1. Tell us about the new show "F**K THE SYSTEM", what does it involve ?
Showtek: As producers we want to add an extra element to our show, off course Dj-ing is great to do, but to bring a little more excitement for the crowd was our main target. The FTS show will include some in sync live influences, show elements and a more mature look and feel on stage.
2. And the new accompanying compilation also called F**K THE SYSTEM ? What can we expect from this album ?
Showtek: Well we have been trying to put some Fresh high standard Productions on this compilation. For us it is very important to be as diverse as possible. So to start off with this thought we made a completely "Out of the box" f**ck the system intro track. Well intro, it’s still over 3 minutes long so it’s more a track. Some people might be quite surprised, but we just love to show everybody what we are capable off in the studio, its a blend off different musical influences. The CD also includes some new unreleased tracks and remixes, like the remix we did for Marcel Woods' "The Bottle", a very catchy out of the box remix which makes this compilation more diverse.
3. You are focusing more on the new 'mature' SHOWTEK sound, how has this gone and do you think you have achieved it already ? Also have your fans adapted to the change in direction away from typical hardstyle ?
Showtek: We would never step aside of hard styles, we just like a broad range of music, and eating vermicelli soup everyday is boring, sometimes we like mushroom or tomato :-). So what we try to do as producers is to grow, same as every human being, that means that your taste can adapt and change, and the Showtek sound will be different then 5 years ago. We just want to try out and experiment in the studio, this can only be positive. If you are open-minded like this you can always reach the highest level and the style can only evolve, otherwise you get stuck. Hardstyle music evolves to what it is today and we strongly feel the need to take a different road, and that’s for sure not the easiest! We are busy with the day after tomorrow!! And I think in that point we have reached a lot of new people, and if we look back to what our latest album has brought us to, we are 100% happy with it. The core of our music will always be the same, so we think our fans feel the same.
4. You've broken a lot of new ground for hardstyle: first hardstyle act to do an Essential mix, first act to do a hardstyle mix for Ministry Of Sound and you’re arguably the biggest hard dance act on the planet right now. Do you view yourself as innovators for the scene ?
Showtek: We always know that our level of quality in our genre is pretty high, but for some reason it felt like hardstyle was always seen as a small immature style. But if we look back what we developed over the last 2 years, we can definitely say that we have (and of course not only us) put the harder genre to a higher level.
We played at Major stages all over the world this year with a lot of top 20 Dj's, and if we look at the enthusiasm of the crowd worldwide, the group of followers has definitely grown. So yes we think we are innovators.
5. What have you got coming up production wise ?
Showtek: We recently did a remix for Marcel Woods' "The Bottle", which we have received a lot of props for. We also got some other new tracks coming up, that are also featured on the "F**ck the System" compilation. One of them is called "Breakbeat Junkie", a different track but we think really cool.
6. You seem to be the only hard dance act cracking the international market, why do you think this is, and which countries really go mad for the harder sound and where are your favourite places to perform ?
Showtek: We think of our accessible sound and variety of tunes, the range of followers is big. We have some more trancy tunes like "Faces" and "Analogue Players", or "Electronic stereophonic" which is pretty energetic and a little harder. So there's something for everyone.
We do a lot of shows in the states, and people are really appreciative and full of energy. Still the UK is always great to play, and for the rest if you read our Twitter every show is the best :-) But we can see that Showtek is becoming a brand on his own in the music business. These days we play a lot of main stages for example with Sander van Doorn or Ferry Corsten and the requests we get are seriously from everywhere so we definitely see it growing; we are going back to Asia this year and also South America is showing a lot’s of interest.
7. What is your motto in life, if you had to wear a slogan t-shirt for the rest of your life, what would it say ?
Showtek: You're only young once. Drink till you fall. Make mistakes. Break the rules. Laugh till you can't breathe. Love when you have the chance...
Interview made by Punk PR for TranceSound.net
Links:
Showtek official website
Showtek @ MySpace
Punk PR official website
