Radical Redemption talks about ‘The One Man Army,’ percussion & being individual!

On stage, Radical Redemption ruthlessly savages crowds with his powerful and unforgettable performances, but off-stage, the guy behind the act, Joey van Ingen is a down-to-Earth guy who has a deep-seeded passion for hard dance music and showcasing his vision. He’s notorious for not only being an absolute machine on-stage but also in the studio, where he cleverly folds many different elements, including percussion, with his signature hard and compelling sound.

After releasing two highly successful albums “Annihilate” and “The Spell Of Sin,” Joey hit it bigger than ever with the release of his third album “The One Man Army.” Containing everything from accessible sounds right up to 200BPM Hardcore, the album and overall concept has been a huge hit among the hard dance community, resulting in a sold-out event in the Heineken Music Hall earlier this month.

We just HAD to catch up with the Radical to speak about this killer album as well as his experiences on this big night, some insight into his productions and his individuality within the scene.

-Hi Joey! First of all, thanks a lot for this interview. How’s everything going for you today?
My day just started; I’m currently lying in my bed with my laptop on my lap, answering the first question of this interview and tonight I’m going to watch The Prodigy in the Ziggo Dome, just for your information!

– Let’s get down to business! Last weekend marked one of the most spectacular events of the year and also one of the biggest nights in your career. Can you give me a little recap of the “The One Man Army” event?
The One Man Army was the most awesome that I have ever witnessed in my whole career! Unequalled, I played with a huge smile on my face for the whole night, it was so sick. Everything from stage-diving to mosh-pits, it was just an amazing experience.
To celebrate my 25th birthday in September, I sold-out my own f*$#ing night at the infamous Heineken Music Hall; it just was the most amazing, legendary and unforgettable night of my life!

Words can’t explain how crazy it was; you just had to be there.

**One of the most incredible moments of the night – when Radical Redemption & Crypsis stage-dived!*

– On this night you also released your third album “The One Man Army,” how does it feel to have these three brilliant albums in your discography?
Well, when you are listening to the albums, it’s really a journey through time. “Annihilate” represents the real beginning and you can hear this in the production quality of the tracks.

Afterwards, comes “The Spell Of Sin” and you can hear my progress in the studio, the tracks sound considerably better than those on “Annihalate” and I also experimented a lot more.

Now, there is “The One Man Army” which is the album that I’m the most proud of. Production-wise, the tracks sound awesome and I used a lot of varying kicks throughout the album (people who say it’s only the same kick are ignorant and deaf). In “The One Man Army” I also produced my tracks that differ in BPM. 150, 153, 155, 158, 160 and also some Hardcore tracks that reach 170 and up to 200 beats per minute!
It’s the most diverse album I did and I’m unbelievably proud of it.

**Beast of a track alongside hardcore heavyweights Destructive Tendencies**

-Can you tell me the whole story and inspiration behind the “One Man Army” theme and concept?
Well, it means two things. It’s a combination of, ‘one man’ and ‘army,’ obviously. Just over four years ago, I started as just one man; I came into the scene as a new kid and barely any of my colleagues really liked or supported my music (except for the Minus is More crew). When I started I got a lot of negative comments about the music that I produced, not directly to my face, but behind my back which actually still happens (just tell me to my face! :)) Regardless of what people said, I really believed in what I was doing, which is what gave me extra motivation – so I stuck to it. Let’s just be clear, I produce my music for myself and for no-one else.

After four years of doing what I felt was best and after releasing “The Spell Of Sin” and working on “The One Man Army,” I built-up an unbelievable army of dedicated Radicals backing me up; these people had Radical flags, shirts, tattoos, cars – it was just insane!
I started as ‘One Man’ and now I’ve got a whole ‘Army!’ Resulting in: ‘The One Man Army’.

-How long has the complete album been in the making?
The first production from “The One Man Army” was “Piece of Shit,” which was started in November, 2014 and was finished it the day before Qlimax. I showed it to Crypsis and he was like “that’s an awesome track, I’m going to play it tomorrow.”

-I want to talk about one particular track of yours “Die Bitch,” which has become one of the biggest hits from the album and is one of our personal favourites! Is there some kind of story behind it?
A friend of mine was watching this documentary about a festival in the United States and he sent me an e-mail saying “Yo Joey, watch this! There is this guy rapping at 14.54; check it out, it could be an awesome sample!”
In the video, there’s this guy doing a freestyle rap and ending a rhyme with ‘Die Bitch!’. I was like, yeah, that’s awesome stuff, so I sampled it and used it in my track. I’ve still got the rest of the rap which I’ll surely use in the future. That’s the story of “Die Bitch.”

– How has the overall response been on ‘The One Man Army?’
The overall response has been really overwhelming. The whole road towards the album being released was one big smile for me.

– Something I’ve noticed in a lot of your tracks is the clever use of percussion; does your past career as a drummer have anything to do with that?
Yeah, my inner drummer is still taking the overhand in a lot of my productions. I use a lot of drumbeats, percussion, hi-hat loops, drum n’ bass wobbles and snares. Clever use of percussion can make a track come alive and you can also add a lot of drive by using the right amount of percussion. For me, it is one of the most important things in my productions. Like we say in Holland, “It’s the cherry on top of the cake!”

