Pounding kicks and in your face Industrial! – Picking the brains of Dither

It’s always been said that hard work pays off, and Dither is living proof that it does. From playing in small local clubs, to being an independent artist without a booking agency or a record label for a long time, Dither eventually ended up signing at The Third Movement record label and Concrete Agency.

After this, Dither was on a path to success, with multiple gigs at big festivals like Defqon.1, Dominator and Thunderdome.

In honour of his new track, ‘The Big Bang,’ we decided to catch up with Dither in order to get to know a little bit more about him.

– Hi Dither! Welcome to Alive at Night. How is the Festival season treating you so far?
Hi! I’m doing great, thanks! The festival season is treating me well, although I have fewer bookings than last year. This might be due to the fact that Industrial Hardcore has lost a bit of its popularity at the big festivals… However, with that said, I did have some pretty awesome gigs this season; I played at Hardshock and Defqon.1 (for the fifth year in a row), which was awesome. This years’ Silver stage at Defqon.1 was located at a very intimate spot; I could feel the vibe from the audience to the fullest.

I also had an international booking in Portugal last weekend at Whipe Out Open Air. I was the closing act on the festival’s final day, and of course, I professionally wrecked the stage! The crowd was so dedicated; even from my playing time of 7AM – 8AM the area was still packed. What a great experience that was!

– So, time to get down to business. We have known each other for quite some time now, but for those who don’t know you yet, can you tell us a little bit about your history as an artist?
Well, let’s see… I am 29 years old now, and my first gig was when I was 15 years old. It was in Groningen, which is the city I grew up in. I started out with what I think was my first alias, Fraction. I might have had another alias far back in the days, but I can’t remember, so let’s just say that Fraction was my first real alias.

I fell madly in love with Hardcore and started mixing with vinyl records; before I knew it, I had my first booking at an illegal rave called Ear Fuckers, in a very small village near Groningen. My gig was at 8 in the morning, so it was really late for a young man like myself. I set an alarm, so I could catch some sleep before the gig, haha.

Back in the days, the borders between different styles of Hardcore were not really defined and present yet, so I was mainly playing millennium and mainstream Hardcore. After that, I moved over to the ‘dark side’ of Hardcore, and with a new style I needed a new name – so in came Dither.

After that, I produced  and released my own album all by myself and dropped it off at a record store in Groningen, so people could take it for free. I got a lot of positive feedback on this and in return, it got me in touch with a lot of different individuals in the local Hardcore scene. Eventually, this led to more and more bookings!

– Can you tell us about your first big gig ever?
When I got my first big booking, I was still active as Fraction. My room-mate at the time, who was also a DJ, got asked by Art of Dance if he wanted to play at Dominator and he asked me if I wanted to come along. Of course I said yes – it felt like a dream come true! He helped me out a lot in my career during those times.

At the time I played at Dominator, the festival was still travelling from city to city; this time, it was held in Groningen. I lived very close by, so I could hear the music starting. I was wrapped in nerves to the point where I couldn’t even eat and didn’t want to speak to anyone.

We had a great set time, from 5PM until 6PM and the area was completely packed. There were so many people I knew who came over to support me and that was such an amazing feeling. I remember opening the set with one of my own tracks and the crowd went completely nuts. It was simply amazeballz. There might still be some footage of this on YouTube, but I don’t think the quality is that good, considering the quality off camera-phones back then, lol…

– So, you eventually signed with The Third Movement and Concrete Agency. How did that all happen for you?
In 2010, I decided to change my style; therefore, launching myself under the alias Dither. By 2011, my work was supported by bigger names like Igneon System and all of a sudden my tracks were played at PRSPCT, and it all went so fast from there on. I began getting booked abroad and more established DJ’s became familiar with my work as a producer. In 2012 I got several big festival bookings, including my second gig at Dominator. From there on I began receiving a lot of offers from big labels that support the Industrial scene. One of them was The Third Movement.

At that time however, I didn’t want to commit to a record label or booking agency; I preferred to remain an independent artist who took care of his own bookings and productions. For me, it was really important to maintain control over my own process and developments as an artist. A few years later, however, I referred back to this decision, because it’s very difficult to manage everything yourself. I really wanted to go to the next level and I discovered that having a high quality record label could help me develop.

I got to know Promo because of two friends of mine who practically stalked him, in aim to book me for one of his parties. Eventually, he gave in and I was invited to play at Club r_AW. I brought an entire party bus full of friends from Groningen and they went insane for my entire set. The other people in the crowd didn’t know what was happening to them. All of this madness combined got Promo’s attention and a few years later I signed to The Third Movement.

From here on, I decided to step up and prove to the Industrial scene that I was here to stay and was dedicated to making Hardcore music. Because of this, I got to know so many artists who I looked up to; I had the opportunity to work with artists like The Outside Agency, Mindustries, Igneon System, N-Vitral and more. Of course, now that I know them, I think they’re complete cunts, haha.

