71
ONE of many debuts in this year’s Top
100, Blasterjaxx (Thom Jongkind and
Idir Makhlaf) typify the sound of young
Holland. In?uenced by trance, house
and hardstyle — their own productions
a con?ation of them all with a searing
electroid backbone — tunes like ‘Fifteen’
released through Hardwell’s Revealed
label, elevated the duo to the big league
in 2013.
They’re ecstatic to have entered the
poll this year, describing it as one of the
highlights of their year along with hitting
the Beatport No.1 spot with Hardwell’s
edit of their aforementioned mega-hit,
and remixing Tiësto’s evergreen trance
version of Samuel Barber’s ‘Adagio
For Strings’. Promising plenty of new
productions over the next year, their
ambitions for the future include “playing
the best festivals, the most beautiful
clubs and [to] keep showing our fans
love in musical form”. JAMES SMITH
NEW
ENTRY
BLASTERJAXX
From: Holland. Style: “Electro/progressive
house.” Best known for: “‘Fifteen’ , ‘Adagio
For Strings (Remix)’ and ‘Koala EP’.” Tune of
2013: “‘Fifteen (Hardwell Edit)’.” Breakthrough
DJ/producer of 2013: “MAKJ.”
72
LONG regarded as one of hardstyle’s key
acts, D-Block & S-Te-Fan have had a huge
year, not least because of increased interest
in the genre they represent.
“We did some tracks which inspired the
scene to create different varieties of songs
within hardstyle. Besides that, hardstyle
got more and more recognised… they are
?nally accepting it.”
Even aside from scene developments,
D-Block & S-Te-Fan have encountered great
success in 2013, racking up 35 festival
appearances, an Australian tour and
more live shows then ever, alongside new
releases such as the highly melodic — yet
still thumping — ‘From The Hard’. The duo
will, as ever, continue to use their music
to feed the genre they love, aiming, they
say, to “create a scene, in which everyone
who loves this music has a city or club
nearby that they can visit to hear hardstyle.
This kind of music is there to dance to
and hear LOUD!” TRISTAN PARKER
?08
D-BLOCK & S-TE-FAN
From: Holland. Style: “Hardstyle.” Best known for: “[Our]
big-room sound, high energy level, 10 years of hardstyle.” Tune
of 2013: “Crypsis ‘Break Down Low’.” Breakthrough DJ/
producer of 2013: “Tim van de Stadt/Atmozfears.”
112
djmag.com
Have DJs’ fees got out of hand? “They earn a lot of money by playing music and we
think that all DJs who can live from DJing are privileged, for sure! But of course there are
also other professions which make a lot of money.” Has dance music become the new
pop? “Yes, every decade has its own sound and dance is the sound of this moment.” If
you could be any animal what would you be? Idir: “A chameleon, I’m a calm guy
who’s ?exible.” Thom: “A fox, yes, I’m a really smooth guy haha!” Should DJs do ‘heart
hands’? “Yes, why not? It’s a way to show your crowd you appreciate the love and bring them
love by your music.” Do DJs have a duty to speak out about drugs? “Maybe… they are
seen [as] role models and they have the power to change the world. But the medallions has
two sides…” What would be on your fantasy rider? “Koala bears (living, in?atable, ?uffy
it doesn’t matter in what form haha), fat cottage cheese. Protein shakes. Monster energy.”
Have DJs’ fees got out of hand? “It is more like a trend than
something that got out of hand. People love to party and a big
group of people don’t really care about the costs.” Has dance music
become the new pop? “Basically it is. The production of almost
every pop song is a dance production.” If you could be any animal
what would you be? “De?nitely a bird. Wouldn’t it be amazing to
just take off and ?y wherever, whenever?” Should DJs do ‘heart
hands’? “Sure, why not?” Do DJs have a duty to speak out about
drugs? “We don’t think they have. We are not really the ones that
need to educate the people in front of us, we just want to give them
a good time.” What would be on your fantasy rider? “Always the
best crowd! We are in it for the people, so if we get the best crowds
out there guaranteed, we would be the happiest people alive!”