Raw Week Exclusive: Falling in love with raw hardstyle…

Hate it or love it, by the looks of things it seems as though raw hardstyle is here to stay. Notoriously renowned for being the ‘evil twin’ of accessible hardstyle and the mysterious, dark music that comes out the play towards the end of the night, raw music isn’t just about hard kicks and filthy screeches – it’s a love affair that millions of listeners worldwide have fallen head over heels into.

Traditionally and most commonly, new listeners within the harder styles start off listening to and enjoying accessible (melodic) hardstyle whilst their brains shift into the daily grind of 150BPM. After growing more comfortable listening to these energetic sounds, listeners tend to become curious about other sounds underneath the vast hardstyle umbrella and have a burning desire to explore the secrets of this wonderful genre. This exploration can occur from attending events, listening to podcasts or simply browsing through music streaming portals for hours on end which will eventually lead you to come across darker, rougher and harder sounds… From there, you are welcomed over to the dark side…

For many new listeners, it can be a little overwhelming to go from listening to a genre outside of hard dance to suddenly jumping head first into Warface’s discography – which is why proceeding to harder sounds is something that generally happens over time. One hundred percent of the time, falling in love with raw hardstyle isn’t a conscious decision – you don’t just rock up at an event and say “I’m going to watch Radical Redemption and I’m going to love every minute of it,” it’s something that takes you by surprise and that’s why it can be so special. This is why a lot of hardstyle listeners have preached that they fell in love with raw hardstyle at an event – it’s the full-package experience that comes along with the music that makes it that extra bit special.

 

My story:
For me, I am not going to lie when I say that I had (and still do) growing pains when it came to raw hardstyle. It took me a little while to realise that as hardstyle grows as a whole, the spectrum will expand and make room for many creative people, whether they make EDM/hardstyle crossovers or whether they make industrial influenced raw. Back when I first began listening to hardstyle, one way that allowed me to discover new music was by listening to various podcasts in which I would usually skip the harder tracks at the end – at that time I had come from listening to other genres of music and to be honest, raw hardstyle seemed a little overwhelming at the time. As I started to attend events a few harder, yet accessible tracks were dropped and artists like Ran-D, Gunz For Hire, Outbreak and Zatox were among my favourites. The energy in these harder tracks was insanely addictive and made little daily tasks more exciting.

However, it wasn’t until I moved over to The Netherlands in 2014 when I experienced raw hardstyle like never before; it was at the time where the ‘dying cat screeches’ were the big thing and artists’ creativity was lacking in certain departments. It was a little overwhelming to come from events back in Australia that had balanced line-ups to The Netherlands where events were focussed more on raw music so I was quite cynical for a while.

It wasn’t until this year (2015) when my preferences began to open up a little to the harder sounds – I started to really enjoy music from a handful of raw artists, mainly the guys who focus on high quality music such as Adaro, B-Front, Endymion, Crypsis, Phuture Noize and Digital Punk. At Knockout in March, 2015 when I witnessed B-Front vs. Radical Redemption it was like I had just stepped inside a whole new world. After that, I kept a close eye on the raw music that was being released and as euphoric hardstyle became more ‘hard-droppy’ and resembling big-room house I really began enjoying raw hardstyle that focuses on quality.

Nowadays I also love listening to the old ‘raw’ sound and as I am writing this I’m blasting Crypsis’ stellar album “Statement Of Intent.” However, it stops there for me. With all due respect to underground raw, but I will never be able to listen to a construction site tuned at 150BPM or a slowed down helicopter. I love melodies, storylines and emotion and kicks that are not too overwhelming, which is why my preferences lean towards accessible raw hardstyle.

So, that was my story; but what about the other hardstyle fans out there? Well, I took it to the public to find out how and why these dedicated music lovers fell in love with raw hardstyle.

“Last year when Radical Redemption closed the blue stage at Defqon.1 in Australia, my mind was blown! It was my first Defqon and it changed my life forever… I’d never been to a hard dance event before and since then I’ve never missed a major event!” – Zanzi Ribar (AUS)

“I was pretty much hooked on euphoric hardstyle until I experienced Minus Militia at Knockout Circus in Sydney last year. They absolutely slayed – I had goosebumps everywhere! The sound was so intense and had so much energy and ever since that night I have been pumping raw hardstyle at home, on my way to work and at the gym – I absolutely love it! I can’t wait for the blue stage at Defqon.1 Australia this year. Bring it on!” – Jose Martin Tionko (AUS)