– You also hosted a party at Paradigm Groningen called “Convoi Exceptionnel”, filled with great names like The Outside Agency and Promo. Now that the old location has closed, the hosting of this party was supposed to come to an end. That was until we discovered that you’re hosting a Convoi area at Paradigm Festival in August. Can you tell us a bit more about this?
Together with one my close friends, Tom, I decided to make an out-of-the-box concept for Paradigm, in the form of an underground Techno Club. The concept was called Convoi Exceptionnel, which kept the Industrial theme in mind. We received such an amazing response and people from all over Europe were coming over to this small underground party. However, Paradigm decided to move to a new location, which made the future of Convoi Exceptionnel a little uncertain. We loved the combination of the location and the Industrial music, so we decided to put any plans on hold for the time being.

However, Paradigm asked us to host an area at their annual festival this year, together with Break-Fast Groningen, which is a Drum’n’Bass concept. Of course, it was an instant yes and we got to work! We put up an amazing mixed line-up that starts with at least two hours of Dark-, Hard and Industrial Techno, followed by an exclusive performance of Ophidian as Raziel and a big closing by myself. I’ll ensure that together with the crowd, I’ll demolish the Convoi area… I’m so excited for this!

I’ve always loved Paradigm Festival; the open and creative concept is simply amazing. With this stage, we hope to attract people that love Hardcore to the festival, as well as introduce Techno fans to Hardcore. We really want to break some barriers here.

– What are the other festivals or indoor parties where you will professionally tear the stage down?
First of all, I’m playing at Ground Zero and Ghosttown. Aside from those, I’m also proud to perform at Thunderdome for the second time. I started out at this party as a visitor; this was my first big event that I went to. I played at Thunderdome – The Final Exam in 2012, and now I will be playing there again. In my eyes, this really means something, coming from the Hardcore scene. There will be a lot more gigs in the future, but for now I am not allowed to say anything about it yet. So the best thing to do is just to keep an eye on my social media pages.

– What is the biggest inspiration for you and your productions?
My biggest inspiration is my drive to keep improving and expanding my horizons. I always like to remain challenged; if there is no challenge, then there’s no motivation.

I also listen to a lot of different artists and derive elements I like from their music. N-Vitral is a huge inspiration to me, but I also learn a lot from artists like The Outside Agency and even Warface or Radical Redemption. For me, making music is not only about exploring one style within Hard Dance music; I’m inspired by and will play any type of music I enjoy.

The name attached to certain genres or sub-genres doesn’t matter to me; as long as the kicks are hard, the tempo is fast and there’s a certain in-your-face vibe. At the end of the day, it’s difficult for me to even label my own style – perhaps I’d call it ‘accessible Industrial.’ It’s like mainstream Hardcore, but with an Industrial kick and minimal melodies.

– Industrial Hardcore and other darker styles of Hardcore have risen out of the depths of the underground. What are your thoughts on the developments in the Hardcore scene?
It’s a good thing to see that more large festivals are exploring these ‘underground’ genres. However, in my opinion, Industrial Hardcore is losing its popularity. I love to take part in this movement. Lately, you can see that the Industrial stages are getting smaller and Uptempo is taking over. The Industrial stage at Decibel used to be pretty big, but now they moved it back to woods. I do have to admit that this area fits the Industrial concept though. I also hope that Industrial keeps on developing, and that it will reach an even bigger audience and regain a lot of its popularity.

This is also why I love Hardcore as a whole. No matter what happens, Hardcore always slips through the cracks by evolving itself. It never really loses popularity.

– Can you tell us a little more about what the Industrial-heads are like?
They are very die-hard and I love that – they go all-out on the dance-floor. My fans are from all over Europe, but the Dutch comprise the biggest portion of my fan base. I like to connect with my fans and receive feedback from them; this open communication is something I really appreciate.

However, I do notice that there’s a separate line between fans from my ‘old style’ and my new style. Some might say that they don’t like the new direction that I’m heading in, and that I should stick to my older style. However, my goal is to develop as an artist and the only way I can do that is by exploring new things within Hardcore.

– So you recently released “The Big Bang”, a new track with some killer kicks and that signature mechanical sound. Aside from that, what else are you working on?
I am working on a lot things right now. First up, there’s a remix in the works for an EDM label and I also have a few collaborations coming up with artists like The Outside Agency and Mindustries. Besides these tracks, I also finished a remix for Unexist’s track “Attack.”

And as always, I am busy working on producing for myself. There’s a lot of tracks waiting to be released in the future – I am nowhere near done!

– And finally, we always ask the most important question at the end. What did you eat for breakfast today?
I had a cup of tea and two sandwiches. I ate one with sliced chicken and one with cucumber and slices of cheese. I love tea and Dutch bread. A cheese sandwich is my favourite food in the whole world. Sometimes I will even go as far as eating dinner, and then having a cheese sandwich as dessert. I really think it’s the bomb!

A big shout out to Dither for taking the time for this interview! We are all so curious to see which paths he will choose next, and interested to see how he will keep developing himself as an artist. We wish Dither the best of luck with his upcoming performances and tracks!

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