Hardsoul

Hardoul Pressings, R&G Electronics, Defected, MN2S

2007.12.28 ::: Words & Pics by Andrew Reid

Hardsoul consists of Dutch brothers Roog and Greg van Bueren. They have been making music since they were very young with both of them having had classical piano training. Their track ‘Back Together’, featuring the vocals of house legend Ron Carroll, was voted the number 1 record of the 2003 annual DJ Mag Hype Chart, nominated for Pete Tong’s Essential Track of the Year, and Outstanding Vocal Award at the International House Music Awards. The track had no quit and was licensed by top labels such as Hed Kandi, Defected, and Ministry of Sound. The success of Back Together led front man Roog to join Defected’s international Defected in the House tour that travelled from London to Ibiza, Berlin to Australia and beyond.

As a DJ, Roog has achieved tremendous success. From 2000-2002 he was voted as Holland’s top house DJ by Dutch dance magazine Basic Groove and in 2004 he was voted Holland’s most popular club DJ by Nieuwe Revu Magazine and was the highest ranked house DJ in the ID&T overall poll of 2003 through 2005. The compilation DJ Roog Presents Hardsoul: The Sound of Love and Dedication 2 (Zomba) was Holland’s highest selling house compilation of 2003.

Known for producing quality vocal and soulful house music, industry heavyweights began to take notice. Soulfuric’s head honcho Brian Tappert claimed “Hardsoul is the future of house” and Dave Lee (aka Joey Negro, Jakarta) named Hardsoul the most talented DJ/producers of 2003. Further supporting their success, their 2004 release ‘Committed’ on US-based label Soulfuric reached top position in the DJ Mag Hypechart.

The brothers took their sound to the next level in 2004 with Hardsoul presents Roog & Greg ‘Uber’. The track made it onto top UK house label Toolroom and was named BBC Radio 1’s ‘Track Of The Week’ and was included on numerous international compilations. Also in 04, with their productions starting to grow not only in numbers and variety, the brothers revived their label Hardsoul Pressings.

In 2005, MN2S (UK’s biggest DJ agency and London-based club night) requested Jon Cutler and Hardsoul to mix their ‘10 Years of Our House’ compilation which was voted ‘Compilation of the Month’ in the UK’s M8 magazine. In addition the boys were nominated for Breakthrough DJ of the Year at the International House Music Awards and hit the DJ Mag’s Hype Chart Number 1 spot with their MN2S release Hardsoul feat. Shaun Escoffery entitled ‘No Man’.

In 2006 the brothers started a new label called R&G Electronics for music that wouldn’t necessarily be suitable for release on the Hardsoul Pressings label. R&G Electronics is an alternative outlet that specialises in chunky beat-driven sounds. Two records on the Hardsoul Pressings label ended up in the 2006 Top 10 best selling records on Traxsource (USA’s number 1 download site for house music), namely ‘Deep Inside’, and the collaboration between Hardsoul and Ron Carroll on ‘My Life’. ‘My Life’ scored a prestigious 5/5 rating in seminal UK dance publication DJ Mag and the track has been licensed to numerous top compilations, with Seb Fontaine picking it up for Type 2 on Thrive USA and Knee Deep’s The Art Of House album. It was also snapped up by Beachland 07 on Blanco y Negro and long-running UK label Azuli’s Las Tardes In Ibiza 2007 LP. The newly founded CyberJapan record company gave the record a domestic release in the Japanese territory, reaching the number 2 position in the Japanese Cisco chart.

2007 was an exciting year for the brothers Hardsoul. The track by Greg, Jeroenski & Roog entitled ‘Your Mind is Twisted’ on the R&G imprint shaped up to be a international underground hit and the UK’s number one house label Defected asked them to mix their latest international compilation, ‘Defected D-Fused & Digital: Amsterdam’. This is the third in the new compilation series aimed squarely at the DJ. This is a mix compilation that is different. All the tracks featured in the mix are also available unmixed within the same package and ready for any DJ set. As well as the physical CD the mix and tracks are also offered as a digital download. Either way the compilation boasts all the forthcoming tracks, recent club hits and classics from the label’s catalogue, featuring tracks from a multitude of producers including Martin Solveig, DJ Gregory, Sandy Rivera, Dennis Ferrer, Copyright, Soul Central and Marlon D.

Their new project on Defected is a 13 track package which brings together both upfront and classic favourites ranging from soulful to peak time dancefloor fillers all from the label’s catalogue including forthcoming releases such as the infectious Sandy Rivera & Haze ‘Freak, an instantly recognisable record and a certain future classic. Also look out for Alec Wizz ‘Drummin’’ (Louis Benedetti Main Mix), a percussive tracky main room moment. Also included are some of house music best known vocals from the unmistakeable gems like River Ocean feat India- Love and Happiness and the widely acclaimed DJ Gregory – Attend (Yass Remix) – altogether this is a seamless collection of high quality house Defected style.

Available to download from all good providers as a full length bundle which comes complete with the continuous mix of all the featured music as a bonus, and as individual track downloads for those with particular favourites. DJs looking for full length versions to burn and play now have a convenient and useful facility with this album.

