In the latest episode of PLAFONDDIENST – The Hardstyle Podcast, D-Sturb opens up about his new project. During I AM HARDSTYLE – Eternal, he will premiere his new liveshow Universe: a concept focused on emotion and melody, showing the crowd a different, more melodic side of D-Sturb.
ALSO READ: Cryex: “I had to take a step back to work on myself”
“Hardstyle became interesting to me because of the feeling, the emotion and the melodies”
“It’s going to be a set where the melodic side of D-Sturb takes the lead,” he says. “Not just melody though, because tracks like World Out There or Wanna Stay still have some harder bits in them. I like that for the balance.”
With Universe, D-Sturb adds a new chapter to his live concepts. Where High Power highlights his dark, raw side, Universe revolves around melody and atmosphere. Not as a replacement, but as an expansion of his musical range. “Hardstyle became interesting to me because of the emotion and melodies. It’s kind of a nod to my past. I actually started out as a euphoric producer and only later moved into rawstyle.”
“I’m not really into putting hardstyle in boxes. To me, it’s all just hardstyle”
The set will include both older and newer melodic tracks. This year, he already released The Edge and Voices (with Da Tweekaz), two tracks where emotion and melody take the spotlight. But that doesn’t mean the harder work is off the table. “That’s a whole different vibe compared to my tracks with Holy Priest or Regain, that’s OG raw. I always find that a weird term to say out loud. I don’t really care about putting labels on things, but people instantly know what you mean. So yeah, then I’ll just say it.”
That musical diversity is what keeps it interesting for him. Rather than sticking to one style, D-Sturb embraces contrast. “Like I said, I don’t like to think in boxes, and that reflects in my music. I really like the contrast – dreamy, happy breaks followed by filthy screeches. That was really fun to create. It brings more emotion into a track and keeps it exciting.”
Whether Universe becomes a recurring concept is still undecided, but D-Sturb sees it as an exciting first step. “Yeah, maybe. Let’s see if people like it, and if I like it. I’ve actually never played a full melodic set before, so it’s new for me too. But this event is the right place for it. I’m looking forward to it and really curious to see how it goes.”
D-Sturb in the new episode of PLAFONDDIENST – The Hardstyle Podcast
In episode twenty of PLAFONDDIENST – The Hardstyle Podcast, D-Sturb talks about the early days of his career, making music during Dutch class, his thematic live concepts, his joint project with Aversion, and what the future might hold. Listen to the full episode now on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform.
