Australia’s leading Slayer: Brace yourself for Delete

Ryan Biggs aka ‘Delete’ is probably Australia’s deadliest Rawstyle producer that has ever walked this planet. Known in the scene for his immersive sets shaped with alien sounds and overwhelming unhuman kicks, Delete stands as one of the most creative, aggressive and unmatched artist you can see perform in the scene.

His live act ‘Delete VIP’ is one of the most searched sets, in Hardstyle, on the web. Each of them brings a whole new chapter to his scorching machine-like legacy. Master of the dark arts, his post-apocalyptic style could match some kind of a cross-over between ‘Matrixx’ & ‘Mad Max’ where Mutants and Hybrids would rape the planet from the last surviving humans and feed of them.Attending one of his live acts, will not only shock & awe you, but also carry you away to a whole new dimension where you would feel as if you were expecting the beginning of a staggering machine invasion descending upon Earth.

And today we have the honour to host him in our headquarters to talk about his vision of hardstyle since his last visit at the Mag, and get to know what we can expect for the important dates not to miss for this year’s festival season.

Ryan, it’s so great to have you here today ! How are you doing?
I’m very well thanks! It’s great to be here.

You have left Australia now a couple years ago to play in Europe, as the Netherlands offer the biggest rawstyle scene in Hardstyle. Though… if I say… “Aussie Aussie Aussie” what do you say?
Oi oi oi!

I love asking this, it works all the time ahah! Now I want to get back to what first brought you to Hardstyle. How did it all started?
It started around 2003/04. I got into Hardstyle in the early days and as soon as I got a taste, I was hooked. Tracks like Deepack – The Prophecy literally changed my life. The energy, attitude, the punchy gated kicks. It was like nothing I had ever heard. All these years later I’m a sucker for the OG Hardstyle sound.And when did you tell yourself ‘Well, yesterday I said tomorrow let’s JUST DO IT!’ and started actually producing?
Haha that phrase is the story of my life. Always pushing things to tomorrow. However I got started really quickly. I took up both producing and DJing around the same time. I already had experimented with basic production before that but just basic shit like playing with samples and loops, so I already had some software and a touch of knowledge to get really stuck into it and craft my own sounds and build entire tracks.

Hardstyle was the kick in the ass to get me going and ever since I’ve been dedicated to spinning and producing Hardstyle.

In Hardstyle it’s very common to have some kind of mentors that teach you the art of producing and mixing. It’s like in Star Wars, there is always this ‘Rule of the Two’. Did you have any mentor or are you a self made master?
Self made master all the way! While some have mentors, it’s definitely not the standard. I believe this is an artform that is best developed with your own independance. It’s no shortcut, and it’s very time-consuming. But it’s the only way to truly shape a unique sound.

Sure, some guidance is all good and learning the basics like the actual theory and such needs to be learnt somehow, but for me it was reading books and watching DVDs (back then youtube tutorials were not a really a thing). Forums were helpful also. We are forever learning though and every time I collaborate I learn from the other artist and vice-versa. Everyone has their own small tricks!

There are endless ways to approach music creation. Someone can teach you how they approach it, but then you end up sounding like them if you follow their lead too much. If someone does get mentored, as long as they take the knowledge and experiment in their own ways with it, then it’s fine. Fooling around and experimenting is where the unique shit comes into existence!In Australia there is a small community of Hardstyle/Hardcore producers starting with the obvious Toneshifterz, Audiofreq and Code Black, but also with other artists like Kamikaze, Vazard, Splinta or Decipher & Shinra. Who do you hang out the most with ?
Vazard is a very good friend of mine. He is also a Hardstyle lover from the early days and we met before we started Spoontech Records which is where we both started releasing our music. But they are all top Aussies and all are talented in their own way!

You forgot to mention Outbreak who is also a good pal of mine and we finally made a track together called ‘Sucka For Pain’!

Alright, I would like now to talk a little bit more about your vision of Rawstyle. We all have here listened your jaw-dropping sounds and attended your stunning live acts. Where does all this energy you put in tracks come from?
I’ve always favored energetic music. It’s the energy that got me into the harder styles. The way an energetic track can lift you up is a powerful thing. Raw Hardstyle has taken energy to a new level which I really love. For me it’s all bout making empowering music. Music that makes you feel strong and powerful because that’s what Hardstyle did to me all those years back.

Combine that with a tonne of drive and cool rhythms and you get the heaviest legal drug you can get!

And where does your inspiration come from mainly? I would say that you would draw your inspiration from sci-fi novels or movies?
I absolutely love sci-fi so you are definitely not wrong, but I really get inspiration from many sources. It’s all subconcious though. Everything I’ve loved in music in the past has some kind of influence on my productions even without thinking about it. So in saying that, I can’t give exact sources of inspiration as it comes from deep within. But in terms of sound design, the more out of this world it sounds, the better!I have selected a few tracks and I would like you to tell me if you to describe what was going through your mind when you produced them. Does that sound like a deal?
Sure!

Embrace It (VIP Edit) – Delete: I feel like in this track, you create a perfect combination of a human shifting into a Hybrid. The repetition of quick human sounds paced with a blasting kick and screeching makes me think of a human ‘Embracing’ this overwhelming machine feeling, and leaving his ‘human body’ to become a machine.
It’s cool that you see that kind of imagery from the track. That wasn’t the exact intention but that’s how music should be, open to everyone’s own interpretation. The vocal is a very short piece of dialogue that can be interpreted in many ways which i think is always cool. My initial connection to it is more of a ‘make the most of it’ message. Embrace what you are doing, embrace the day, don’t waste it etc. I love motivational ‘kick in the ass’ messages!

Genocide – Delete: Sheer brutality transcripted into a symphony of distorted screeches and hammering kicks. My favorite part are of course the screeches that are so nonhuman-like.  Now I don’t know if this track is linked to Australia’s history, where English settlers massacred pretty much all the aboriginal tribes, or genocide as a word. Could you maybe tell us why you called this track Genocide and what you had in mind when creating it?
I’m glad you asked because it’s nice to clear this one up because Genocide is quite a brutal word and subject but it’s all fictional in this case. The vocals are from the ending of the original ‘Fallout’. Well, one of the endings. In the game there are these mutated creatures called Deathclaws. Basically they’ve been completely annihilated, so genocide in this case is wiping out this fictional race, and not anything from our world.

Gone Too Far – Vazard & Delete vs Main Concern, :

For me it’s one of my favorite track of yours, where you can absolutely picture a scorched planet with a few bones lying in a deserted and ravaged land.  “Millions perhaps even billions died because science outpaced man’s restraint”. The sounds, the heavy kicks, everything is set like in a sci-fi movie with heavy machine pounding what’s left of the human race.
Another Fallout vocal haha, this one is from Fallout 4. But yes this vocal has an awesome message that is really sci-fi but I think could beome reality in the future. ‘Technology gone too far’.

You also made two tracks called ‘Dismissed’ and ‘Dismissed Again’. Can we expect for a ‘Dismissed Again & Again ‘ final track to close the trilogy? 😀
Annnnd those vocals are from Fallout 2 hahaha. Please dont ask me about ‘Mutants’ next :p

Well as you can see I need to give anything Fallout related a rest, but I love the series ever since the original way back in the days and it has always had incredible dialogue. Anyway, I could make another as there is plenty more dialogue to work with, but for now I rather concentrate on some totally fresh stuff. I have so much in the works but we’ll see!

It was a pleasure to have you with us again Ryan, we cannot wait to see what you have cooking for us in your studio for this festival season. The whole team wishes you the absolute best for your career. Thank you for your time!
Thank you for the kind words and the great interview!