He has been known as Dj Typhoon and his unlikely sound design, most of the time, described as Rawcore. A mix of raw hardstyle and hardcore elements led to this producers sucsess. He rocked all big stages, from Dominator, to Supremacy and Qapital! But he felt like he needs to do something new, something more superior! After his crazy last performance as DJ Typhoon at Defqon.1 2016 he announced his completely new alias – Dj Kataklism! He broke free from his old alias to discover and combine new sounds, but still with that specific Typhoon touch from the past we all love. His decision may surprised many people, so we thought why not asking him the real questions!
Hi Kataklism, first let me ask how are you in this new doing these days, we did spot many new tracks at your social media, must have been a hectic month?
Ciao Hardstyle Mag! I’m pretty fine thanks! A big pleasure to be here! Yeah lately I’m working hard, definitely, has been a hectic month!
For those who don’t know, who is Dj Kataklism?
Kataklism is an Italian quite guy named Claudio, who has a huge love for music!
Some of us might now that your former alias was Typhoon, your final performance under that alias was at Defqon.1, can you describe your feelings during and after this set?
Well, I start saying that Defqon.1 is always amazing, the party, the crowd, the atmosphere… simply UNBELIEVABLE!!! This time has been a bit different, because I knew it was my last performance as Typhoon so I felt a bit strange, a really important chapter in my life and career was ending and a new one was starting… strange feeling 🙂 During the set I had fun all the time, I got a full packed area from the begin till the end of my DJ set, and the crowd went mad! Never forget it!
How did you come up with the name Kataklism? You seem to like forces of nature, haha.
Haha yeah, I thought that a “Kataklism” is more powerful and causes more damages than a simple Typhoon (hahaha)
How would you like to describe the style of Kataklism?
The Kataklism’ style will take inspiration from Typhoon style, but harder and rougher of course, so expect huge kicks and also some kick rolls in the next tracks 😉
Kataklism - Deeper Violence
Let’s go way back in the days, how did you come in touch with Hardstyle?
To be honest, before to came in touch with Hardstyle I’ve been a true Hardcore fanatic, I’ve visited so many big events back in the years, like MoH, Thunderdome, Megarave etc, then around 2009 I discovered Hardstyle, and the first track I listened was “JDX feat. Sarah Marie – Live the moment (and I’m still in love with it)
Who were your heroes back then?
As I said above, I started listening Hardcore first, so my heroes were Tommyknocker, Angerfist, Amnesys, Art of Fighters etc, while when I discovered Hardstyle I started to follow Zatox, Technoboy, Noisecontrollers, Headhunterz, and later with the Rawstyle era, Adaro, Ran D, The R3belz etc
What was the first Hardstyle-event you did ever visit?
Never forget it, Defqon 1 2009 at the old location Almere Strand!
What is your favourite Hardstyle-event so far?
Well, there are so many… I would say Defqon for outdoor events, and Qlimax/HardBass for indoor ones.
What made you decide to start producing your own tracks?
I always wanted to make my own tracks but I missed some important things to know about production, I tried many times to send around my tracks but labels always refused them because my tracks didn’t sound professional… I’ve been lucky that because I had a great teacher and friend from many years like The R3belz, who learned me so many important things and helped me to reach my goal :). I’ll be honest, I knew in part how to use the soft- and the hardware, but when a master explains you some simple but very cool tips all becomes easier 🙂
What does your studio look like? Which equipment do you use, and which studio software?
I have a powerful computer, lot of RAM so it won’t crash while processing sounds, ADAM audio as monitors, some external controllers, and synths, and as software, I use Studio One from Presonus (love it).
Lately many youngsters try to produce their own music, it seems like DJ’ing and Producing became a bit of a hype, or it’s just in everybody’s reach because of the technology and innovation. What do you think about that? Is it good for the scene, or is it an overkill?
Hard question, because from a side it’s a good thing, there will be always people who will try to develop their own and personal sound, different from the others, so they will bring some fresh music, while from the other side it’s bad because some of them will make it just to be famous, without passion and quality, making the same things of nowadays… music needs innovation in my opinion.
Speaking about talents, who would you recommend to keep an eye on?
Surely about Drone, his style is unique! This guy deserves way more attention.
You are speaking about RAWCORE, does this mean you like the sounds of Rawstyle and Hardcore?
RAWCORE is the word I use to call my music style, I started to call it in that way after I produced my track as Typhoon -“RawCore”, but I love both styles of course! that’s why I’m trying to produce my own style, between these 2 genres (similar in my opinion)
You seem to like it rough and loud with a banging bass! Do you like to listen to other music genres as well?
Of course yes! I listen to all kinds of electro music, like techno, hard techno, hardcore, Frenchcore, crossbreed, dubstep etc. Let’s say that I like “computer music”
What are your future plans as Kataklism?
Still, I don’t know about that, I’m producing tracks and sending around to artists and promoters… the main plan is to grow, we’ll see what will happen 😉
What is the craziest thing a fan ever did for you?
A fan called Stefan (my biggest fan ever without doubts) made flags with my name, t-shirts, stickers etc and he never asked for something back… just respect to him!
You did perform at some big events, what is your best on stage experience?
The one where i was nervous to the top was the 1st edition of Supremacy (2014), thousands people in front of me and the biggest stage where i ever performed, but luckily all gone fine, what an experience! And i don’t forget Qapital, Loudness, Dominator, Defqon etc… all amazing experiences!
 As we mentioned before you did play at Defqon.1 at the Indigo stage, you also played at Qapital 2016, Anywhere you would like to play sometime?
There are many, like Fatality, Decibel, Hardbass… and i don’t forget where i already played, like Loudness, Dominator and many many others… Let’s say that i would like to play everywhere, haha
Dj Kataklism - Total Destruction
Of course we went to your sets during these grand events, where else can we spot you in 2016?
I already have some gigs confirmed in The Netherlands and other countries between October and December, they have to be announced yet so I can’t say nothing at the moment :).
There are so many events in The Netherlands, how can we switch this sometimes called overkill to something positive? Do you think it is an overkill of events as well?
I think it’s a positive thing because the scene grows faster, the only bad thing in my opinion is for the visitors, everytime they have difficult to choose where to go (if on a weekend there are 10 cool events it’s really hard to decide)
As an Italian producer it is sometimes hard to get yourself into this ‘Dutch’ world, isn’t it? How can we break these barriers? Do you have any tips for your Italian producer-friends?
Yeah, entering in the Dutch world isn’t easy especially if you come abroad… but with time and passion everyone can do it! just don’t give up, time will come.
We saw many previews at your social-media pages, can expect something big we? An album perhaps or a grand EP?
At the moment there are 2 tracks out, Total destruction and Deeper violence and luckily both tracks are supported by the biggest artists, so happy about that! For the next… who knows? I can just say that 2 new tracks are finished, just waiting for cover art and I will publish the previews online probably next month, plus a waterfall of new solo tracks in the making, collabs, remixes etc… Something is moving, BE READY!
Final Question: Do you have something left to share or to tell your fans? Maybe something exclusive?
I would like to thank you all for your support to Typhoon, I’ll be forever grateful to every one of you… Now it’s all about Kataklism, and to show you my respect, a special gift for you all will come soon… stay tuned! Thanks once again Hardstyle Mag, has been a real pleasure! Ciao! – Claudio / Kataklism