“The moment where I fell in love with raw was when I saw Minus Militia live… I was sold! Since then I’ve been lucky enough to witness Radical Redemption live many times and every single time he delivers the goods! His presence on stage is out of this world and the whole crowd goes mental! Bring on Defqon.1 Australia, the blue stage is going to be next level. Another artist who I love is Thera, he loves it just as much as the crowd when he performs and gives so much emotion.” – Emma Fleming (AUS)

“I’ve been a huge fan of Theracords and Spoontech for a long time, especially Thera who brings this rawphoric vibe. Beautiful and passionate melodies, dark screeches and a pure, driving kick that makes your face squeeze up as if you’re sucking on lemons, haha! My first good live experience was when I saw Radical Redemption at Defqon.1 Australia; that set won me over and was my highlight of the day. His energy and performance was fucking phenomenal!” – Isaac Lowebro (AUS)

“I fell in love with raw hardstyle back in 2013… “Worth Fighting For,” by B-Front and Adaro was the anthem for the first edition of Qapital and it was such a great track. I remember sitting at home that weekend and watching the entire Qapital live-stream. That year I attended Defqon.1 in The Netherlands and spent most of my time bouncing between the Black and Blue stages and watching the raw acts that played on the Red stage. Gunz For Hire on the Sunday night was my highlight of the entire weekend!” – Jordan Dicello (AUS)

“An Australian event, District 7, was the thing that really opened my eyes to the world of raw hardstyle. It was my first hardstyle event and mind you, I was quite unfamiliar with raw hardstyle to begin with but FUARK, it was definitely a slap in the face! I got beat to the ground by those filthy kicks and I loved every second of it!” – Teal Fisher (AUS)

“I went to District 7 in Sydney as my best friend is a raw fanatic! I stood there in shock at how insane and crazy this music was! Ever since, I have never been able to turn down a screech and distorted kick! Raw hardstyle takes me to a different place. Don’t get me wrong, I love ‘normal’ hardstyle but raw music really takes me on a journey and gives me this unique feeling. My favourite artists would have to be Frequencerz, B-Front, Adaro and E-Force and my favourite track is B-Frontliner “Magic.” ” – Vince Licata (AUS)

 

And… Now time for what some raw hardstyle producers have to say for themselves!

Phuture Noize:

When I started making hardstyle, I was really inspired by the classic ‘fusion’ sound from around 2008. At that stage, I was into artists such as The Pitcher, Donkey Rollers, Zatox etc. I remember listening to the Defqon.1 CD from 2008 which was mixed by D-Block & S-te-Fan and Alpha2; I really liked the tracks towards the end, particularly the music from A2 Records.

I can recall a time around 2011 when the scene started to acknowledge the raw sound a little more and this was the time that I made “Fire In The Hole” which was the one track I made that got me into the harder sounds. When listening to music I’ve always been attracted to high levels of energy and big atmospheres and this is something I like to bring within my own music.

Raw music is unique in a way that it allows creative freedom to mix it with different elements and atmospheres. I know that a lot people make the same kind of ‘kick & screech’ stuff, but there’s artists doing some really good stuff and make really fresh tracks such as Ran-D, B-Front, Adaro, Endymion, the older sounds of Crypsis and I really respect Atmozfears’ take on raw hardstyle.

Chris One:

I’ve been into ‘raw’ before there was even such a concept, the dark and energetic sound has always been my go-to! The best comparison that I can make with raw hardstyle is that of metal rock. The feeling that it gives is so unique, when you hear that immense energy you just wanna get in that moshpit and go crazy!

We’ve had some great evolution and diverse growth in the last few years which has made me very happy, however lately I think raw hardstyle is becoming a little too streamlined. In my personal opinion, every track doesn’t need to be a hit! What I mean by this is that some of my favourite tracks from back in the day were some of those weird ‘b-sides’ that not a lot of people remember.

When I got into hardstyle, the leading artists who produced music on the darker side were guys such as Zatox, Tatanka, The Pitcher, Zany and The Beholder – who are artists that I have an immense amount of respect for. However, today I think there are some ‘new’ artists that have had the torch passed to them like B-Front, Radical Redemption and E-Force.  Personally, in terms of today’s talent, I’m always impressed by the productions of Phuture Noize and Caine (on the note of diversity here’s a shout out to Audiofreq!)

 

Whether you love or hate raw, it’s always important to approach music with an open mind. Who knows, you could end up being a potential Radical Redemption fan! For more ‘raw week’ exclusives, head to our homepage and catch up on last weeks antics!