Noisecontrollers in top form with new album: “Harmony is a completely new project”

By Wouter de Vink 07 November 2024

Noisecontrollers is back in excellent shape. The hardstyle legend has big news for his return: a brand-new Noisecontrollers album called Harmony will be released soon. “Yes, the raw and techno developed hard, but the melodic, euphoric hardstyle relatively little. This has motivated me to go in a different direction, especially with my solos.”

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It has been quiet around Noisecontrollers for a while. Known for all his impressive anthems of the biggest festivals in the world and iconic albums, COVID suddenly arrived. “After almost 15 years of continuous production and travel, this forced not only me, but also many others to stop for a while. Actually, everything has already been said about this. For me, it basically was a reset and some distance from the entire scene. I saw it as a forced sabbatical.”

noisecontrollers interview - spirit of hardstyle

When everything started to get back to normal in 2022, a lot happened in his personal life, which meant that Noisecontrollers could not yet focus on music. “You have to understand that creative processes for me are not like a puzzle where you can occasionally put a piece here and there when you feel like it. It is more like solving a riddle, where everything suddenly falls into place. Making music requires my complete focus.”

“I dreamed that I had almost finished an album every week”

In retrospect, this was a rather strange period for the Veenendaal native. “I really dreamed every week that I had almost finished an album. In those dreams I actually heard melodies and saw track titles! But then I woke up and realised that it was just a dream. A very sad feeling. These kinds of things were signs that I really missed producing. Since I started with the ‘Harmony’ album, these dreams have stayed away.”

It is the confirmation that after all these years there will be another Noisecontrollers album. “This year I really started to miss producing again and I delved into other music styles. But as cool as those styles are, I kept coming back to the typical Noisecontrollers style: with some new flavours. I can only say that you have to listen for yourself. If I had to describe the new tracks, it leans towards hard trance. My new music also goes against many unwritten rules, such as that tracks should be as fast, short and effective as possible for the dance floor. I go for as much story and structure as possible. You can hear this clearly in ‘Harmony’ in particular.”

noisecontrollers - harmony album cover

“I was a bit shocked by how much euphoric hardstyle has remained the same”

His last release dates back more than 2 years: a time in which a lot has happened. What does Noisecontrollers think of the scene at the moment? “After not following much for three years, I was even a bit shocked by how much euphoric hardstyle has remained the same. No major steps have been taken in terms of hypes or new trends. Yes, raw and techno developed a lot, but melodic, euphoric hardstyle relatively little. This has motivated me to go in a different direction, especially with my solos.”

It is clear that Noisecontrollers is incredibly motivated again after his long break. “I really felt like making a typical Noisecontrollers track again, like people are used to from me: deep, hard, full kicks, reversed bass in a digital jacket and euphoric melodies. I really missed that. You can really hear that in ‘Be Free’. With ‘Harmony’ I found the spark back in the studio. Because the base of the track is much more hardtrance, although it does feel hardstyle, you can do completely different things. Things that I have loved for as long as I have been making music, such as trancy arps, long, complex melodies and very different types of intro sounds. Check out the melody of ‘Harmony’ for example. This is a five-bar melody, something that I think has never been done in hardstyle before.”

noisecontrollers bas oskam

Noisecontrollers returns to his Spirit of Hardstyle

Furthermore, this hardstyle legend is also clear about where he is going to release all this new music. “My future music will be released on my label Spirit of Hardstyle. I have long doubted about Art of Creation, because that label really stands for everything I like about hardstyle. But I am also going in a new direction with my solo music. In addition, ‘Harmony’ is not a one-off EP of two tracks, but a collection/album of a completely new project, direction and vision.”

Now that Noisecontrollers is finally making his comeback and has a lot of music ready, he will continue to release it in 2025 as part of the album Harmony. “Furthermore, there is really only one plan: have fun in the studio and share this with you through releases.” Because according to Noisecontrollers, this is just the beginning.

The first part of Noisecontrollers’ new album will be released tomorrow (Friday the 8th of November). Pre-save the Harmony/Be Free EP to be the first to listen to it – the full album’s release date is not yet known.