW

One important value that Nightbreed holds is that each and every artist on the label displays a diverse, unique sound, yet encompasses the common ambience of the label and top-tier musicality.

When Crystal Mad was asked to weigh in about the label, he stated:

“What I love about all of the artists on Nightbreed is that we each have our own distinct sound, which I feel is really important. There needs to be diversity, otherwise things become repetitive and yet, we still all have that Nightbreed ‘feeling’ in our music.”

When listening to the music released on Nightbreed, you’ll evidently hear that it’s hard, tough music that retains a distinctive spark and experimental edge. With Bart affirming that they try to encourage their artists to stick to their sound and continue innovating, he goes on to state: “it’s still hard music, but it also has the feels!”

With their big two-year anniversary coming up, Nightbreed Records have recently revealed their latest project in the works, titled ‘Running With The Wolves,’ which will mark the beginning of a brand new tour. German fans of the label can rejoice, as the debut of this tour will take place in Hamburg on May 6^th. Furthermore, fans can expect a solid release schedule with several floor-shaking bangers ready to drop in time for the festival season!

We’d like to thank Bart Revier and Crystal Mad for taking the time to catch up with us for this exclusive feature! We’d like to wish Matt all the best with his debut release and can’t wait to see what this year has in store for him. For those wanting to keep up to date on the happenings of Crystal Mad and Nightbreed Records, be sure to hit up the social media links below.

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