Tag Archives: hardstyle

FULL Line Up & Details Announced for AMERICAN GABBERFEST 2016!

Here comes the summer fun! The White Ape has announced the full line up and details for the third annual American Gabberfest that will take place EDC Weekend, June 18th-19th. From May up until the event itself The Hard Data will be posting interviews with the artists on the bill so you can know what’s to come this summer at hardcore’s biggest American gathering!

 

“For the third year, Delegates from all corners of our Great Nation will assemble to melt in a hellish inferno under the Las Vegas sun. Once again, fans of the sounds too extreme for any mainstream festival will find their sanctuary during 2 days of pure chaos.”

GABBERFEST 2016: AMERICA’S HARDEST
Hardcore, Raw Hardstyle, Industrial, Early Rave, Terror, and more.

21+ FREE EVENT WITH MINIMUM DRINK PURCHASE

Day 1 – Saturday
Outdoor Stage: Main Hardcore
Indoor Stage: Hosted by SDK Events


Day 2 – Sunday
Outdoor Stage: Main Hardcore
Indoor Stage: Hosted by Techno Belligerent

Sponsored in Part By: THE HARD DATA

LINE-UP ANNOUNCED!

***Special Guests, USA Debut of***
D-CEPTOR (Germany)
www.d-ceptor.com

DJ DJUKE (Germany)
www.djdjuke.com

**Exclusive World Premieres**
EXTREME TEAM (New Jersey)

GODSQUAD (Arizona)

*ALBUM SHOWCASE*
SYMTEK (Los Angeles)

*AMERICA’S HARDEST*
ACID ENEMA -Live- (Las Vegas)

ANGEL ENEMY (Los Angeles)

ANIMUS (Los Angeles)

ARCID (Los Angeles)

ASSASSIN (Los Angeles)

BRYAN BROWN (New York)

CAP (Arizona)

¡CHAVEZ! (San Ysidro)

CIK (Arizona)

DARK SHINOBI (New York)

DAYBREAKER (Utah)

DEADLY BUDA (Los Angeles)

DIGITEK (Seattle)

DISKORE (Los Angeles)

DONALD WHAN (Detroit)

DREDNOK (Los Angeles)

ELEKID (Wisconsin)

FLINX (Minnesota)

GABBER TWINZ (Los Angeles)

GENOCIDE (Las Vegas)

HAPPY HOUR: EN3RGY vs MEGAMAN (Los Angeles)

HELLNEGATIVE (Las Vegas)

INSPECTOR GADJET (Arizona)

IKARI WARRIORS -Debut- (Los Angeles)

INVISIBLE ROBOTS (San Diego)

JULIE DSTROY (Las Vegas)

KILLPOP (Tampa)

KINEKT (Las Vegas)

KOREHUNTER (Arizona)

LEVENKHAN (New Jersey)

LOSTBOY (Los Angeles)

NEKROKICK (Washington)

PHOX (Arizona)

RPM (Los Angeles)

SKRUFFEH (Los Angeles)

SYSTEM MALFUNCTION (Las Vegas)

THE COUNTERTERRORIST (Nomadic)

TIM SHOPP (New Jersey)

VIGOR (Los Angeles)

WARBIRD (Arizona)

Celebrity Guest Appearance by The White Ape.

21+ Daytime Event
Admission is FREE WITH MINIMUM DRINK PURCHASE.
Swimwear and Water-toys welcomed and encouraged.
Much more info TBA…

 

Vending inquiries please contact: americangabberfest@yahoo.com

MC Sik-Wit-It: The Interview

MC Sik-Wit-It is shaping up to become the future voice of American hardstyle. Having already done songs with international sensations Nightfall, Coone, The Pitcher, Mekanikal and Drone, being an MC isn’t just about the voice, it’s about the message that they can convey to us that we may not be able to convey ourselves. Sik-With-It was brought in to Vegas for the Apocalypto show and I had the honor of sitting down with him briefly before he had to rush on stage to work his magic during Frontliner’s set.

It’s great that we’re able to bring out so many hard artists in general for the American scene, but rarely do we get to actually focus on the MCs themselves. What brought you into MCing? What made you decide that this is your thing?