We had a chance to catch up with these 2 uber busy men and ask them about their past, present and future!

Nocturnal: When you were younger, could you ever have imagined that you would be making your living out of music?
Roog: Maybe dreamt of it, but we really only started doing it for fun. We started really, really, really young and back then money wasn’t an issue, you know. You’re just having fun, and if people start paying you money for it then all the better. A career wasn’t really intended.
In the beginning, before it was just house, we were doing hip hop, some disco, just for the love of the music. We only really started doing house music somewhere in the beginning of the 90s, so that’s a long time ago.

Nocturnal: Were you big on the club scene when you were younger? Who were the kind of people that you looked up to at the time?
Greg: Yeah we used to go out when were like 18, 19 years old, something like that. We used to go out to clubs and that’s when we really got bitten by the bug.
Roog: We had these two clubs in Amsterdam: The Roxy and The It, and in The Roxy especially they would have these international DJs playing there from the beginning of the 90s. We saw people like Tony Humphries, and people like that. Already in the beginning of the 90s our tastes were more towards the soulful house stuff.

Nocturnal: So who were you the biggest fans of? Who was your DJ at the time?
Roog: I think when we heard Tony Humphries play a soulful house set, like vocal tunes in one set… we had never heard something like it before. So it was really a kind of a revelation to hear this big black guy play, and it was so original for us at the time. We were just in awe. I clearly remember the night and this was back in like, ’94.
Greg: I can also remember Masters at Work playing for about 30 people too.
Roog: Oh yeah, that was legendary. Masters of Work at the time in Holland… people just didn’t get it. Five decks and just beats and acapellas coming in and out. People just didn’t get it but we absolutely loved it.

Nocturnal: So have you met Tony Humphries personally now?
Roog: erm, I shook his hand once! ;)

Nocturnal: And obviously you’ve met Masters at Work?
Roog: The cool thing is, four months ago I played a track – which is on the CD – and Kenny just ripped the CD out of my hand. He said he loved it and texted me from his Blackberry later saying how he’d played it at Pacha for Defected. So that was really something to have one of your big heroes say something like that.

Nocturnal: Well that’s it. You go from being a fan, to being a DJ to becoming a name and DJ that people respect and want to work with. That must feel brilliant?
Roog: It’s amazing, especially when you love their music. Masters at Work for us are probably the biggest inspiration in the business.

Nocturnal: You’re up there now as the most widely celebrated Dutch house acts. You’ve won numerous awards, been voted no. 1 DJ etc. Do you think that Holland has now shaken its association with trance music?
Roog: Well it’s taken us 15 years. I mean, everyone knows that Holland is the trance capital of the world. Tiesto is from Holland. Ferry Corsten is from Holland. So people were so proud of it over here, and you hear it all over the radio and see it all over the television. For us, the soulful house movement was really tough. Not just in Holland either. When we first went to the Miami Music Conference they saw on our badge that we were from Holland and they were like “no no no, we don’t do trance. We don’t wanna hear your music.” And we were like “no! We do soulful house music”, and they were like “yeah whatever, we don’t wanna hear your music”. So it took us a very, very long time.
But in the last few years house and electronic house has got really big in Holland. It’s now even bigger than trance, or any other kind of dance music. It’s the biggest thing now, and I think the world is ready for the second wave of Dutch artists, such as Fedde le Grand. It’s amazing to see all the young kids and the kids coming up and how much they love electronic house.

Nocturnal: That must be really encouraging, but trance will no doubt remain popular. Tiesto is probably one of the most famous DJs in the world?
Roog: What this guy has achieved is crazy. He opened in the Olympic Games. You cannot go much further than that. He is probably the first Dutch superstar that we ever had. It’s crazy. I totally respect what he does, and he’s a really nice guy. But after ten years of trance I think we’re done with it.

Nocturnal: Who are the people that are biting your toes in Holland at the moment? Who are the upcoming guys that you respect and could potentially break through?
Roog: A few years ago I was asked to make a mix CD for a magazine over here, and I decided to do a mix full of only Dutch producers. So obviously I had Fedde le Grand and ourselves on there, but also people like Martijn ten Velden, Gregor Salto, who you’ll be hearing a lot more of and a good friend of ours, Jeroenski, who recently had a record out on CR2 and is doing really well. So there’s a group of about ten or so guys who are doing really well and are getting their music out internationally.

Nocturnal: So you two guys are classically trained pianists. Just how good are you?
Greg: Not any more! You have to keep practising to stay really good. But did like seven-to-ten years of training.

Nocturnal: Did you used to show off at dinner parties then?
Roog: When our parents made us, yeah!

Nocturnal: In terms of producing, how much does it matter to have some kind of musical training such as yours?
Greg: Well that depends on what kind of music you wanna make. If you want to make something really musical, it obviously pretty handy to have that kind of background.
Roog: We have to admit that when we do the musical stuff, we bring in people that are far better musicians than us. It’s easier too, as when you’re playing yourself you get too stuck up in your own ideas. It’s better as a producer, I think, working with other musicians.

