They’re the feel-good Hardstyle act, they’re experimental, always pushing boundaries, always experimenting and always up for some fun: Da Tweekaz! We pulled the Norwegian duo aside for a lengthy interview about their beloved Tweeka-family, Qlimax, Defqon.1 and so much more!
Hello Kenth and Marcus! Nice to have you both here for an interview today! How are you doing?
Hey guys, thanks for having us! We’re all good thanks!
How was your festival summer this year? How does it feel to be on tour for months to play on various festivals?
Well, our Summer schedule was crazy! We had a great time traveling the world, playing some of our favourite festivals and even traveling to new countries, like China! It’s a lot of fun, but never underestimate how tiresome travel can get! 🙂
What was your craziest experience on tour this summer?
It’s super difficult to narrow it down to just one experience! But our booking in Chile and the Tweekacore Performance at Defqon.1 – Damn, that was out of this World!
What should not be missing in your luggage on tour?
DJ Gear, sunglasses, and Jägermeister 😉
What was the craziest weekend for you and how many gigs did you have this weekend?
We’d rather say craziest WEEK, which was in July. We performed 5 times at Hard Island, drove directly to Electric Love, followed by So W’happy and OMG Festival, and closing off with Beachland. So a total of 9 bookings!
Is there a festival where you have never played before but you really want to play?
That’s a very good question. To be very honest, we’re already doing so much. So its hard to say which festivals we’re missing out on.
“There’s something so unique about the entire Hardstyle community gathering from all over the world. You won’t find a better crowd than that!” – Da Tweekaz
If you could choose at which festivals did you have the best crowd?
Defqon.1 will always have a special place in our hearts <3 There’s something so unique about the entire Hardstyle community gathering from all over the world. You won’t find a better crowd than that!
You have released your new track “Komon” few days ago. Tell us more about it.
With Komon we wanted to build on the story of Hewwego. We stumbled upon these great Drum and Bass vocals, and decided to go with the flow. The end result was an intense mashup of all kinds of electronic music, and we play it in all our sets!
Are you satisfied with the reactions of “Komon” so far?
Definitely! We didn’t expect such a huge response on this and we’re so excited to see the clip is going so well in such a short amount of time. We’re almost at 1 million.
Are more track releases planned in the next months? And if so, what can you tell us about it so far?
At the moment, we don’t want to share too much of our plans.. We’re working on multiple collabs and solo tracks. So we are really busy in the studio! Now that Qlimax has been announced, you expect a lot of new music to be premiered there.
How did you get the idea to make bootlegs of tracks from famous Disney movies?
Like most of our fans already know, we are BIG Disney fans haha! The year Frozen was released, we were already doing Tweekay14. But we simply couldn’t resist remixing it. So we decided to say “fuck it”, and be the first Hardstyle act to enter into this unknown territory.
Are there some talents that you currently like and appreciate?
We really love how Sub Zero Project and Sephyx keeps on bringing something new to the table. They’re really taking off. Great guys as well.
You have a fan base which is called the Tweeka-family. How has it been established? With which words (adjectives) would you describe your Tweeka-family? What meaning does the Tweeka-family has to you?
We started a closed Facebook group (which anyone can join) called Tweeka-family, and it turns out is was quite the hit 🙂 We wanted to create a special space for our die-hard fanbase to share their photos, videos and memories we all made together. It’s truly heartwarming to see how dedicated and passionate the Tweeka-family is. We consider them like our real family!
What do you like to do in your free time when you’re not on tour?
Sleep! haha. And a bit of gaming, watching movies, and of course hitting up the studio.
“We love UK Hardcore and as you may already know, our music is very similar to the feeling of UK Hardcore – very very happy and energetic.” – Da Tweekaz
The “rubber ducks” are your trademark. How did you come up with the idea?
We wouldn’t say it’s a trademark, but it was definitely something that people now relate to us. It all started with the track “Ducktool” back in 2010, where we were already testing the boundaries of the Hardstyle crowd. During our first performance at the Defqon.1 Mainstage, we decided to make our own little “No Ducks No Glory” Anthem, and throw Rubber ducks in the crowd. That turned into a big success so we ended up creating and ordering thousands of ducks to use during the year.
At the moment, we kind of put that on the sideline again, because otherwise it may get a bit boring. But you never know.. The ducks might return one beautiful day 😉
You have your own posters with all gigs for every month: Who came up with the idea of that campaign? Why did you choose those crazy names for the posters?