I used to work on hip hop a lot of my teenage years into my twenties. When I moved back out [to Los Angeles], I didn’t really know anybody to work on music with, so I dropped it for a little bit. My friends, Bass Breakers, they’re local to L.A. introduced me to hardstyle. I started doing it more and more and started to come up with vocals and stuff and they just put me on. After we parted our ways, I got in contact with The Pitcher. From there, it’s just been a gradual, if not a swift, build.

MC-Sik-Wit-It right before his performance at Apocalypto.
MC-Sik-Wit-It right before his performance at Apocalypto.

What makes an MC significant? What role are you playing in the hard dance scene?

At the risk of sounding corny, I like speaking to people. I’m a person with words. I feel that other people, whether sometimes when you’re drunk and you’re trying to tell your friend how much you love a song or how much you love an artist, you just can’t find the words. I feel like I try in my best way to find the words that people are trying to say, especially with the song I did with Coone. I wrote that when I first started listening to hardstyle because it gave me a feeling that no other music had. I was absolutely in love with hip hop. I heard hardstyle and once it got to my heart, it never left. It’s been a solid rock ever since. I really think that me doing what I can do, I can help others feel the same way or be able to express themselves in the same way.

How did you get your stage name?

I got it after my first time trying to glove! Afterwards the guy said, “That was sick with it.”, and it stuck. It was later that I adapted better spelling for it.

What is the best experience, what is the best show rather, that you have participated in so far?

The first two Apocalypto shows, and also Nocturnal because it was a huge crowd, and I had a huge amount of interaction. I love performing with Lady Faith. She’s such an amazing person, DJ, artist, everything. The first Apocalypto I performed with her [Lady Faith], The Pitcher, and Darksiderz. The second one was Adrenalize and Tuneboy. Me and Adrenalize did a sit down. It was my first sit down I’ve ever done as an MC. It went off without a hitch. It was so much fun. I’m actually glad to be performing here as well with Ravealation Black. It makes me feel so welcome. It is such a cool feeling to actually have a place where I know I can go back to and perform.

What do you feel is going on in the American scene right now that’s prevalent? Why are we significant in terms of the hard dance scene? What are the biggest things that you see in our scene right now that actually makes us recognizable, that makes us significant in the hard dance scene?

I think it’s the hunger and the drive, for the most part. Some artists, they do still have that European flavor, but they also bring a new flavor. There’s a lot of trap, there’s a lot of dubstep, house, hard house, what not. A lot of them incorporate that in it, whether it is the BPM or the sounds. We’re giving, in my opinion a brand new flavor to it all. It may not be acceptable to the world, but it’s our own for sure; we’re not trying to copy it, we’re trying to embrace it.

Being involved in the European scene and the American scene respectively, how do you feel that the American hard dance scene needs to progress themselves in order to become anywhere close to our counterparts? What are the differences that you see that needs to be taken care of for us to progress further in our scene?

Well, just like a good friend of mine, Leo Corson just said in an interview recently; he finally said something that I think literally everybody in America’s wanted to say, and it’s that we need to stop fighting and being little bitches about everything. I’ve wanted to say it for a long time and I’ve been known to be a shit talker myself. I try to hold back in certain situations so people don’t get easily offended, which everybody in the world is at this time. We all just need to actually be friends. You don’t even have to be friends. You just need to be cordial enough to understand that somebody enjoys something just as much as you do. It may not be the same type of something, but it’s still the same something. I’m guilty myself. I’ve talked plenty of shit throughout the past, even when I wasn’t making music. Being guilty of it, I finally see it as I get older. We need to stop complaining. To me, this is why other countries look at us like we’re spoiled little kids. Especially in California where I’m from, we get everything but we still cry and bitch about what we get. Supporting U.S. acts at this point is what’s more important. I do support foreign, but we need to support local acts just as much.

What’s next for MC Sik-Wit-It? Do you have any upcoming collaborations?

TNT did a little preview video with Zatox and the iPod, when he fell on his face (laughs), that’s the next track of mine coming out with them and Dave Revan.

Is there anything you want to say in your own words to the fans/readers?

Thank you so so much for all the love and support you all have given me. Hardstyle fans are such dedicated and energetic people and I can’t imagine anything that even comes close to performing for all of you. I’m where I’m at, not only because of the artists that have given me the chance, but also because of all of you. I’m forever grateful for every one of you. And be on the lookout for some huge collaborations and Sik-Wit-It merchandise in the not so distant future!

