‘Bending rules & breaking sh*t’ – One deeper with The Machine

Some of you may be no stranger to The Machine’s boundary-breaking and trailblazing sound, however the Lithuanian producer’s skills and immense sound design is often overlooked in the industry. Endlessly striving to innovate, the man behind the act Ramunas Vabolis has been releasing music since 2006, making him a key player in the growth of the Raw Hardstyle movement.

Fast forward one decade and this Magic Show representative has released a collection of immense hits such as “Godcore” alongside The Geminizers, “Hit Em Up,” “Rollin’” and “Gimme Da” amongst others. With the summer season in full swing and a handful of great bookings on the horizon, we had the chance to catch up with Lithuania’s only Hardstyle pioneer as he sheds some light on some interesting topics. 

– Hi Ramunas! Thanks for the interview. First of all, how has 2016 been going for you so far?
Hey there! First of all thank you for having me for this interview. So far 2016 has been going good, I had some great gigs. This year I released my collaboration with Tartaros “Clubs, Pubs and Parties,” and produced solo tracks “Break Shit,” and “Play A Game” as well as “Headshot” alongside The Geminizers. I also had the honour to remix Alpha2’s track “Nowhere To Hide” and most recently I’ve also finished a collaboration with Alphaverb called “Smokemachine,” which you will hear more of in the near future!

– A couple of months ago, you spent some time down under! What was it like to perform in Australia and what were some key differences between the Aussie and Dutch crowd?
Performing to the Aussies was great and there was definitely a difference between them and the Dutch crowd. In my career I’ve performed in The Netherlands a lot, so I guess that fans just got used to me, however in Australia it was my first time and I felt excitement bouncing back from the people who came to see me. I loved it!

– Let’s get down to it! In our opinion, you’re one of the most underrated artists in the Hardstyle scene. What are your thoughts on this?
I don’t think that I’m ‘underrated,’ but as an artist I’m more or less not paid attention to as much. I have encountered so many people who know and enjoy my music, but don’t know me as an artist. I know my tracks are played a lot and I’ve heard so many people at the parties saying that they love my music, but they still question why I don’t perform that often.

I’m honoured that my music is being supported and played a lot, but I honestly don’t like the fact that I’m not booked regularly and not being pushed enough to play my own music. I’ve heard tons of excuses from some organisations, however it doesn’t seem fair to me.

– You’ve been releasing music since 2006; can you tell me what the Hardstyle scene was like back then and some of the differences compared to today’s scene?
For me it’s hard to tell because back then I was still underage and hadn’t been to a proper Hardstyle event. My journey into performing at Hardstyle events began when I got my first international booking; for me, back then it felt that people were heavily focused on the music itself and paid more attention to what they were offered. But then again, back then there weren’t as many artists as there are today, so not as much music was being released and the genre was quite underground.

– You always push the boundaries of conventional raw Hardstyle. Why do you choose to take on such an imaginative and out-of-the-box approach, as opposed to sticking to the ‘formula?’
Nowadays there’s this trend that if you make one good ‘hit,’ then your following tracks need to sound like that. It’s the easiest road to simply copy and paste a successful track of your own and can be even deemed wise from a business perspective, seeing as listeners do have expectations. However every time I create music it’s hard to lock myself in a concept that I’ve already used before. I strive to challenge myself to produce something that hasn’t been done before and I guess that explains the reason why some tracks can sound very different and don’t abide to a ‘signature’ sound.

– What’s your opinion on the current raw Hardstyle sound? And what would you like to see from producers?
I like it. In fact, I like it more than ever. I like the diversity in modern raw Hardstyle, however it’s a shame to see that a lot of high quality and original tracks are being swept under the rug.

At the moment, there’s this huge phenomenon going on where fans want raw Hardstyle to be harder and faster. I find it strange, mainly because there’s a handful of producers who claim to be ‘raw Hardstyle,’ but are more or less re-inventing Hardcore.

– You’ve performed b2b with Magic Show buddies The Geminizers quite a few times and have worked in the studio together too. What’s it like working/performing with this duo and do you have any future collaborations coming up?
I absolutely love performing alongside The Geminizers! The guys give me so much energy and it’s just amazing – every time the set ends I wish that we could just keep on playing! Collaborating with the guys is also very cool; our minds collide in the way that fresh, unheard stuff is born and you’ll hear that in our upcoming track “Headshot.”

