In case you have been living under a rock, the very first Q-Dance event in Canada is taking place tonight in Edmonton and has an absolutely stellar lineup that includes the famous Dutch hardstyle artist Frontliner. He's no stranger to Canadian crowds as he graced us with his presence in two recent events in Alberta and B.C. Frontliner started his success as a hardstyle artist back in 2006, and is well known to have a diverse style. So without further ado, go ahead and get to know Frontliner before he takes the big stage tonight for the first ever Sound of Q-Dance in Canada:
1. Who is Frontliner?
Your everyday normal guy with a crazy passion for hardstyle!
2. What style of hardstyle do you play?
My style! I don’t believe in working within sub genres, I make whatever I want to produce as long as it’s hardstyle, I like to keep it a bit on the euphoric side, I’m crazy about melodies but when it doesn't have a hard kick or when it isn't 150 BPM it ain't hardstyle. so that is the only limitation I set for my self, it isn't difficult though, I love the energy hardstyle offers and if it was up to me I would never change a thing about that! That energy that hardstyle carries, you don’t find that in other genres, if you do, let me know ;-)
3. You've been to Canada at a few shows in Alberta and Vancouver last year, how do you find the Canadian crowd as compared to European ones?
Well, this is a strange question cause crowds differ all over the world, even within Europe itself but let me put it like this: Hardstyle loves Canada and that isn’t for no reason, CANADA ROCKS! I have to admit I’ve had some of the most insane crowds in Canada
4. Hardstyle seems to be making few inroads in North America, what's your take on this genre of music getting bigger in this part of the world?
I don’t really care about that, I’m happy as long as I can perform and produce, I really don’t care where I have to do so, I’m so thankful for just being able to play!
5. Q-Dance is making their Canadian debut next month in Edmonton and you're a headliner – how important is this event for hardstyle and what can fans expect from your performance?
Well, with Q events the quality is always high and especially when you bring something into a relatively new market you need to make sure to set a standard. hardstyle production wise is on such a high level now, this is the time! I’m happy to help q-dance by bringing the musical part. You can expect me to play a lot of my own tracks. I don’t know, I just get such a great vibe from the feedback of the crowd, watching everyone go crazy on your own productions is just unreal, every time again. I never got why DJ’s want to play other DJ’s hits but then again I don’t know any other hardstyle producers with a discography of 105 tracks. ;-)
6. Tell me about the Summer Of Frontliner series of track releases – it seems you've been very busy in the studio!
I have been! I absolutely loved working on this project releasing a video once a week with the footage of the festival the weekend before was challenging but I have such great people around me to help me out with that part that I could only focus on producing, we had a few deadlines that I nearly missed but all worked out fine. The feedback I got was just great!
7. What can we expect from Frontliner for the rest of 2014 and beginning of 2015?
Sometimes I set the bar too high but I still believe that's good, I now have a great studio where I love to work and I just keep on producing, of course the news just got out that I’ll be having my own X-Qlusive Frontliner in the holy grail of hardstyle in Amsterdam next January, I am a man on a mission to make the most out of this opportunity Q-dance gave me!