Nocturnal: As DJs, how do you find your tracks? Are you mostly sent them, are they recommend to you or do you still go out and hunt them down?
Roog: Well, I’m a freak. I’m doing 25 gigs a month, so I’m always on the prowl for new music. Five or six years ago I was the only guy in Holland that was on the list for Defected’s vinyl promos. And that really made you the man, as sometimes it took four, five or six months to release the record, so for that time I was the only guy out there playing it. But now, I’m still on the Defected promo list, but in the time it takes to send a CD over to Holland, all the young kids have got it off the internet somehow. It’s really difficult nowadays to be original, so I get my music from all over. From the download sites, from my friends.

Nocturnal: But I guess you have the advantage of when a producer makes a track, you’ll be one of the people he personally sends it to?
Roog: I still get a lot of guys send me stuff directly, but I have to work a lot harder than I did a few years ago. Everyone has the same music at the same time. There’s no privilege any more. So every track I play now I try to edit a little bit myself, to make it a bit special for the people.

Nocturnal: You’ve gone on record as saying you aspire to be recognised as leading DJs, such as Morillo and Sanchez. What would qualify you to be as big and as talented as these guys?
Roog: Well maybe I said I really respect how far these guys have gone with their careers, as both of them are the biggest house DJs on the planet.
Greg: I think we have a long way to go to get to that stage. But I think the way they make a brand out of themselves is really interesting, and something we really respect.

Nocturnal: I’ve noticed that you do push the Hardsoul brand quite a lot. Is this part of your strategy as DJs?
Roog: Wow, that’s quite a deep question! One thing we try to do is always give people quality. It’s not always the fastest way to achieve success, but in the long run if you are always giving quality then I think people will realise that.

Nocturnal: I’ve seen (and taken) many photos of the both of you wearing Hardsoul t-shirts. That must be part of your strategy in getting people recognising you?
Roog: Nowadays, with the internet and all the download sites, people get so much information and so much new music every week, so people need something like Defected or Subliminal to give it the credibility stamp. People are like ‘these guys know music, so I will listen to their new release’. This is what we are trying to achieve.

Nocturnal: So let’s talk about the compilation. Can you pick out two or three of the tracks that really do it for you on there?
Greg: To start with, we have Dennis Ferrer’s ‘Touched the Sky’ on there.
Roog: It’s already out but we love it so much that we had to put it on.

Nocturnal: What kind of reaction does that get when you play it?
Roog: It’s like a connoisseur’s kind of track. It doesn’t work for every crowd, but just to listen to the lyrics and the production is just… it’s an amazing track.
Greg: I think it’s a slow grower. More and more people have started to get into in Holland, and when you drop it people sing along and put their hands in the air.

Nocturnal: It’s very much a sing along song…
Greg: Yeah. I think it’s becoming a classic.
Roog: When I first heard it I thought it was a classic house record. The lyrics are amazing, the delivery is amazing, and the production is amazing.

Nocturnal: Are there any exclusives on there?
Roog: I want to give props to Copyright, as they gave us some new tracks which aren’t really finished yet. But there’s one track that’s totally brand new, called ‘Deeper’, and we’re starting the CD off with that track. It’s amazing. It’s nice, sort of like beginning of the night material but I love it.
We also did a special version of our track Hardsoul presents Quasimodo ‘Give In’. That track is doing really well for us and is on a lot of compilations, but for Defected we felt we had to do a new special, special version.
Greg: And of course we have to plug another new track, Hardsoul feat. Fierce Ruling Diva ‘Believe in Me’, which is the track Kenny ripped out of Roog’s hand that time.

Nocturnal: Does this particular mix reflect the way you would play out live?
Roog: Not specifically, as with most mixes you can choose from all the tracks out there in the world, whereas with this compilation we had about twenty different tracks to choose from, so it was really tough and a challenge to try to create a flow. That was tough.

Nocturnal: You’ve played all over the world obviously. Have you had a recent amazing DJ experience, and how’s that been?
Roog: That’s always a tough question. I did Sensation in the Amsterdam Arena. It’s a stadium for 45,000 people, and everyone there is dressed in white. That’s quite an experience.

Nocturnal: Forty-five thousand people? That’s rock star territory. That must’ve been amazing?
Roog: They always invite four or five DJs, and everybody plays a set. You’re in the middle of the stadium, and your podium is revolving. That’s an amazing experience.

Nocturnal: Sounds like a gig that Tiesto would do!
Roog: Funny you should say that, as they started the event with trance music, and now it’s only house music there. So that shows you how big it is getting over here.

Nocturnal: And finally, if the money was right for you guys, would you ever work with somebody truly awful, such as the Vengaboys or Aqua?
Roog: The funny thing is the Vengaboys are from Holland, and we know the guy behind it pretty well.

Nocturnal: So if he said to you “here’s £20,000, go remix my next track”?
Roog: Oh yeah, totally. We’d make a credible thing out of it. If somebody would pay that kind of ridiculous in this day and age for a remix… £20,000? Yeah, no problem!

::: Related Links

::: www.djroog.com

::: www.defected.com

::: 2007.03.23 » WMC 2007 MN2S w/ Hardsoul @ Opium Garden Photos