MC Sik-Wit-It and Lady Faith
MC Sik-Wit-It and Lady Faith

E-Force featuring Luna – F*ck This Nation – Track Review

It’s always a wonderful little pick-me-up when I see that E-Force has released a new track, especially because this one is featuring a long time Hardstyle veteran, Luna. The track is lighter as compared to other tracks by E-Force, but Luna offers a wonderful synth design behind the aggressive chugs of E-Force’s kicks which makes this release a dance-floor banger without a doubt.

 

Regain & Typhoon – Ultimate Victory – Track Review

Typhoon is my favorite producer to have been discovered by Zatox when the Italian legend started his Unite record label. It’s actually been close to two years since Typhoon has released anything new and so what a better way to break back into the scene then to collaborate with another artist rapidly climbing the ranks like Regain. Of course, the result is something along the lines of a hailstorm of bullets! You can hear both artists hand in the making of the kick (super crunchy with a hefty amount of low end) and the anti-climax makes the entire atmosphere blackened and angry.

Frontliner SELLS OUT Apocalypto in Las Vegas!

As if we needed any more evidence that hard dance music is taking over in 2016; Frontliner was set to headline Apocalypto this last Saturday at Vinyl in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and the event SOLD OUT! “I couldn’t be happier to see hard dance thriving in Las Vegas!” says Matthew Levin, who gave all of his ambition in making sure of this outcome. What was most exciting was showing up about an hour before the show, absorbed by the empty room, witnessing the amount of prep that it takes up to the very last minute to make sure an event like this goes off without a hitch, then suddenly: show time! And watching that once empty room fill to the brim in a matter of minutes like a pilsner beer glass.

Kung Pow at Apocalypto, Hard Rock Cafe, Las Vegas, NV. Photo courtesy of Set the Tone Photography.
Kung Pow at Apocalypto, Hard Rock Cafe, Las Vegas, NV. Photos courtesy of Tone Martinez. Set the Tone Photography.

The night started off with local Vegas vets Joji (who spins a hard dance monthly at the Phoenix Bar to 100+[people]), Jack Spaidz – who is to psytrance what System Malfunction is to hardcore [in Vegas], and Kung Pow – my second favorite act of the night – a multi-genre DJ who can make anything sound incredible, together or separate. Arriving early is very important, because believe it or not, you’re missing out on a lot of pure talent, and since I’ve been witness to this it makes me feel that Vegas DJs are vastly overlooked.

Frontliner took the stage to a thunderous roar and conducted an interactive set filled with popular antics to interact with the crowd. It was a fun, uplifting set, and if you know this artist well, even his euphoric tracks have a certain roughness to them. As he moves from ‘Shivers’, to the Defqon.1 anthem ‘No Guts, No Glory’, Frontliner never dampens the energy he creates. But there is still one question that remains… who were those guys in the masks?

The debut of RVLTN Black at Apocalypto, Hard Rock Cafe, Las Vegas, NV. Photo courtesy of Set the Tone Photography.
The debut of RVLTN Black at Apocalypto, Hard Rock Cafe, Las Vegas, NV. Photos courtesy of Tone Martinez. Set the Tone Photography

This night, we also witnessed the debut of a new Las Vegas tag team: RVLTN Black! Two insane, rowdy rough boys who unleashed rawstyle/uptempo hardcore to the crowd in a quickfire blitzkrieg. They even dropped American terrorcore producer Tim Shopp’s track “Terror Squad”, at which point the taller member of the duo grabbed the mic from the MC and yelled “when this track drops, someone fucking bleeds!” Of course, it was inevitable that a mosh pit was to ensue, and with an ear to ear grin, I couldn’t help but take part. What a show!

A huge thank you goes out to Matthew Levin and the entire Ravealation crew for making this event possible and for making the trip from Utah well worth it. Las Vegas has a seriously dedicated crowd to the harder styles so make sure that they stay well fed and nurtured.

Family photo with Mc Sik Wit It. Photo courtesy of Set the Tone Photography.
Family photo with Mc Sik Wit It. Photos courtesy of Tone Martinez. Set the Tone Photography.