CHARLY + NAZZZ (www.facebook.com/pages/Charly-Nazzz)
First up are Charly + Nazzz. The 28 year old Dutch duo (of Charel Visser and Peter Nass) are based near Amsterdam and host a very popular weekly radio show 'Bring It On', on Fear FM. Between them they have released on Excessive (as the Audio Psychos), Hooligan, Expand Digital and Hardphaze White and have just been commissioned to do an official remix of notorious trance anthem 'Forgotten Dream' by 'I-Ching' for a 2012 release.
Cutting their teeth on gabber music, before hard house and harder trance inspired them after listening to the likes of Tom Harding and Fausto, they used to DJ individually at clubs around Holland. 'In 2002 I played my first real club gig at the infamous club ITEM in Amsterdam', Peter tells me. 'One night we both played at the I Love Hard House Talent Night in February 2004 and that is how we met.'
Continuing to stay in touch with each other proved to be a wise move, as a year later the duo were placed back to back at 'DD0D' in Amsterdam where they clicked and decided to work together. The gigs soon followed with bookings at Defqon 1, Dance Valley, Q-Base, Sensation Black, Qlimax, Fusion of Dance, HQ and many more, including a tour of the UK playing in London.
When asked about their favourite gig experience, Charly says: 'April 2010 will always be a magical date for us. We played at a fully packed Melkweg (for HQ/High Quality) which is of the mother of Dutch hard dance events. I am rarely ever nervous before a gig, even a packed stage at Dance Valley didn't move my nerves, however playing at the biggest and best hard dance party ever was just nerve-wrecking. It went amazing though and we we will never forget the image of a sold out Melkweg venue, and the buzz we felt afterwards!'
The duo are very diverse in what they play and strive to support exciting and new music. 'We take great influence from the Hard Trance sound', Charly enthuses, ‘Scot Project is probably one of the biggest influences on what we do. His sound has evolved from hard trance to housey, techy stuff that still rocks our sets. We are also crazy about the sound the Organ Donors, Argy, Alex Kidd, BRK3, Fausto and the big names from the South West of England are pushing.'
'It's all about variety and just playing good tracks! We play stuff by guys like Artento Divini, Marcel Woods, Richard Durand and go right through the spectrum to material from Noisecontrollers, Arkaine, Geck-O and D-Block & S-Te-Fan to really bang it out!' he says.
The passion for the music is evident throughout their sets and 2012 looks set to be an awesome year. 'We already have a couple of festival bookings in the pipeline and together with Crossover Management (our agent), we will do our best to give you the true Charly & Nazzz experience. We would love to return to the UK. The scene fits us perfectly, people are open-minded and we have always loved the UK crowd as they are so energetic and enthusiastic.'
Check out their radio show ‘Bring It On’ every Tuesday (7-9 PM) on Fear FM, for a true taste of what to expect from Charly + Nazzz!
JIM JUSTICE (www.jim-justice.com)
Jim Justice has had an incredible 2011, providing remixes for the likes of Lisa Lashes, BRK3, Sam Punk and also getting to play at Defqon 1, which many DJs worldwide dream of. Many producers are citing him as the one to watch for the forthcoming year and he exploded onto the scene with 'Maximum Modulation’ on Excessive records.
'Defqon 1 was amazing. Up to this day I keep getting compliments for the set I gave. It was nice to see some of my favourite hard dance producers, such as yourself and Wragg & Log One, dancing in the crowd and loving the set!'
The 30 year old, who hails from Curacao (an area which Jim claims people have no idea what hard dance is), began his clubbing days after meeting some Dutch people who had Tiesto live at Innercity on CD. Falling in love with the genre, and with a thirst for knowledge, he soon moved to Holland at the age of 20 and soon started frequenting HQ, Dance Valley, Qlimax and many more.
'I knew I had to be a part of this world one way or the other. Now ten years later of trial, error, practice and self study, I am more than happy to be a part of the electronic music scene", says Jim.
Taking an obvious influence from Scot Project ('My all time favourite producer, I would love to collaborate with him', Jim explains), there are a plethora of different influences that make Jim's gritty productions stand out.
'Kamui’s harder work, Schranz music in general, and players in the sub genres I listen to like BAR9, Roni Size, The Prodigy, DJ Skrillex and DJ Promo all inspire me. I have a strong love for proper Dutch industrial hardcore too.
