Sub Sonik is on fire! After announcing his debut album ‘Strike One’, we pulled the Rawstyle artist from WE R aside to tell us more about what we can expect from him in the future, (of course) ‘Strike One’ and future plans! Enjoy our interview!
Hi, Sub Sonik, thanks for having us! To start off, how are you doing at the moment? Your performing schedule seems to be packed!
Hiya, Thanks for inviting me for this interview. I’m doing really well at the moment! My schedule is indeed really packed, I got one or more shows every weekend. And it’s really cool to finally play my new album live!
I think it is safe to call you the biggest raw talent of WE R. How is the work at WE R Raw, the communication with the label, maybe Brennan Heart?
Thanks for the compliment, but I think we’re all doing great lately. WE R has been releasing really solid, good stuff. I have a good relationship with Brennan Heart, he supports me in everything that I do.
Recently you played at the first edition of Supremacy Australia and you premiered Strike One at this massive event. How did you experience the response of this dedicated crowd?
The crowd was really dedicated and they already knew a lot of the ‘Strike One’ tracks. The moment I dropped Sandstorm everyone went nuts (fan video)! So to sum things up, the first edition of Supremacy Australia was one for the books!
Can you compare the Australian crowd to the Dutch crowd? In what way are they the same and how are they different?
For the Australians, this was their first RAW Hardstyle event, so they were really hyped. People started screaming when Supremacy kicked off because it was a special moment for them. It was incredible to see their big dedication while playing my tracks.
The Dutchies are really settled in to the RAW sound already and we have loads of events throughout the year. So they are not as psyched, but they sure know how to throw a party and I always get great energy of the Dutch crowd.
At what point did you decide to bring out an album?
After my Payback E.P. and releasing the ‘Hear You Scream’ video (with Outbreak), I had a lot of new concept tracks which I was working on. That’s when the idea of bundling it into one album popped up. I sat down with Fabian (Brennan Heart), WE R and my booking managers Daniel and Veerle and they were all really excited about the the ideas about the album.
How did you experience the road towards releasing the album?
The album was a secret project, nobody except WE R, my bookings agency MWDJ and some artist who worked with me on the album knew. WE R and I decided on a deadline, made a schedule and I finished off all new tracks. It was a tight squeeze as I was still finalizing a track 24 hours before deadline, so that got me a bit stressed up.
In the end, we are really happy with the big result and the awesome response by fans!
How did you come up with the name ‘Strike One’?
I wanted to make a statement: a debut album, a lot of new and fresh sounds.
The first track on the album is ‘The One’, a collaboration with the biggest MC in hardstyle music. How did you experience working on this track with MC Villain?
Working with MC Villain was really cool, I think he is one of the best vocalists in the Hardstyle scene right now. I had a concept for a new melodic track and send it to him. His response was great, he really liked it and soon after we started working on ‘The One’. His view on the track was really refreshing and we are both very pleased with the result. We decided to put the track as the opening in my album trailer. We also shot a video clip for the track at Reverze which will be premiered soon!
You also had some of your greatest tracks remixed by some huge names in the scene. Why did you choose Delete to do the remix for ‘Look At Me Now’ f.e.?
I like to do something fresh and new. Delete is really on top of his game at the moment, he has his own experimental sound. I heard he played ‘Look At Me Now’ a lot, so I asked him for a remix.
‘After my Payback E.P. and releasing the ‘Hear You Scream’ video (with Outbreak), I had a lot of new concept tracks which I was working on. That’s when the idea of bundling it into one album popped up.’
And how did you come up with letting Destructive Tendencies do a remix of ‘Go!’?
I love the up-tempo style of these guys, really hard with a great drive. They are doing really well at the moment and beside that, they are really dedicated and kind. I send them my stems for the remix and they made a great track, I really dig the result!
If you were offered the opportunity to make a collab with any non-hardstyle artist who would it be?
Headhunterz! I loved his Hardstyle productions and his new house tracks. I think aiming for top quality in your tracks is extremely important these days and I tend to focus on that a lot myself. I often use his tracks as reference and I think he is one of the best producers nowadays.
A little while ago you dropped the videoclip for ‘No Fear’. Why did you choose this track for a videoclip? How long have you been working on it? What does it represent?
I had some chats with ‘No Fear Energy’ and we were talking about doing something together. No Fear’s place of origin is in motor cross. So we quickly came up with the idea to blend my music with their roots.
We shot the video clip in one day with 35 invited fans, a motor cross team and of course.. promo girls. It is really cool to do something outside the box and I’m planning on doing that more often in my upcoming video clips.
If you could choose a superpower, what would it be?
Flying! Would be amazing to fly to shows!
Alright, thank you for having us! Enjoy the response to your album during the upcoming weeks. Do you have any last words for your followers?
Thanks for interviewing me! I hope you enjoy the album. For my followers:
immense gratitude for all the support! See you soon at one of my shows in Germany!
Stream, download or buy Strike One: http://listento.wer-music.com/StrikeOneHM
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Picture Credit: Sub Sonik MGMT