Interview: Hard Driver is back at REBiRTH Festival!

Bringing his NRG to the Saturday Mainstage of REBiRTH festival 2023: HARD DRIVER! We asked him about what to expect from his set and about his connection with REBiRTH! 

With you pumping out releases and albums at an incredible pace and STILL delivering top-notch quality.. What’s your secret in being so productive?

Haha thank you for the kind words! There’s not really a secret to be honest.. I just love being in the studio and being productive. Making music is the thing I love the most, so I’m always spending a lot of time to make sure I provide my fans with new music on a constant basis.

2021 brought Chemistry, 2022 brought us HDNA. Is there something coming in 2023?

For a change I won’t be releasing an album this year haha. But don’t worry, there’s still a lot of music is coming up this year, including multiple collabs. I’ve also dropped my brand new live show NRG OVERLOAD recently, which I’ll bring to various countries this year. Besides that, there’s something else coming up this year. I can’t say what it is yet, but it is huge!

What is something that brings you NRG?

Hardstyle in general. I listen to a lot of different genres, but for me Hardstyle is the genre that has the most energy, music-wise but also crowd-wise. I love how sounds come together in Hardstyle and create an energy explosion.

If Hardstyle didn’t exist, what genre of music would you be making/mixing instead?

I think I would be making (hard) EDM. What Skrillex does for example: just producing and playing a mixture of all kinds of things, as long as it’s banging – so a mix of house, dubstep, trap, even hip-hop.

Is that also the genre you prefer to listen to besides hardstyle? Or do you have some guilty pleasures? 

I can basically enjoy every genre. Every genre has it own ‘strenghts’ and you can always gain inspiration from a specific genre in my experience. I’ve always been a big hip-hop fan. From the age of 12 I’ve been listening to 2Pac’s music and I still do till this day. Regarding guilty pleasures.. I do enjoy the ‘wrong’ 80’s tracks that you usually play at the end of a drunk night, but I don’t really feel guilty about that haha.

What drives you in your music career? I bet a lot of people are wondering about Hard Driver’s drive.

The support of my fans plays a big role in this. Every time I drop a new track and I see all the great comments, it motivates me. But also when I drop a new concept, album or for example my NRG OVERLOAD live show announcement; the great responses on those things keeps me motivated to keep pushing myself to constantly deliver something new.

You’ve got a great spot on our mainstage on Saturday, how do you usually prepare for a set?

The week before REBiRTH I’ll probably be busy in the studio finishing up new music. On the day of the show I wake up, grab a cup of coffee and start selecting the track I wanna play during my set. After that I get myself ready, get in the car, go to REBiRTH, get myself a nice cold beer, chat with some colleagues and after that it’s showtime! I really can’t wait for my set at REBiRTH this year to unleash all the new music on the Mainstage.

How would you describe your own personal connection with REBiRTH Festival?

REBiRTH has always been a special festival to me. I can always count on the support of the organization and being able to kick off the festival season at REBiRTH every year is something I always look forward to. Next to that, the overall experience and hospitality at REBiRTH is also one of the best, so I’m very happy to come back this year.

The purpose of this interview was to get to know you a bit better, so to close this one off we were wondering if there is anything people don’t know about you. An unusual habit, maybe a thing people don’t expect from you? We’re curious!

I always eat a big bowl of cereal right before I go to sleep, and I have to eat it in bed haha! Plus I can’t go to sleep without watching something on YouTube or Netflix. I need to have something playing in the background, otherwise my head is overflowing with thoughts and ideas about music and I’ll stay awake for hours.

Thank you for doing this interview with us. We’re looking forward to welcome you at our festival on Saturday <3. 

Thank you for having me and see you at REBiRTH Festival Saturday!

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