“Ecstatic is the new euphoric duo created by Wouter & Jordy, two close friends from The Netherlands. To create the most euphoric feelings, giving people goosebumps with their music is their highest goal. With improving their sound in the last couple of years, Ecstatic is now ready to show their sound with the world. Their first tracks “Gold (Bootleg)” and “You’re Not Alone” have already been supported by several colleagues and played in podcasts like The Magic Show and the XXlerator Podcast. […]” Just a few words from their biographie. Ready to conquer the scene, the guys stood stand our quick Q&A!
First of all thank you guys from accepting to give a little bit of your time to answer a few questions! How do you feel today?
Pretty good, thanks!
You are one of the most promising young talents in the euphoric scene but you also do rougher tracks, as it seems in your Warm-up Mix for Q-Base. For those that haven’t yet listened to your sound, could you tell us a bit more about Ecstatic?
Ecstatic - Q-Base Theracords Bunker - Warm-Up
Well, we have been associated as an euphoric act last year, but this year we’ve also experimented with some harder stuff. Another thing is that we always try to develop best way we can and just do the hell we want, so every track is and will be different. But in the end our signature sound would be elevating breakdowns and energetic climaxes. We’d love to implement lots of orchestral stuff as well.
If we go way back in time, when was the first hardstyle track that you had ever listened to?
Wouter: Headhunterz – Scantraxx Roots
Jordy: I don’t know which year it actually was (probably somewhere in 2005 ), butthe first hardstyle track was for me The KGB’s – Technogym. It was something totally new and I loved the energy!
It’s always great to know how duo forms, as there is always a little story behind. When did you guys first met?
We were in high school together from the first grade. So that’s about almost 9 years ago now. Basically Wouter was making music, and jordy had a vision with hardstyle, so we decided to combine our knowledge and form a team.
What pushed you to produce Hardstyle and not another genre?
Well, Wouter still produces other genres with another alias, but we both spend about almost all our time on Hardstyle music. It’s a genre were you can do everything you want, which is a lot of fun, and for the creative mind, the possibilities are endless. For example, our anthem of Promised Land contains a moment where you fly above a valley, and the next moment you’re standing in the savanna’s, nobody bats an eye. The genre is always expanding and evolving so it’s just a lot of fun and keeps it interesting.
Was this “First Encounter” with Hardstyle like a crush right away or did it take you a little longer before you get dedicated to the genre itself?
Wouter: Took some time, but I think I was completely hooked when I saw the dvd’s of Qlimax 2009.
Jordy: The liveset of headhunterz @ Q-base 2007, I literally spammed that liveset! And when I saw some more videos of Qlimax 2007 I felt even more in love.
Most of the artists in the Hardstyle scene don’t only listen to Hardstyle, but also other genres like Jazz, Classic music, Rock, Metal and son on. Do you only listen to Hardstyle?
Wouter: NO definitely not! Actually I don’t even listen thát much hardstyle at home, it isn’t the first thing that comes into my mind when I want to relax. I’d like to listen to orchestral music like Thomas Bergensen, Hans Zimmer, but also to Deephouse, House and Trance. Basically anything, except Hardrock or Metal.
Jordy: Well I’m bit less open minded, 95% of my time I listen to hardstyle. But yeah sometimes I also like to listen to orchestral music or progressive house.
What is your favorite Hardstyle artist ?
Wouter: Noisecontrollers
Jordy: Noisecontrollers of course, he keeps amazing me every single track. He is always 2 steps ahead of the scene.
If we look at how many tracks you have produced so far and the quality of the music, and the amazing melodies that you create all the time, I think that you can expect an explosive career in the upcoming years! Where do you get your inspiration from?
Being on the road always helps. You’re in a surrounding where you aren’t familiar with it, so get a type of feeling of the place, or you just feel different then when you are at home. It’s one of the perks by producing laptop with headphones, you can just take out your laptop and go nuts. Also listening to other genres such as classical/orchestral music gets the creative juices flowing.
Ecstatic - The Hidden Valley ft. Aeros (Preview)
So I have selected a few my favorite tracks that you have produced so far. All of them are absolute masterpieces. It reminds me about all the legendary melodies that we could find in the early HardwithStyle podcasts. But what strikes me the most is that the atmosphere your create is so various, none of the tracks you have produced so far sounds like any other, and yet you can tell that each of them has this little touch that makes people say ‘ Oh yeah this track has 100% Ecstatic DNA!’. How do you do this guys?
Yeah just like we mentioned before, no track is the same, so I guess our DNA is mutant hehe. Basically you can tell it’s us by tackling the composition. The workflow is mostly the same, so no matter how different a track sounds, you can always find some resemblance in terms of structure. Also we don’t look two hours for some specific FX or synths so we made some Ecstatic banks with some sounds that we keep using, until we’re bored with it or make something better. (So for the tracks I have selected, that will of course feature in the article when it’s posted, I chose’ Collide’, ‘Elevation’, ‘Hidden Valley’,’ Time is Now’. )
In the last HardwithStyle podcast your latest remix from ‘Time is now’ of Sogma & Micheal Phase has been a huge hit. But I think this is a little tease as I bet you have many more amazing tracks coming our way, I am wrong?
Definitely, lots of stuff coming your way which will surprise you! We have a few collaborations in progress. One with DJ Thera for example. Also there is a great free release coming up when we hit 3k Facebook likes, Ursine
Vulpine ft. Annaca – Wicked Game (Ecstatic Bootleg).
[fbvideo link=”https://www.facebook.com/Ecstaticnl/videos/611673859002363/” width=”800″ height=”500″ onlyvideo=”1″]
Can you tell us a bit more about your everyday life? Are you guys working full time as Ecstatic or do you study/work at the same time?
That would be the dream right! But no we’re both studying at the moment.
Alright guys, you also played an amazing set this year at the Defqon.1 Purple Stage. Was it your first Defqon.1 ever?
Wouter: Yeah it was the first time I ever attended Defqon, so I didn’t really know what to expect, it was really amazing. Probably the best crowd we’ve ever had, really dedicated and you could really feel the atmosphere!
Jordy: It was the 5 th defqon already for me. So I knew this was going to be a crazy ride!
You are also playing at Q-Base “Die Hards Only” this year, and I bet you are cooking us something incredible for this event. Can you give us a little teaser of what’s coming ?
At Q-BASE it’s time to show the other side of Ecstatic. We will be doing a 30 minutes show with only Ecstatic music, including lots of new stuff and edits. We will take it one step further, harder, louder!
What are your absolute favorite indoor and outdoor event in the scene?
Both: Qlimax and Defqon!
The whole Hardstyle Mag team wishes you the very best in your career and we hope that you will keep going this way as you are what Hardstyles stands for: open-minded and very creative. True compounds that make legends! Thank you for your time guys!
Both: Thanks for the kind words and for having us!