Tony Junior about his switch from EDM to hard dance

By Sharon van der Werf 21 November 2023

It is a name that you see on posters from a lot of hardstyle festivals these days: Tony Junior. After years of producing EDM, the Dutch DJ has recently made the complete switch to hard dance. He tells all about this choice in a brand new episode of PLAFONDDIENST – The Hardstyle Podcast.

There’s a good chance that you don’t immediately think of hardstyle when you think of Tony Junior. Unjustified, because at the moment the DJ is releasing one hardstyle record after another, often in collaboration with not the least artists. We mention Da Tweekaz, Sound Rush and Brennan Heart, but also the Dutch singer-songwriter Glen Faria. We can say that Tony Junior builds bridges between different genres – and that is why he certainly deserves a place on the PLAFONDDIENST bench.

Tony Junior about his switch to hard dance

“I’ve actually been playing hardstyle for a long time,” Tony Junior explains. “Everyone knows me in terms of music from commercial EDM, but even at that time I often ended my sets with hardstyle. I love the genre, for example, I used to listen to songs from Showtek. I thought that was really cool .”

In recent years, Tony’s enthusiasm for producing EDM has steadily diminished. However, the hardstyle scene increasingly attracted his attention, which resulted in a complete transition to making hard dance music. Yet Tony Junior does not want to limit himself to one genre. “If I could be on the main stage of Defqon.1 next year, that would be really cool. But I also think it would be great as a closing act on the main stage of an EDM party.” The DJ also believes that his style of playing fits well before DJs such as Rooler and Sickmode.

Even though he has a lot of respect for the artists in the hardstyle scene, Tony himself does not have to be known as an artist who only makes hardstyle from now on. “I’m not going to become Headhunterz, and that’s not necessary at all. I just want to be a nice bridge between hardstyle and what I did. Actually, I still make the same music, but 20 to 30 BPM faster.”

Tony Junior in a new episode of PLAFONDDIENST – The Hardstyle Podcast

In a brand new episode of PLAFONDDIENST – The Hardstyle Podcast, Tony Junior not only talks about his switch from EDM to hard dance, but also about the craziest thing a fan has ever done for him and the trips to special places he has been able to make as a DJ. Listen to PLAFONDDIENST now (in Dutch) on your favorite podcast platform.