Whilst the world is caught in the corona madness, this man seems to be more active than ever before. He just released his EP ‘All or Nothing‘ and promises one track each month. Reason enough for us, to meet and talk to Hard Driver.
For Hardstyle Mag it is always something very special when we can meet persons from the music scene for an interview. You got the questions, but you never know – what the person will answer. So let’s start with Let’s talk to Hard Driver.
Hey Freek! Thanks for giving us the opportunity for this interview.
What’s up Hardstyle Mag! Thanks for having me.
You released the All Or Nothing project in January. Could you please tell us a bit more about this concept?
With All Or Nothing I’m raising the bar for myself this year. I love to challenge myself, so I came up with the idea of All Or Nothing. It’s about giving 100% in life – if I’m going to do something, I’m going 100% in or otherwise I won’t do it. It’s a mindset I’m using in my professional life but also my personal life. This resulted in the idea to release a lot of music in 2020 – a minimum of one track each month. Also, I still hope I can premiere All Or Nothing LIVE this year – which is the upgraded experience of my live act. Fingers crossed we can party again as soon as possible!
2020 seems to become your year! At least one track each month. Wow, every month – sounds like stress, doesn’t it?
Haha, it’s a lot of music, but it’s surely doable. Before I started with ‘All Or Nothing’, I already had multiple ideas to work with and besides that, I spend a lot time in the studio. I’m feeling very creative lately so the producing process goes relatively easy. I simply can’t wait to show all the music I have in store for everyone this year!
How did you experienced the moment when you heard the whole festival season got canceled?
Well, we all kinda saw it coming right? But when I heard it, there was this moment of awareness where I thought: ‘damn, this is really happening’. The whole situation sucks. It sucks that we can’t party and it’s terrible for all the promotors who have or had to cancel their events. During the first weeks when the whole crisis started, I was in a really bad mood because I saw all my bookings got canceled, but now I accepted it. We need to overcome this together and stay positive. Also, I think we’re very lucky with all the medical and technical services nowadays. It makes the whole situation easier I think. I’m sure we’ll come back stronger than before!
No festivals in 2020, how are you going to spend all that extra time?
At the moment I’m spending even more time in the studio and thus more music is getting prepared for this year and next year. Also, I’m preparing some cool things to keep my fans entertained during the coming months. I’m going to record live sets so I can still play all the new music for my fans and I’m setting up music production tutorials. I get a lot of production related questions and demo’s everyday. Normally, I simply don’t have time to answer all those questions and listen to those demo’s. Since I have more time now, I want to help upcoming producers. Consequently more info about this soon!
Whatsapp contact
Furthermore, I recently started getting in contact with my fans through WhatsApp. I want to stay in contact with my fans as much as possible during these weird times. I’m sending them exclusive studio content and they’re the first ones to hear about new music, merchandise and upcoming projects. I get a lot of messages everyday – it’s fun! People can add me by adding my number and send me a message: +31630205024
You also started the All Or Nothing YouTube-series – a mini-series with unique behind the scenes. We think that this is pretty unique, can you tell us a bit more why you launched this series?
I thought it was cool to give my fans more insight in my life as a producer/dj, but also show some personal things. Fans can expect awesome behind the scene footage like the trailer shoot of All Or Nothing, but also backstage footage at several shows. I’m very happy with the feedback so far on the first two episodes! The next episode is scheduled for April 29th.
All Or Nothing Episode 2
So really many things are going on, but how are such creative things developed? Is there someone who inspires you or who supports you with developing new ideas?
To be honest, I don’t really have one single source of inspiration. I get inspiration out of many different things, like watching a movie, take my dogs for a walk or listening to many different musical genres. All of these ‘normal’ day activities keeps my creative river flowing – which can be a downside by the way, because sometimes when I’m watching a movie and I come up with an idea, I go straight to my studio, haha.
We also got some fan questions collected from our socials, people want to ask you:
Fan questions – awesome! Let them come!
A few bootlegs of yours aren’t released yet. Is there any plan to release them in the near future?
Haha, people ask me this question a lot. I can only say 2020 is going to be full of Hard Driver music..
What is a source of inspiration of yours?
Like I said before, it can be anything – something I see during a movie, a particulair sound, a certain vocal or sometimes just music in general. All those different sources of inspirations form one big source of inspiration for me.
How can you describe the feeling when you’re on stage?
What feels like a very short period filled with energy and adrenaline, haha. I hope to be back on stage as soon as possible, I miss partying with you!
Are you proud to be part of The Elite?
I surely am! Coone, Da Tweekaz and me go way back. We know each other already for so long which makes it even more fun to work with these guys. Last year we did – what we thought back then – a one time performance as The Elite and we also made the track ‘The Elite’. We immediately felt the good vibes and connection on and off stage, so we decided to make it an official act. We’re hoping to do more The Elite shows in the near future.
Is there a message you would like to sent to your fan base now?
A big thank you to everyone who supported me so far. I’m more than ready to deliver a lot of quality music this year. Finally, stay safe and healthy during these weirds times. Together we can and will beat this crisis!
Thanks for the interview!
Thanks for the interview Hardstyle Mag! Until the next time.
Hard Driver ft. Szen – All Or Nothing