What has been your aim with creating those tour posters?
Again, these things kind of come as an accident. After seeing DJs post their agenda for the month with a picture from their performance, we wanted to do something different. So we gave our agenda the name “Tweekatour”. By giving each month a different theme, it stays interesting for the fans and also us! We work closely with a very talented designer who really knows our style and what we want – so every time he sends us something new, we’re just blown away!
If you could give scores from 1 to 10: How good are you looking on your last tour poster from september?
Definitely 12! All that fast food and alcohol really kept our bodies in shape… haha.
Let’s remember your legendary b2b set together with Darren Styles from this year’s Defqon.1:
Why did you choose the Defqon.1 festival for your Tweekacore debut performance? How does the success of the Tweekacore makes you feel after the debut? Did it make you crave for more?
Well, Q-dance always enjoys something special. We did a Tweekacore set for the first time at Defqon.1 Chile (White stage) actually, which was just for fun. Q-dance wanted us to do it again on the UV, so of course we had to go to the next level. We had a talk with Darren and he was really excited to do it. We just dove into the studio to prepare and get things rolling on the whole look and feel of the Tweekcore project. The reactions were absolutely crazy. Together with Darren we turned the UV into the Mainstage! So basically, Tweekacore is now an exclusive act you can book. We’re working on a lot more things around this project as well in regards to both music and the whole look and feel of the project.
We love UK Hardcore and as you may already know, our music is very similar to the feeling of UK Hardcore – very very happy and energetic.
At the beginning of your career, you had a 8-bit-sound in your tracks. This nintendo sound created an oldschool atmosphere and everybody loved it. It has been your badge.
How did you go from the 8-bit sound to your current fun-sound with the occasional pop-culture reference and will the 8-bit sound maybe make a comeback?
Well, 10 years ago – when we first started, DAWs were very limited and we were into retro gaming (and still are). For us it’s only logical to implement ideas and sounds into our music which are very close to our hearts. Back then it was gaming. Now that we’re well, more professional, we also want to make sure our production quality is high but still keep our fun and energetic style. The 8-bit sounds still make an occasional appearance in our tracks, so we haven’t completely forgotten our roots 🙂
A few days ago you announced that you will be playing at Qlimax this year. Congratulations! How does it feel being able to play there? What was the reaction of your Tweeka-family?
Thank you! Qlimax has always been that one party we’d hope to tick off our list. We’ve been several times as visitors. So of course, we are super excited to finally perform at Qlimax and it also brings along a good portion of nerves. We don’t get nervous very easily, but then again.. it’s QLIMAX! The Tweeka-family has been very supportive of course! It’s so great to see that they’re also happy for us and also good to see so many people who have tickets who are as excited as we are that we’ll be performing there.
A lot of people seem to be confused about what to expect from a Tweekaz Qlimax set – What awaits us?
Let’s get one thing straight. We’re Da Tweekaz and Q-dance is very much aware that they have booked Da Tweekaz for Qlimax. Now, let that sink in a bit.
Of course, just like with every thematic event, we always adapt to the night and it goes without saying we’re very busy working on new material for Qlimax. Let’s just say we still got a few tricks up our sleeve 😉
What is special about Qlimax for you? You have been there as visitors, what were your impressions?
We’ve already been several times. If we don’t have bookings that weekend, we go. Back in the days we used to even free up that weekend, just so we could go and party with our friends who always fly in from Norway. It’s kind of a little holiday for us. It’s hard to explain what Qlimax is. It’s always an event that sets a new level for stage design, technique and atmosphere. It’s just electrifying and you need to be there to understand the exact feeling. It’s like everyone is there for the same reason as yourself. To be amazed, to let loose and to be together in that one place.
“It’s hard to explain what Qlimax is. It’s always an event that sets a new level for stage design, technique and atmosphere. It’s just electrifying and you need to be there to understand the exact feeling.” – Da Tweekaz
Tell us 3 things that should not be missing in your life.
1. Our studio. 2. Our gaming setups. 3. Our fans <3
Any last words for your Tweeka-family and the Hardstyle fans out there?
Thanks for being the best fans in the World! Without you, none of this would’ve been possible!!
Thank you for the interview! We wish you all the best! See you soon
Follow Da Tweekaz:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DaTweekaz
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/DaTweekaz
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/Tweekaz
WWW: http://www.datweekaz.com
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/datweekaz
Photo Credits:
Still (Heart Like Mine), Da Tweekaz,
Decibel, Syndicate