Dozer joins Gearbox Euphoria: Classic music, new sounds

By Hard News 14 March 2017

Last week Gearbox Euphoria announced an exciting new signing; No one less than Dozer! Well known for his classic releases, this man is a big name in the scene and brings a lot of experience to the label. Hard News got in touch with Dozer to talk about his choice to join the label and what his future plans are.

It has been quiet for some time around Dozer. What have you been up to the last year?
“I really needed a reset, on both personal and musical level. I wanted go back to point zero and build it up again from scratch. The last years music-wise I’ve been developing my own hardstyle sound and style with which I could identify myself. After loads of research and listening, now I’m satisfied enough with my newfound sound to step back into the limelight!

Now is the time for a comeback, you’ve joined the Gearbox family! How did you end up signing with Euphoria Gearbox?
“During the last edition of Amsterdam Dance Event at HDE, my management introduced me to Phil, the owner of Gearbox. I had a great and open talk with him and some other of his Gearbox colleagues, and I was impressed with the strive for innovation and the family feeling that they work with within the label. That gave me a good feeling and the trust and confidence to continue talks with them and that ultimately resulted in me joining the family.

You’ve been active as an artist since the year 1990 and thus one of the veterans in the scene. How does it feel to join this group of young people that is Gearbox?
“It feeds me with a lot of energy to work with these young people who have a lot of passion and love for music. The experience of the veterans and the fresh vision of the youngsters is a strong combination from which the music and label can only benefit.

Do you think of yourself as a tutor for the other artists on the label?
“Because of the many years I’ve worked in the scene I think I do have a lot of knowledge and bring quite an amount of experience that I can share with the new generation of artists on the label. But it also works the other way around; I learn a lot from the fresh new ideas and vision that the young talents have on our field of work.

Dozer gearbox euphoria music hardstyle
What will your choice mean for your music? Will there be any changes to the Dozer sound?
“There are definitely things that will change to the Dozer sound! The new tracks will be quite broad in terms of sound and style. You will hear influences from almost all the (sub)genres in- and outside of hardstyle. Every track will be another blend of left and right, but also old and new.

There will be a 2017 remix of Church of the Darkside. Why did you choose this track and what can we expect from this remix?
“Well, I put up a question on my socials, asking my fans: Which classic Dozer track should I remix?!

I received a huge amount of reactions but it quickly became clear that people wanted to hear an updated version of ‘The Church Of The Darkside”.
At this moment I’m still working on the remix, but I can already tell you that the foundations and the feeling of the original track will be preserved in the remix!”

Euphoric hardstyle has had an issue with declining popularity in mainly The Netherland and the scene seems to become more divided in sub genres. What do you think about this development?
“Personally I think the popularity of euphoric hardstyle is actually growing globally. The thinking in subgenres and boxes is not something I like – if the music does something with me I really don’t care whatever tag people want to put on it.

What do you hope to contribute to the scene as Dozer?
“More variation and less boxes! By using diverse sound in my tracks I hope to bring the hardstyle audience back together. Pretty much back to how it was when it all started ;-)”

Do you have anything special performances scheduled yet and could you maybe tell us more about it?
“Festival season is coming up and I can’t wait for it! Especially dropping my new tracks is something I really look forward to. I’m really curious how the fans will react to it!”

Sounds like we’ll be seeing you around again! Where will we meet you in 2 years?
“If it’s up to me, everywhere of course!”

Is there anything else you want to share with the people reading this interview?
“For the people who missed it: In December last year I acted as Santa and gave away some presents; 3 new free tracks! You can unpack them on my Soundcloud page!

Also, here’s a preview of my first release at Gearbox Euphoria: