With a complete new Album that supports his live act, Ran-D seems always to be time ahead, innovating and surprising his fans. Besides his live act ‘Gunz for Hire’ his creativity never seems to fade away. Time for us to meet him for an interview.
The new album from Ran-D ‘Illuminate’ has just been released and we already can confirm that this Album is a masterpiece again. But with this, a lot of questions arise. For example, why is this only Album No. 2? what is next?
So we met Ran-D for an interview.
Hey Randy, thank you really for this interview. Congratulations to your upcoming album. Can you tell us a bit about it?
Awesome talking to you guys! I’m really happy with how the album turned out. It’s really a really versatile album, ranging from more Euphoric tracks with vocals to Raw Bangers and even some Hardcore. I’ve always produced a really broad range of styles cause my taste is just really broad and this keeps the process of producing interesting for me. I’m a true perfectionist, so I’ve worked really hard on every aspect of the track, the originality, the mixdown and the sound design. I’m really proud of the end result!
You have been part of the Hardstyle Scene now for decades. But this is actually your second album only. Why?
I’ve always enjoyed working on singles, and I’ve always been really productive with this. When I made We Rule The Night, I already had a lot of tracks on the shelf to be released and I thought why not challenge myself and make it an album ;-D I enjoyed that process a lot, and that’s why I decided to do a second one now with
How was the Idea for the album born? And especially the title?
I decided I wanted to challenge myself again to make an album and create a live show around this that would be a real experience. With my own event/concept We Rule The Night, the intro for my show where I’m wearing a mask contained elements that inspired me for the illuminate show. During the intro of that show the whole room turns dark, and my mask lights up and in the back on the led screen the logo that’s on the mask lights up in a strobe sequence. I felt that intro was so powerful that I wanted to create a new show in that style with the theme of illumination. It was a true coincidence that the day after our graphic designer dropped the mood board for the show with the word Illumination on it, the vocalist and writer of the track Illuminate (Loren Nine Geerts)send me the topline of the track Illuminate. I loved the topline immediately and started working on the track. It all came together perfectly, and so Illuminate was born.
How long did it take you to create this album? I mean from the very first production to now?
The first tracks I made a couple of months before Qlimax 2022, and the last track that I finished was Viper which I finished in October, so around a year. I had a minor setback, since we couldn’t clear the first collab I made with B-Front which is a remix of the soundtrack from the movie Braveheart, so we had to go back into the lab and make a new one. But besides that the production went pretty smooth.
Of course, the album is special, but if you look deep down into yourself–are there maybe 2 or 3 tracks that have a special background story or meaning to you?
Wow that is a really hard question because the tracks are really versatile so this makes it hard to choose.
But born to be free is definitely a special one. We had such a fun time in the studio together, and I you can hear this in the track, it has a very honest and positive message. Life isn’t always easy, but you have to pick yourself up and fight for your happiness.
Besides this I also love Illuminate a lot, it has so much feeling and I still love playing the track a lot.
We see a lot of collabs on the album. How was the work with Armin van Buuren?
Well I didn’t work together with him, hahaha. I just got a dropbox link with all the parts and started working on the remix. I already loved the original a lot, and really heard the potential to make it a Hardstyle banger, so I was hyped to work on this track. But maybe in the future I’ll actually work together on a track with Armin, who knows, would definitely be cool!
We also noticed that people can still order a Vinyl. Are there still people ordering that good old thing?
Hahaha, well yeah. It’s more of a collectors item I guess, but you see more and more people who buy a modern record player and actually play the vinyl. To me it gives a nostalgic feeling. I still remember playing vinyls at the start of my career, this was always so much fun! Good memories!
So what’s next? Any new projects? What can we expect in 2024?
I’m already working on a new show for next year that is gonna blow your mind in terms of visuals and experience, and it’s gonna be called Untamed. We already have two shows planned at Apex in Germany and Reverze in Belgium. Of course I’m gonna be making a lot of new bangers for this show as well, so no time to get lazy!!! And with Gunz For Hire we’re also planning a new show, so expect a lot of new raw bangers from Gunz as well. ;-D
And even closer, what are your plans for Christmas and new year’s eve?
I’m taking a Holiday with the family in Winterberg! Really looking forward to that since I don’t have much time off and with my work I don’t always get to spend as much quality time with them as I want to (and as they deserve).
Any special words to your fans out there?
You guys are amazing! Because of you I get to do the thing I love the most, making music every day and playing my music at events and this makes me really happy. You guys give me so much energy, and I truly want to thank you for this! Germany has the most amazing dedicated Hardstyle Family, and I love playing in Germany a lot. I hope you enjoy streaming Illuminate guys, thanks for all the support!
THANK YOU FOR THE INTERVIEW!
The full album can be ordered here