When it comes to Hardstyle, Holland is still at the forefront of the global scene. But there are also a lot of enthusiastic, highly motivated people from outside of Holland bringing Hardstyle vibes to their home soil.
During Amsterdam Dance Event the Hard Dance Event celebrated his 7th edition. As the name states, the conference event was all about Hard Dance Music. We were listening to the panel „Hard Is Everywhere“, with Mario Benic (Hard Island Croatia), Simon Coffey (Q-dance Australia) and Benjamin Reichert (Musical Madness Germany). Our focus was on the German based speaker Benjamin Reichert. With his event company Musical Madness he has been spreading and promoting Hardstyle since the beginning of its business back in 2006.
Hardstyle and its position within the global music business
As you all know, PARTYSAN is mostly dealing with house and techno music. We’re not that deeply rooted into the Hardstyle scene, which made it totally interesting to have a quick overview of the topic at the Hard Dance Event. The speakers of the panel were nicely selected as we heard them speaking about the globalization of Hardstyle on every continent of the globe. Especially for the younger electronic music lovers, Hardstyle events and venues are bustling hotspots for their musical passion. A passion which Mario, Simon and Benjamin share deeply. Mario organizes bus tours from the Balkan area to the main events all over Europe, while Simon is the head of Deqfon.1 Australia, the biggest Harder Styles festival in the Down Under.
The different Hardstyle scenes in Holland and Germany
In the German Hardstyle scene, Benjamin is one of the main figures. Since 2006 he pushes Hardstyle (and back in the days Hardtrance) in all kinds of different ways. Musical Madness, his company, provides the clubbers with the full range of events, varying from small club events, to DJ tours and massive raves in big locations. Even though for many people the Holland event structure is the way to go, Benjamin doesn’t consent to the trends in Holland.
„There isn’t a real clubscene for Hardstyle music anymore in Holland. In the last years it became all more and more focused upon the bigger events and stages. I think, that it’s absolutely important, to keep the scene alive by pushing it from the base up to the bigger venues. We try to give young, aspiring acts a platform to gain experience performing on stage. They need opportunities to play and not only attain studio expertise to produce big hits. That’s why we’re absolutely satisfied with the German business structures that we’re working in.”
There’s no doubt about every artist wanting to be on big, international stages and wishing to be part of one of the headlining agencies. Benjamin is sure that without the necessary basic work, none of the acts would be successful in the long run.
“The German market is getting bigger and bigger in a very short period of time, but there are not many German acts and producers. One of the german acts we’re working together with right now closely is Scantraxx Silver Artist Airtunes. We try to establish him step by step, give him opportunities to play at our events and support his production work.”
The next big project coming from the think tank and event magic factory Musical Madness will be “I Am Hardstyle” – a close collaboration with Hardstyle mastermind Brennan Heart. The event will take place on January 28th in the well known Maimarkthalle in Mannheim, and will mark the biggest indoor Hardstyle event in Germany. We wish Benjamin and Musical Madness good luck for this next step in the Musical Madness evolution!
Thanks a lot guys for having us! It was absolutely great to gain a little insight to your work! Check out more PARTYSAN content from Amsterdam!