The Dark Side: How to get your friends and family hooked on Hard Dance!

When you are hooked on Hard Dance music, it’s easy for your friends and family on the outside to not quite understand you when it comes to your addiction to hard beats. Your friends may be the ones sitting beside you as you blast it boisterously whilst driving and simultaneously co-ordinating dance moves or your parents may be the ones to yell “TURN IT DOWN” as you blast Hardstyle from your room.

Believe it or not, but at some stage of our lives we were without hard music too and if it weren’t for whoever introduced it to you, you’d still be listening to music on the shitter side of the spectrum.

Think for a minute; it’s solely YOUR responsibility to spread the sound and lure in friends and family to the dark side… but how? How do you transform a non-hard dance listener to a full-blown fanatic? We’ve taken a look at some of the most effective methods to get your friends and family hooked on 150BPM and above!

– Get them started on the more ‘easy-going’ stuff
It’s important to take baby steps when introducing a friend or family member to hard dance music and starting them off at 300BPM speedcore ain’t the way to do it! I propose that you lure them in with melodic-based music which can mean anything from melodic or early hardstyle, hard trance and even UK hardcore if they’re feeling a little frisky! Starting off on the melodic spectrum is something that’s very common for new listeners and once they are feeling comfortable with the intensity, fast tempo and hard kicks you can begin introducing them to raw, yet accessible sounds.

When you do decide to move them up to the harder and more intense side of hard dance, it’s important to take things slow as it’s highly possible that they could absolutely hate it and abort ‘mission Hardstyle.’

It’s important to remember that you are the guide and your musical tastes will influence this journey, however we’ve added some suggestions below that will help get a new listener eased in!

– Take them to a Hard Dance festival
Your friends or family may have misconceptions about Hard Dance music and the atmosphere of the events; they may think that hard and aggressive music equals aggressive and unfriendly people, thus making them hesitant to attend a festival. It’s important to let them see and be surprised for themselves but the event that you choose to take them to will play a huge role in their judgements.

I recommend that you take them to a large-scale event that celebrates a diverse spectrum of different sounds, including the softer and more accessible music. Another great idea is to take them to a festival that includes both house and hard dance artists on its line-up so your friend can compare the atmosphere and people for themselves. Once they see that the majority of the people standing at the house stage are boring fucks, they won’t resist partying at the Hardstyle stage!

Below we’ve added some suggestions for great events that will undoubtedly convert your friends!

Defqon.1 Festival   |   Sunrise & Sunset Festival   |   Intents Festival   |   Emporium   |  WiSH Outdoor   |   Rebirth Festival   |   Dance Valley   |    Mysteryland   |    Electric Love Festival

– Educate them
They say that with the right education, any soul can flourish and this is no exception to the rule when it comes to hard dance music. As I mentioned earlier, many of your friends and family will have misconceptions about the music, the people who listen to it and the general atmosphere at events. First and foremost, it’s important to bust these myths and explain the concept of hard dance music, speak about all of the great people at the events and show your friends and family the differences between the styles of music. You should educate your friends and family about different artists and where their sound falls on the spectrum; soon they will be able to pick their favourites.

Another thing you should educate them on is the history of hard dance, how the different genres arose and of course, some of the most classic event concepts and the stories around them.

– Show them aftermovies from various events
One thing I can’t help but notice is that aftermovies and live-streams from hard dance events are filled with vibrant partygoers who are genuinely having an amazing time! As opposed to a basic EDM event, hard dance festivals have intricate stage designs, are heavily based on a theme and also boast sensational light and pyrotechnic shows.

By showing your family and friends these aftermovies it allows them to step into the world, see that it’s light-hearted and fun and will give them a good taste of what they can expect when they visit an event themselves!

– Play it during road trips
Playing hard dance music in the car can actually be quite soothing, unless you’re blasting Dr. Peacock in a traffic jam; that shit is more appropriate for a traffic-free highway. Regardless, there’s plenty of great music that you can throw on in the background whilst driving and eventually your friends and family will get so used to it that they will actually recognise the tracks! The concept of going on a road trip is usually accompanied by memories and if your friend builds up memories of bouncing around and blasting Hardcore then this makes the music a whole lot more special.

To make things better, this tip has been tried and tested! I constantly played Hardstyle in the car with my best friend who’s a non-hardstyle listener and in a matter of months she actually began somewhat enjoying it! Letting an album or podcast run through is probably the easiest and most effective way to get your friends hooked or you can also compose a bangin’ playlist for car-time!

Got a story about how you got your friends or family hooked on hard dance? Let us know in the comments below!