Sephyx – Interview At The Hardstyle 2000 Countdown
Dirty Workz Label Showcase

From the 28th of December until the 4th of January, Revulsion FM has done the honourable task of putting on the biggest countdown show consisting of the top 2000 hardstyle tracks of all time! This week isn’t only about the countdown however, there’s a lot to keep your eye on such as interviews, guest mixes and who could forget about the label showcases!

On Saturday, the 3rd of January I had the pleasure of hosting the Dirty Workz showcase which included a special guest mix and interview from young-gun Sephyx. I had the pleasure of sitting down with this young talent to chat about life at Dirty Workz, his elemental EP’s and his future musical plans!

1. Thanks for chatting with me, first of all, for those who don’t know you – introduce yourself – tell us who you are and where you come from!
My name is Xander Thoen, AKA Sephyx and I live in Breda, The Netherlands. I am 18 years old and have recently signed to Dirty Workz in 2014. I started off playing guitar when I was younger and I began producing hardstyle for about 2 and a half years.

2. Speaking of starting with guitar when you were younger, what music did you listen to growing up? How did you wander into hardstyle and begin producing?
Hmmm.. I listened to a lot of rock, blues and even metal when I was younger. I also listened to house music and I still do today. I began listening to hardstyle mainly because my brother always played it in his room and I really liked it. I was playing guitar at the time and I became really curious about how exactly hardstyle was made and that was ultimately what led me to producing.

3. So you said that your brother was into hardstyle! Does he support your music and give you feedback?
Yeah he’s very supportive! He’s not into hardstyle as much as he used to be but he always drives me to gigs now 🙂

4. You signed with DWX recently in 2014 and have released 3 EPS, Creation of Water, Creation of Earth and Creation of Air. Can you tell me a little bit more behind the use of the natural elements and how you use that theme in your tracks?
After my first track “Creation Of Air,” I was very inspired by it’s ‘airy’ sound and decided that I would like to make tracks that suit all of the elements. Water, air and earth contain very chilled sounds and the fire is a little bit rougher. The preview for “Creation Of Fire” is already up on YouTube and it will be released in January!

5. So you have a very supernatural and beautiful sound – what sorts of things inspire this sound when producing?
Thank you. To get inspired, I listen to many different types of music, including the very high quality hardstyle tracks.

6. I saw that you played a few Noisecontrollers tracks in your set, is he one of your big idols?
Definitely. Noisecontrollers, Atmozfears, Da Tweekaz and Audiofreq are my favourites.

7. Since signing to DWX you have already gained quite the fanbase, how do you keep in touch with your fans?
I like to post on social media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter). It’s very important to keep people updated with my productions and reach to my fan-base.

8. What did you eat for breakfast today?
I ate cereal.

10. Can you tell us one thing that we don’t know about yourself.
Hmm…That’s a tough question, I can’t think of anything off the top off my head so I’ll have to get back to you!

11.What track do you think will win the Hardstyle 2000?
I think a raw track with a hardcore influence. That seems to be ‘what’s hot’ at the moment. I’d really like “Tonight” by Wildstylez, Headhunterz and Noisecontrollers to win!

12. Finally, if you were an animal what would you be?
Probably a puma…

Thanks to Sephyx for coming down! We wish you the very best this year with your music and we can’t wait to see what you have in store!