63
NEW
ENTRY
GUNZ FOR HIRE
From: Holland. Style: “Raw hardstyle.” Best
known for: ‘’’The Mask’.” Tune of 2013: “Chain
Reaction ‘The Record Breaking’.” Breakthrough
DJ/producer of 2013: “Phuture Noize.”
64
DIPLO
NEW
ENTRY
From: USA.
Style: Eclectic global dance, from dancehall to trap and beyond.
104 djmag.com
WHAT a year it’s been for Gunz For Hire. The
duo, consisting of Thijs Ploegmakers (AKA
Adaro) and Randy Wieland (AKA Ran-D),
have seen their stock soar in recent times,
particularly on the hardstyle scene where
they’re rightly spoken of as among the ?nest
such DJs.
“It’s been an amazing time,” they con?rm.
And by the sounds of it, they’re not lying
either. “We’ve had some really cool gigs
recently, particularly the two Defqon
1 Festivals in Australia and Holland,
Tomorrowland in Belgium and, of course,
Tomorrowworld in Atlanta, USA.” Their
fans will be delighted to hear that they’ve
been keeping busy on the production front
too, with no less than four tracks (‘The
Massacre’, ‘Swagger’, ‘Bassdrum’ and ‘Inside
My Mind’) the latest sum of their hardstyle
parts. “Making the top 100 means that we
have a strong fan-base,” they tell us, “and
that’s something to be really proud of.
So we want to say thanks to all you guys
that voted for us.” In Gunz’ words: “You
are the resistance!” STEPHEN FLYNN
Have DJs’ fees got out of hand? Not answered. Has dance music become the new
pop? “It’s just something different. Pop has a lot of live performances, EDM still has
a lot of DJ performances. The experience of an EDM party is just different from a pop
concert.” If you could be any animal what would you be? “A T-Rex, the king of the
predators!” Should DJs do ‘heart hands’? “Everyone should do what they like, but you
won’t see us doing it. Doesn’t really match our sound.” Do DJs have a duty to speak out
about drugs? “No, we don’t think it’s our duty. But if a DJ wants to share his views on
the risks of taking drugs, it might be of value.” What would be on your fantasy rider?
“Two big-ass ?ame throwers. But why keep it a fantasy?”
LOOK no further for an example of the irreverent
attitude of US dance ?gurehead Diplo than the fact he
declined at the last moment to be interviewed for the
Top 100. No big surprise, as he’s shown time and time
again that he doesn’t give a shit; which also makes
him one of the most outspoken, amusing, and more
often than not, insightful voices in dance music.
Witness his response to the controversy around drugrelated deaths at NYC’s Electric Zoo this year.
“We’re such a conservative culture that we’d rather
not talk about the things kids want to do, even though
they’re going to do them anyway… persecuting a
festival is not going to help because kids are going
to do them regardless,” he told Rolling Stone, saying
what few others dare to.
Music wise, it’s been a year of goal kicking for one of
America’s most successful and consistently innovative
DJ/producers. The ?rst half of the year saw the release
of the long-awaited new ‘Free the Universe’ album
from his Jamaican-?avoured Major Lazer collective,
this time minus Switch on production duties.
Diplo’s independent Mad Decent out?t also had a
cracker of a 2013, when Baauer’s ‘Harlem Shake’
busted through to take the No.1 spot on the Billboard
charts, and to date racking up more than 20 million
views on YouTube, making the song one of the year’s
biggest crossover smashes and establishing the label
as one of the success stories of the internet era.
Consider its Mad Decent Mondays residency in Las
Vegas as a sign of the sway it holds in the US.
Of course, Diplo is also appropriately irrevere ?@?v?V??B6??W2F?F?R?W&?6?W7F&?6??V?N( ?0??72V?'&6R?bF?6R7V?GW&R?fW"F?P?7BfWr?V'2?( ?F?W??W7Bv?BF??V????TD?F?6??( ??R6?B?bF?R???"?&V?2F?F?P??Vn???wF???7BF??2?V"??uU2DU%4???