As one of Hardstyle’s most respected artists, Adaro has built a career spanning decades within the Harder Styles scene. We caught up with him in Switzerland to talk about his musical roots, inspirations, and his perspective on the evolution of Hard Dance music.
Dragan (Equalizerz)
Dragan: “Hello, together we are here tonight with DJ Adaro in Switzerland. Welcome, thanks for having us. I’d like to go through some questions. The first one is: What was the inspiration to become a DJ? Was it a party, a friend, or seeing someone behind the decks and thinking, “I wanna do that, but better”? What was your inspiration?”
Adaro: “Well, my inspiration was I grew up in the 90s, I was born in the Gabber Hardcore period. And yeah, as a kid from 14, 15, I went to my first parties and listened to the music day and night.
My first inspiration was actually not to be a DJ but to understand how to make that music. I wanted to learn how to produce. So I went to buy vinyl at record stores and talked with producers in that genre, asking what I should buy.
One of my biggest idols at the time was DJ JDA. He lived nearby, and we always went to a club because we were too young for big parties. He was the resident there and always played better than the booked DJs. For me and my friends, he had the coolest mixing style. He was a huge inspiration for both DJing and producing.“
Dragan: “The next question is about the Hard Techno scene. Right now there’s a lot of mixing of styles, Hard Techno artists are playing tracks with Raw or Hardstyle and doing collaborations. What are your thoughts on that? What do you think the future will look like?”
Adaro: “It’s interesting what’s happening. People always want to give everything a name, but I think Hard Techno has nothing to do with Techno anymore.
I think real Techno lovers hate Hard Techno and I can understand that. It’s a new style with influences from Hardstyle, Hardtrance, and other genres. It’s a mix of everything.
I think it’s cool. Sometimes I go to Hard Techno parties, and I can enjoy it. I’m curious where it’s going, because it developed really fast, harder and harder. Maybe a bit too fast. And usually, when things go too fast, it’s not always a good thing. But we’ll see what happens.
About collaborations, I like it. I play different tracks, also collabs with Techno artists. The more good music, the better. I’m open to every style.“
Dragan: “So the last question: What was the worst thing that ever happened to you on the way to the gig or at a gig?”
Adaro: “Oh, the worst thing I know that happened to me was like, I always was proud that I never pushed the wrong button. But two or three years ago, it happened for the first time in my professional career. And it really affected me. I had trouble getting back into the flow and connection.
I’m a perfectionist, so I never want to make mistakes. It happened because someone distracted me, asked me something, turned around, and I pressed the wrong thing. Suddenly the wrong track started playing, and it was a big gig.
It only lasted like five seconds before I fixed it, but still for about five weeks after that, at every gig I kept checking: “Is this the right button?” That’s not a good feeling.
Now it’s fine again. But I think things like that happen to everyone. Sometimes it’s not even your fault, like when a USB stops working or something. Sometimes people think it was your mistake, even if it wasn’t. But in the end, it reflects on you, and that’s not always fair.“
Dragan: “Okay, thank you very much in the name of Hardstyle Mag, wish you a great night.”
Adaro: “Thank you and thanks for supporting Hardstyle in Switzerland!“
Links
📸 Instagram: instagram.com/djadaro
📘Facebook: facebook.com/djadaro
📺 YouTube: youtube.com/djadaro
🌐 Website: djadaro.com
👕 Merch: merch.djadaro.com
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