BPM Boost Presents: Hard Holiday '15 Artists, Anthem & More

By Chase Caskey | November 27, 2015

A line-up of artists that is anything but ‘mellow’. Hard Holiday, Saturday December 19th is promising to be a unique event, especially when compared to what the American Hard Dance has seen before. (And why we’re taking the time to share this event with you.)

Boasting some massive names in talent shipped all the way from overseas, Hard Holiday is bringing out none other than Dutch Hardstyle sensation, Frontliner and Italian Hardcore superstar, Tommy Knocker for what is to be ‘The Hardest’ event of the year.

Frontliner aka the Melody Man, one of the classic legends in Hardsty

le is our main attraction for the night. A versatile artist in the fact that he can play the full spectrum of Hardstyle music and doesn’t limit himself to one specific sound. Known for his euphoric melodies and tons of Hardstyle edits of the most popular club songs, Frontliner’s sets are fun, energetic and intimate!

This next artist is sure to bring out Hardcore fans from across the country. Hard Holiday is presenting an Italian Hadcore legend, the high energy, hard hitting, Tommy Knocker. Playing Hardcore since 1994, he was the first DJ to spin his brand of music in Italian clubs, and has since grown to play on a global level. Through the years Tommy Knocker has played essentially every major hardcore music festival across the world, including Masters of Hardcore and the Defqon 1 Hardcore stage. He has collaborated with artists like The Viper, Paul Elstak and DJ Mad Dog. In my opinion, this is one of the most anticipated sets of Hard Holiday.

The lineup featuring Frontliner and Tommy Knocker goes much deeper than these two legendary artists…

What makes this show something special and genuinely pivotal for the American Harddance Scene, is the focus on artists that are home grown on U.S. soil.

Six American DJ’s and MC Heretik are set to break the stage on December 19th at the Phoenix party.

Imperium, composed of Deoxy and Hardphonix, dare to bring the rawest of the harder styles to your ears. The duo having released an EP in August (‘Pancakes’, which can be found on hardstyle.com) have gained immense support, both at home and abroad, for their music. Imperium is responsible for the creation of the Hard Holiday 2015 Anthem ‘Bring The Light’, but more about that later.

Treachery is supporting the lineup with a dose of his heavy hitting Hardcore sound. His track ‘Midnight Betrayal’ made itself at home to #1 on Hardcore charts. He’s played throughout the East Coast and in Europe, but this will be his first time bringing the core to speakers in Arizona. Bring it to them Treachery, these kids are HARD.

CIK can be credited with igniting the catalyst that is the Arizona/American Hard Dance Scene, with 18 years as a Hardco
re DJ under his belt. . . Short and simple guys, he’s as pro as it gets. Fresh from playing what was referred to as “The best set of HTID USA” (The United States’ largest dedicated Hardcore Festival) he’s no new comer to obliterating festival grounds. When asked what his proudest moment as a DJ was, CIK replied “Smashing Ground Zero 2010”. Playing after Enzyme X; he brought down the hammer known as American Hardcore to over 15,000 people.

MC Heretik in simple words can be called “The voice of American Hard Dance”. By day he voices tracks for producers like Thera, Mrotek, Arctus, Riiho and Digital Minds and many other acts. By night, the Master of Ceromonies guides the audience on a sonic journey into the darkness.

Mrotek was featured recently as the host on BPM Boost’s Halloween Podcast, and he absolutely destroyed it for us. Having released multiple tracks to breach the top 100 list on hardstyle.com, Mrotek has gained support by almost everyone in the realm of Hardstyle. You can hear his tracks being dropped at major Hardstyle festivals consistently. It seems almost every podcast released these days has a track or two of his in the mix. You just can’t stop him! Hear him live at Hard Holiday.
Arctus, young in comparison to most of his colleagues, proves that age is just a number. Talented across the entire spectrum of Hardstyle, he specializes in the darker, heavier side of the style. His recent track ‘Penance’ with Mrotek and MC Heretik was featured in MC villains XXlerator Show EP. 28 as well as Future of Hardstyle EP. 6. He’s gained international support for his music, and he puts on one hell of a show.

The Wicked… Dark, very fucking dark. Heavy as all fuck. And just fucking raw. Words really can’t properly describe a set by The Wicked. Having released his first track ‘Heartless’ with DHD in early October, The Wicked is just getting started.

“An American Event with a European twist to it.”

Each artist starts their set with a unique cinematic intro created by Imperium member Hardphonix. Ominous emissions of sound will bellow introducing each hour’s masterful conductor. Paired with “Basscon style” laser production the entire event promises to create an epic story of the harder styles of dance music. The goal? To create a completely immersive Hard Dance event, from start to finish!

But what’s a major Hard Dance event without an anthem? We have you covered on that as well… (See I told you we’d get to it.)

In a quick interview with Imperium

BPM Boost – “So you guys made the anthem for this year’s edition, give us a little insight as to a story behind it and how you wrote it?”

Aaron (Hardphonix/Imperium) – “Well, when the three of us; Mitchell, Paul and I all sat down to discuss how we we’re going to create the theme and atmosphere for Hard Holiday, we really wanted something unique and one of a kind. Something that the three of us love about Hardstyle is how truly epic it can be, and when a cinematic atmosphere is tied to an event it can make it even more special and memorable for the people that attend. So we wanted to go after a feeling that you couldn’t get at any other type of party. The anthem is called “Bring The Light” and it tells the story of the night from 2 perspectives. Paul, aka MC Heretik, did a great job in laying out the vocals that made our group vision come to life. The story is really about the journey that we all go through in life. We relate it to how some ancient cultures would have these solo journeys into the wilderness to discover themselves or to discover answers to questions. The Hard Holiday vision, to us, turned into that journey of discovery, and about both the search for answers to bigger questions, and what it’s like to find the answers. We want people to make their own interpretations and experience their own story during the night, and we can’t wait to be a part of it.”

Imperium featuring MC Heretik ‘Bring The Light (Hard Holiday 2015 Anthem)’ is set to release December 3rd on hardstyle.com and on all other portals, December 17th. But until then you can listen to it on Soundcloud here:

https://soundcloud.com/denverharddance

BPM Boost – “Any words you’d like to leave us off on?”

Mitchell (Deoxy/Imperium) – “Here is to Hard Holiday, and 2016. The true year for Hardstyle to become… ‘Alive’.”

—————————————————————————————-Connect with the artists:

https://www.facebook.com/djfrontliner

https://www.facebook.com/djtommyknocker

https://www.facebook.com/ImperiumOfDHD

https://www.facebook.com/djtreachery

https://www.facebook.com/djcik

https://www.facebook.com/MCHeretik

https://www.facebook.com/MrotekDJ

https://www.facebook.com/ArctusDJ