In 2013 Jajox, Jacopo Mariotti, changed his alias into Kronos. With his big track; Boom Baby, he is now climbing his way to the top. We wonder who Kronos is. Why did he changes his alias? And what are his future plans. You can read all about the upcoming Italian artists Kronos in our Q&A.
First let me ask, how was your year so far?
This year is going great! I just came back from Australia, after the great NWO tour, mainly based on the new album of Zatox!
It was an incredible experience. After this I played at Daydream Festival, which was insane too. The crowd at this festival in Belgium had some crazy energy!
How did you become familiar with hardstyle music?
The very first time I did listen to a hardstyle track was back in 2005. I was at a party with some friends, and one of them had a hardstyle CD. The first track of the CD was ‘Tatanka – Do You Know This One!’ It was love at first sight!
This is still one of my favorite tracks, by the way! Since that day I started to do research about the genre, watching a lot of videos. And so, I discovered about great events like Qlimax, Defqon.1, Hard Bass etc.
I heard, you get inspiration by your hardstyle predecessors in the Italian hardstyle scene. In this sense, who are your role models and why?
I actually get a lot of inspiration from my Italian mates! I grew up with the sound of Tatanka, Zatox and Activator. Italian hardstyle have always been the best for me. It’s still unbelievable for me to have the chance to work with them.
In 2013, you changed your name Jajox to Kronos, what was the reason for this change?
In 2012, when my name was still Jajox, I decided to improve my sound much more and my dream was to release a track on Zatox’s label. I did start with sending him some of my own productions and after a few months, I finally succeeded.
But we thought the name “Jajox” was too similar to “Zatox”, so we decided to change it, and Kronos became my new alias.
If you had to describe your own style now, how would you do it? And what makes you distinctive from others?
I honestly don’t like to describe my own style. I just try to make music inspired by my feelings. Actually I’m making rough stuff because people are going crazy with that but I want to be free to make any kind of style at any time, but always hardstyle of course. Haha!
So, nothing that makes you special?
I actually like use typical gaming sounds a lot in my tracks. I’m a videogame lover! So I like mixing that with some fat screech and melody.
Kronos & Drone - Level 2
His latest game related song contains so many gaming references! If you like the combination of gaming and hardstyle check out our article: Gaming meets Hardstyle 2
In 2012 you were booked by b2s, for Loudness. Was this your first booking outside Italy? And what has brought this for you?
My first booking outside Italy was; Defqon.1 in 2012, when I played as Jajox at the Purple stage. After that I played two times as Kronos at Loudness, one of them at the main stage.
I had so much fun! I’m not sure if b2s liked my performance because it was my last one with them. 😀
Recently you released a new track, Boom Baby! That song gets played often at festivals, including Qapital. This has made you even more popular in the scene. Do you think that was a breakthrough?
I’m really glad that Boom Baby is going very well! Many DJ’s are playing it at big events! The concept of that track is so easy; just a funny melody with a kick and some screeches. I think is the perfect example to describe this kind of music!
Where can your fans see you other than at Defqon.1 this year?
At the moment, Defqon.1 is the only summer festival confirmed, but it doesn’t mean there aren’t others ahead for me.
Do you have big things coming up, releases or collabs?
I’ve been working very hard lately and I got a lot of new tracks ready! Can’t wait to show them to everyone! I’ve just made a new collab with Zatox called ‘Fuck The System’, which is also going great!
And I just started a new collab with MR. Bassface Outbreak! I’m so excited about this one! I’m sure it’s going to be amazing!
Last but not least, do you want to tell anything to your fans?
I want to thank everybody for the massive support as always! I just reached 10.000 likes on my Facebook page and it’s an unbelievable goal to reach! Thank you for this interview and hope to see you and my fans soon at some big festival! Ciao, Ciao!
Don’t forget to follow Kronos on Facebook and leave a comment for him!