TFOH #1 interview: Ecstatic

By Hard News 18 November 2015

Ecstatic, a Dutch duo that recently signed to AVIO, is working hard to climb the ladder of the euphoric hardstyle scene. Their hard work has resulted in several great releases, and that’s why we saw them fit for a spot in our podcast The Future of Hardstyle. Curious as we are, we decided to ask these gentlemen some questions.

You’re good friends. Is that because of the music, or does your friendship go way back?
A little bit of both. We’ve known each other from before we started pushing buttons and turning knobs. Wouter already had some experience with producing music and Jordy had a vision. We melted those that vision and experience together and eventually Ecstatic was born. From there on our friendship continued to grow.

You’re part of the AVIO family, do you feel at home?
AVIO offers us a lot of freedom and we instantly felt at home because of that. The label radiates passion and provides us with the needed space to develop our passion. Besides that, we can also get along fine with everyone on a professional, but also on a social level.

Ecstatic is fairly new to the scene, but you’ve already performed at Q-BASE. How was that?
It was something to never forget! For months we’d been living towards that final moment to present the crowd with all our new tracks. At first we thought there would be just a few people, but the entire bunker was packed! The crowd also loved our music, so this made it an incredible experience.

Besides Q-BASE you will also be performing at XXlerator XX-Mas this year. Why should people visit your set?
It’s the first time that we’re performing in our hometown, so we’ll go all out with this one. We’re taking everyone with us on a trip through time, mixed with our own tracks of course. So be sure to stuff yourself with Christmas dinner and hurry your ass up to be in time for our set!

What can we expect from you guys in the near future, production-wise?
We’ve finished a lot of new tracks that will be released soon, and we’re currently working on a remix of an old AVIO banger! Besides that, we also finished our collab “Time To Dance” with Aeros last week. There will also be a free release this year, to celebrate our 1-year anniversary.

In 2016 we will not only release euphoric stuff, but you can also expect something harder. It’s also important for us to keep developing our sounds. We try to keep raising the bar each time we finish a track. We try to make something new each time, besides our signature sounds.

What is the last track that gave you chills, and why?
That would be the Qlimax 2015 anthem by Atmozfears, no doubt about it. We love how it’s an extension of last year’s anthem. It’s also very well produced, on a technical level. It’s a perfect mix of hard and melodic hardstyle, with a great vibe in the break. We love it!

Where will we see you in two years from now?
Well we hope to be performing at big events and festivals, haha! We already had the honor to play at a few festivals, but there are still many on our bucket list. Defqon.1, Decibel, Emporium, Intents, Tomorrowland and Matrixx At The Park, to name a few. We understand that they are pretty big, but it’s always nice to dream right?

You’ve been featured in this month’s episode of The Future of Hardstyle. Can you tell us a bit more about that?
Well, it’s a podcast dedicated to talents, so we decided to only use tracks from new hardstyle artists, mixed with our own tracks. That’s how we try to show our vision on the future.

Listen to the The Future of Hardstyle podcast, mixed by Ecstatic.