'The Dutch scene is the biggest out there, the best parties and they have some very big money circulating, however this means many promoters play it safe. This results in a massive inbreeding with the same headliners, the same line ups, and the same music. Anyone who wants a piece of the pie, whether if you are an artist or an organization, you better fit the mould otherwise it’s not worth investing in. This differs greatly to the UK scene,' he continues.
'If you take the Trackitdown charts as an example you’ll see a wide variety of sounds and artists in there. Newcomers have an equal shot for a number one tune. This keeps the scene healthy. I think all young aspiring producers need to take the time to know the workings of a synthesizer. Watch tutorials, read the manual and become the geek you need to be if you want to take your sounds to the next level. Sample Packs and Presets Banks are for sale, uniqueness is not'.
Jim concludes by stating that 2012 will see a lot more diversity, a deep rooted love of subby dub influenced basslines and lower BPMs are certainly rocking his world, and to expect to hear some big room anthems as well.
ROBIN SWARTZ (www.facebook.com/unitecrecordings)
One of the younger Dutch exports, who is currently on the receiving end of a huge amount of worldwide hype, is Robin Swartz. Half of the popular duo Swartz + Schulner (with Joey Schulner), he is focusing on developing his solo material (of a harder edge), and already notable labels are seeking his production talents for remixes and productions, with releases on Digitally Infected, Compulzion, Virus Audio and more.
The 25 year old, based in Leiden's production love blossomed the same time his interest in dance music started to develop, where a love for techno flourished.
'I didn't really know much about EDM before I started to produce music with Joey. When I started to explore the basics of Fruity Loops, I also started to listen and enjoy EDM. Originally I've been drawn to techno and the harder styles of EDM,' he tells me. 'This was when I was only sixteen years old, the likes of Mauro Picotto, Tiesto and Randy Katana were strong influences, that big room, percussive techno sound.'
Key support followed from Judge Jules (who championed Robin's tracks on Radio 1), and now his Unitec label is shaping up with some big plans for the forthcoming year. 'We've recently finished a fun remix of the classic 'Dominator' by Human Resource, which we are trying to release officially, and apart from solo productions I will continue with Joey as Swartz and Schulner'.
With regards to his thoughts on the music scene in his homeland, Robin shows an evident enthusiasm. 'You can definitely say that EDM is becoming more mainstream. But there are loads of parties here, so there is enough room for the techno, trance and hard dance underground scenes. This will not be much different from the UK, except for the dirty Dutch style. The scene here in Holland is pretty much dominated by house, dubstep and more minimal/slower genres. But there's something for everybody really.’
ED LIVE (www.edlive.nl)
The enigmatic pairing of Martijn Van Der Jagt and Corjan Aker makes up ED Live. Spearheading the Expand Digital collective, the duo grew up in a farming village, ‘but actually we don’t want talk about how to milk cows, it’s locked away in our past,’ says Martijn. Now they live near to the capital in both Haarlem and Amstelveen respectively.
After frequenting HQ where they both attended every rave but didn’t actually meet each other, they started DJing individually before meeting at Queensday in 2006. ‘We had to play at the same gig so went there together, and in the car we found out we loved the same shit and had an almost identical selection in our record boxes, so we played a massive back to back set!’ continues Corjan.
In 2008, a production career followed and Expand Digital was formed as a platform for upcoming talent and to showcase new material. Earlier this year they started a new concept called ED Live. This is two laptops, midi keyboards and two music freaks completely transforming the tunes they play by mashing them up and reworking them, as well as showcasing their own productions which are driving uplifting trance.
‘Obviously Tom Harding influenced us greatly with his sets at HQ and Dance Valley, but we take inspiration out of everything we hear as long as it’s well produced stuff. Oh, and thumbs up for our all time inspiration Nick Sentience! After so many years he is still rocking and renewing.’
‘We also take a strong influence from the UK, the crowd are so fucking up for it!! The sound that inspired us came out of the UK and a lot of artists we love today are from the UK. The UK sound is always moving on and is open for new stuff. In Holland, we have contributed a great music scene but on the whole, the scene has become very one directional‘.
I asked the duo about the high points in their career. For us the high point of our careers has been playing for War Child and the Liberty Festival in Holland, we made both ‘The Innocent’ and ‘Liberated’ as anthems for these and they went on to get supported by the likes of 'Scot Project, Christopher Lawrence, Markus Schulz and many more, so we were ecstatic,’ they explain.
And plans for the future? ‘Keep on rocking the way we do and make sure we’re going to be heard to the max in 2012! We’re plugging our Global Mindset podcasts, working hard on the promotion and basically spamming the globe!’
So there you have it guys and girls! Four acts who have been gradually pushing this fusion of techno and trance on us, with big plans afoot! With such a promising sound developing, there is no wonder why I make it a mission to check out this country four times a year, seeking the best new music out there and let me tell you, the future is exciting.
If the Dutch tech sound is your thing, other notable DJs and Producers to check out include Fausto and Thilo + Evanti (who have both been interviewed by Core before in previous hard issues), DJ W, Sixth Sense, JP [HQ/Dance Valley], DJ Shaine, E-Quake and Alberto Valenti.
Check out www.partyflock.nl for information on all the artists and all the hottest parties!
'I didn't really know much about EDM before I started to produce music with Joey. When I started to explore the basics of Fruity Loops, I also started to listen and enjoy EDM. Originally I've been drawn to techno and the harder styles of EDM,' he tells me. 'This was when I was only sixteen years old, the likes of Mauro Picotto, Tiesto and Randy Katana were strong influences, that big room, percussive techno sound.'
Key support followed from Judge Jules (who championed Robin's tracks on Radio 1), and now his Unitec label is shaping up with some big plans for the forthcoming year. 'We've recently finished a fun remix of the classic 'Dominator' by Human Resource, which we are trying to release officially, and apart from solo productions I will continue with Joey as Swartz and Schulner'.
With regards to his thoughts on the music scene in his homeland, Robin shows an evident enthusiasm. 'You can definitely say that EDM is becoming more mainstream. But there are loads of parties here, so there is enough room for the techno, trance and hard dance underground scenes. This will not be much different from the UK, except for the dirty Dutch style. The scene here in Holland is pretty much dominated by house, dubstep and more minimal/slower genres. But there's something for everybody really.’
ED LIVE (www.edlive.nl)
The enigmatic pairing of Martijn Van Der Jagt and Corjan Aker makes up ED Live. Spearheading the Expand Digital collective, the duo grew up in a farming village, ‘but actually we don’t want talk about how to milk cows, it’s locked away in our past,’ says Martijn. Now they live near to the capital in both Haarlem and Amstelveen respectively.
After frequenting HQ where they both attended every rave but didn’t actually meet each other, they started DJing individually before meeting at Queensday in 2006. ‘We had to play at the same gig so went there together, and in the car we found out we loved the same shit and had an almost identical selection in our record boxes, so we played a massive back to back set!’ continues Corjan.
In 2008, a production career followed and Expand Digital was formed as a platform for upcoming talent and to showcase new material. Earlier this year they started a new concept called ED Live. This is two laptops, midi keyboards and two music freaks completely transforming the tunes they play by mashing them up and reworking them, as well as showcasing their own productions which are driving uplifting trance.
‘Obviously Tom Harding influenced us greatly with his sets at HQ and Dance Valley, but we take inspiration out of everything we hear as long as it’s well produced stuff. Oh, and thumbs up for our all time inspiration Nick Sentience! After so many years he is still rocking and renewing.’
‘We also take a strong influence from the UK, the crowd are so fucking up for it!! The sound that inspired us came out of the UK and a lot of artists we love today are from the UK. The UK sound is always moving on and is open for new stuff. In Holland, we have contributed a great music scene but on the whole, the scene has become very one directional‘.
I asked the duo about the high points in their career. For us the high point of our careers has been playing for War Child and the Liberty Festival in Holland, we made both ‘The Innocent’ and ‘Liberated’ as anthems for these and they went on to get supported by the likes of 'Scot Project, Christopher Lawrence, Markus Schulz and many more, so we were ecstatic,’ they explain.
And plans for the future? ‘Keep on rocking the way we do and make sure we’re going to be heard to the max in 2012! We’re plugging our Global Mindset podcasts, working hard on the promotion and basically spamming the globe!’
So there you have it guys and girls! Four acts who have been gradually pushing this fusion of techno and trance on us, with big plans afoot! With such a promising sound developing, there is no wonder why I make it a mission to check out this country four times a year, seeking the best new music out there and let me tell you, the future is exciting.
If the Dutch tech sound is your thing, other notable DJs and Producers to check out include Fausto and Thilo + Evanti (who have both been interviewed by Core before in previous hard issues), DJ W, Sixth Sense, JP [HQ/Dance Valley], DJ Shaine, E-Quake and Alberto Valenti.
Check out www.partyflock.nl for information on all the artists and all the hottest parties!
