When did you first come in contact with hardstyle?
My first contact with a harder genre was at an age of 15. My uncle gave me a tape with Hardcore
Techno Tracks on it and I really liked it. The very first contact with Hardstyle was at the age of 18.
I listened to other genres most of the time but I was already bored a bit by them. I moved from my hometown to another town and found that old tape again in a box. I searched the Internet for more and discovered my first Hardstyle Track (It isn’t very popular here so didn’t hear about it before). When I heard this Lead and the Kick drops in.. Puhh. It was an instant love and I just thought “perfect”.
Can you tell us about how it all started for you?
As I said, I started to listen to Hardstyle when I was 18 years old but after 3 years I decided to
produce my own music. I was in the Army this year and had much time *laughing*, so I became totally obsessed with this and thought “I can do that too”. That’s when I started with a Demo-DAW and tried it all night long.
I didn’t know much about how to make music and where it comes from. Well, I had a cheap
standard stereo system and headphones at home. I read books about Frequencies and got some
old exam documents from an online portal for audio engineers. A couple of times I was able to get
entrance in a Studio here in my town which was into EDM to watch them how to do it and learned a
lot. Then I switched to a better DAW and discovered others as well.
Every time I finished a project I compared it to the biggest names in the scene those days. At the
beginning it brought me down every time, because my production sounded like crap but this was
the reason why I didn’t stop producing at all. I wanted to become better!
Who is your best friend/colleague in music, and how did this friendship begin?
Definitely Peter aka Stormtrooper. If I am honest, he is my mentor. We just met in a club here
the very first time – 5 years ago – and I totally annoyed him with my questions because I heard from
a friend that he produces Industrial Hardcore for a long time. However, we kept the contact from then on. After a few weeks he brought me to his studio and we had much fun with producing. We thought,
we could play a set together at his home, but I never had the chance to be behind a pair of CDJ’s
before. So everything took its course. Of course we still talk to each other from time to time, and we’ve played together at Ruhr in Love last year. Great times!
What distinguishes you from other acts?
Uhm… that’s a hard question. I guess I am different in the way how I build up a track. I always have
a story and (almost) every track has a real background out of my life. In that way my emotion
keeps me going through the track. I would never give it out when I won’t feel it 101%. I really love cinematic orchestra like the compositions by Hans Zimmer and I often try to build a great atmosphere with such instruments. All in one I try to create a balance between powerful Raw and dark Euphoric.
What makes your love for hardstyle so strong?
It’s the power. The power it gives me through hard periods in my life, but still gives me the power
to keep on going also at the same time! Sometimes I really like smoother genres like Chillstep to calm
down after a long day in the studio. But every time: Hardstyle brings me back to life!
What’s the last track that gave you chills, and why?
Oeh yes, I can remember that immediately. It was ‘The Worlds Beyond’ by Phuture Noize. He
created a masterpiece in my opinion. The lyrics are sick already, but when this melancholic melody
dropped it was just like… I really can’t explain it. Just goosebumps.
Who inspires you and why?
There are a couple of artists which inspire me. Riiho for example gives me a freak out much times
with his deep and dark tracks. The atmospheres are great and the drive is perfect! Or Ran-D. One of his older tracks ‘My Way’ has such a great story I can identify myself with. That’s important!
Why did you chose Ncrypta a your artist name?
Well, I had a job interview for an IT-Company. We had a good conversation but at the end he told me that it was hard to assess me because I’m kind of mysterious. But since his job is decryption he found it quite ironic and decided he would employ me in order to do his job. So in essence, I was encrypted – since that day I’m unsure if he has managed to decrypt me or not. *laughing*
What’s your greatest Hardstyle memory?
I played in Rotterdam back in 2013. It was my very first gig and I played back 2 back with another
artist. I was about to die by this nervousness haha. We played our last track of the set and I
noticed the next artist behind me. I was so nervous that I didn’t had the line-up in my head. I
turned around and saw Crypsis. He smiled, raised his thumb to me and just said “Awesome guys”.
That was my moment and the whole nervousness was totally worth it!
What can we expect from you in the near future?
Oh, there are many projects planned. For instance, a couple of great collabs like the one with the Gearbox duo Malice and singles are in progress. My personal next step was my signing on Gearbox’s agency Pure Bookings. So I’m really curious what will come next!
You’ve been featured in this month’s episode of The Future of Hardstyle. Can you tell us a bit
more about that?
I like to keep a story in my sets as well. Every time I prepare a set I search for other new talents and
promote them if the tracks fits good with my set of course. To generate a energetic atmosphere
and increase it through the set till the end. That’s what I tried and I guess it’s a goal.
Is there anything you’d like to say to your fans and our readers?
Yes of ourse! I got so much positive feedback and huge support during the last time. It’s a bit unreal
for me if im honest and now i want to thank you all for going this way with me. This is what keeps me going and I’m really looking forward to play my upcoming gigs!