– You’ve recently finished a collaboration with AVIO Records front-man Alphaverb. What can fans expect from this one?
Tshhhhhhhhh…. You know that sound a fog machine makes when it shoots the smoke in to the air…?

– As the only Lithuanian Hardstyle artist we have, can you tell our readers more about your country and its party scene? Nature-wise, Lithuania is a beautiful country filled with vast forests and fields of grass. Unfortunately we don’t have a Hardstyle scene here and the general dance music scene is quite boring narrow. Not many things happen and in most of the clubs it’s just local DJ’s playing.

– This year at Dreamfields you’ll be doing an exclusive ‘old-school’ The Machine set. What inspired you to plan this special set and what can visitors expect?
As you may know, there are big differences between my earlier work and music I’ve released over the past couple of years. Some of you may have seen that a petition was floating around Facebook a couple of months ago. It actually generated a lot of attention and as together with my management, we decided that it was not only important to do this for the fans that have followed me since the beginning, but also introduce new fans to my earlier work.

Visitors can expect to hear some really old classics of mine; including the tracks that I rarely play at Dutch events and by this I mean music released before my album “Substantial Machinery.” Some of them have to be re-mastered though, so I’m quite busy doing that! On a side note, I’m open to suggestions from my fans!

– What has been your biggest career milestone so far?
It’s hard to name just one because I’ve achieved many goals and still have many that I’m yet to achieve, however saying that, my latest milestone was playing in Australia. I’ve always dreamt about playing in other continents, so being booked down under was a huge achievement for me.

– Can you tell us one fact about yourself that fans don’t know?
I am terrible at recognising people – both faces and names!

– In 2012 you released your debut album “Substantial Machinery,” a work of art that revealed such an innovative and fresh sound to the Hardstyle scene. Can you tell our readers a little bit more about this album and what it meant for your career?
Thank you! The album meant a lot for me; I put a lot of heart and hard work into it, hoping that the album would give me the breakthrough I wanted. I didn’t want to create a listening experience that was repetitive, so I included a lot of variation in the tracks so that listeners could go on a ‘journey.’

– Do you have any plans to produce another album?
I’ve had thoughts about producing another album, but no plans to do so.

– Would you rather perform naked or play a full hour of cheesy big room EDM on a raw hardstyle stage?
Hmm… That’s a difficult question to answer. I like being naked, although I’m not sure that the crowd would enjoy it so much, haha! I’m also open to all kinds of music and I even like big-room house, however I’m not sure it’s a good idea to ever play it on a Raw stage. Maybe I should perform naked on a big-room house stage whilst playing raw Hardstyle…?

– Aside from producing, what are your hobbies?
I’m a big fan of video games and also love to watch good sci-fi, detective and horror movies. I even like visiting social dancing lessons and of course, I enjoy casual stuff, like hanging out with friends, cycling and going on short road-trips.

I really love sound designing and learning new ways to create certain sounds. I know that it’s linked to producing, but I really enjoy programming sounds without making an actual track. I even programmed some sounds for Reveal-Sound’s Spire synthesizer plugin factory bank and also have made a patch bank for Synapse Audio Dune 2. On top of that, I’m planning to give away some sounds I programmed for other synth plugins.

– In your opinion, which forthcoming artists of today are most likely to become headliners in the future and why?
The ones who have the strongest marketing skills and most interaction with fans via social media.

– Before we wrap up this interview, can you tell us what you’re currently working on in the studio and any future musical plans?
As I’ve mentioned earlier, I recently finished my collaboration with Alphaverb, titled “Smokemachine” and have a new solo track “Break Shit” which has been played a lot by the big names. On the side of that I’m currently working on two new solo tracks and have started working on a remix for a very well-known track – I hope to have both of these done before Defqon.1. Finally, Regain and I have planned a collaboration, so we should be getting started on that very soon!

– Finally, what did you eat for breakfast?

I ate a couple of soft boiled eggs, smoked salmon and a toast with Vegemite!

Looks like The Machine has his breakfast-game down pact like a pro! A big thanks to Ramunas for taking the time for this interview; we wish him the best of luck with his Defqon.1 preparations and hope to catch up with him for a beverage (or 10) this summer!

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