– Do you still find time to use your drum kit? And do you still enjoy drumming?
Actually, I’m now looking at it as I write this! I still enjoy the occasional drum session, especially when I need to let out some energy. Let’s hear the drummer get wicked, haha! No, I still really love to play the drums and it’s also part of my life. Everything I do during the day, I hear rhythm everywhere. I can make a beat out of my car making a funny noise or whatever – it’s one of the things you have when you are a drummer!

– On “The One Man Army” you’ve collaborated with quite a few hardcore artists, how come you decided to break down that genre barrier of hardstyle and hardcore?
Well, the beautiful thing about an album is that you can do whatever you want and even more! For me, listening to an album is like a ‘journey’; you start quite relaxed, but at the end you want to go out with a bang. As I already said, I make music for myself and I really like hardcore, so why not produce some hardcore tracks to close the album with and collaborate with the biggest names in the hardcore scene?

– You have quite a strong persona in the hardstyle scene, how did you build this brand?
By just doing what I think is best.

When I signed with Minus Is More, they asked me, what do you want to do? I answered; I want to make an album. So I did. I wanted to put my music out there and be like, here you go, ‘Radical Redemption – Annihilate.’ Hate it or love it, but this is what I stand for.
When I started a live-act, I really wanted to do something different. Not just standing there with a laptop and controller like everyone else. I repeat, something different and something that the audience instantly notices and that’s when I came up with the idea of the suit.

New album coming? Let’s make an awesome trailer. Working in albums is also something I truly believe in. An album gives you the opportunity to build up to a certain point and after releasing the album you can do an album-tour which really get the fans involved.
Basically, you always need to be 3 steps ahead and always take matter into your own hands. Be first, not second. Dare to think big, regardless of people say. And most importantly, stay true to yourself.

– For two consecutive years you’ve been voted in the DJ Mag Top 100, how does it feel that you have been placed in that list among some of the biggest names in dance music?
For me, it’s something I’m incredibly proud of. In many foreign countries the DJ Mag has a certain value; for example, for my upcoming world-tour I’ll perform in countries like Chile, India, The United States, which is something I could only dream about 2-3 years ago. It’s very useful to be in the DJ Mag and I’m also insanely proud to be part of the best 100 DJ’s among the world!

– Your performances are among some of the most engaging and captivating in hard dance – for you, what’s the importance of not only playing music but entertaining the crowd?
As a member of the crowd, why would you nuts if the DJ is standing behind the decks like a sack of potatoes? Besides, I can’t think of a better job than mine; I produce the music I like, I play the music I like – I couldn’t even stand still if I wanted to! It’s just something that happens automatically, I lose myself when I’m playing. I’m also used to the consequences of going wild like that; when you open my DJ bag, you’ll see a towel, deodorant, 2 or 3 fresh t-shirts and an extra cap. I’m always prepared, haha!

– In your opinion, why do you think that you broke through so quickly?
I think it’s a combination of aspects. I came into the scene with a harder sound around the time when hardstyle started to shift towards the ‘housey’ stuff.

Obviously you have to make tracks that the audience seem to dig, but most of all you need to stay true to yourself. Don’t be one of the assholes that start to think: I’m a popular DJ now, I don’t want to do this or that anymore. I don’t want to take pictures with my fans anymore. I don’t want to pee in a toilet without golden handles anymore, or whatever.

Always remember that time you were sitting in your attic or your bedroom making music because that’s what you loved to do and because it was (and still is) your hobby.

Saying this, you have to have your fair share of luck, that’s for sure!

**Radical Redemption with some dedicated fans @ Masters Of Hardcore**

– What are your honest opinions on the current state of hardstyle and the music being released nowadays?
Well, I’ve read some interviews by colleagues who complain about the music not being ‘diverse’ enough and personally I feel as though hardstyle is getting more and more diverse. You can listen to housey hardstyle tracks, real rough hardstyle tracks and everything in between. You can find a range of music from 148BPM to 158BPM and you can switch from Isaac to Crypsis and from Noisecontrollers to Regain.
I think everyone should stick to their own thing. If you’re certain that you’re not producing the same stuff for the last 4 years, then you can make a statement that the music isn’t diverse enough, but if you’re contributing to this so-called ‘problem,’ then fix your own shit first before you talk about others!
Four years ago I came to the decision to not focus on others, but only on myself.

– What was the most difficult track to produce on ‘The One Man Army’ and why?
Hmm… I wouldn’t call it the most difficult, but the most challenging track was “Piece of Shit.” It’s the first track of the album and the first track in which I used my new sounds and new kicks. It also contains a big, epic melody with lots of orchestral parts. When producing the track, it took me a while to figure everything out and make it sound the way I wanted it to sound.

– Just out of curiosity, what happens when you fuck with the Radical?
Well, you wouldn’t know, that’s for sure.

– Can you tell me a little bit more about the Angerfist & Radical Redemption world tour?
As you may or may not know, Danny just finished his album “Raise & Revolt.” We are both planning a world-tour and this turned out as a win-win situation. I can go to places where they would normally only book Angerfist and vice-versa. By combining forces, you can widen your audience and make them familiar with the hardstyle and hardcore sound.

– Finally, what did you eat for breakfast today?
Nothing yet! After this sentence I’m going downstairs to make myself some hard boiled eggs and bacon!

That sounds like an amazing breakfast! Huge thanks to Joey for chatting with us and also again, a big congrats on releasing your third album – we hope that there’s many more to come in your career! For those who haven’t checked out “The One Man Army” yet, it’s available for purchase and streaming on various portals so we recommend you jump on it and get listening now!