The man, the legend, Bas Oskam – the face behind Noisecontrollers has recently released his second solo album All Night Long and it is without a doubt his most diverse album yet. Bas has been hard at work in and out of the studio, but we got the chance to take a step back and get down to discuss the new album, progression of hardstyle, and everything in-between.
All Night Long is Bas's 20 piece release with collected studio material from 2013 to 2015. When asked about the thought process behind the title and the reasoning why it's a great deal for an artist to do this, Bas had said he wanted to share these tracks for the fans and make new experimental tracks.
“In 2014 I made some edits and mashups of existing tracks. Typical studio work to spice up my performances. I wanted to share those tracks with my fans besides playing them live of course. I decided to make some experimental tracks this year and re-edit older tracks to make a studio album which resulted in All Night Long. [Regarding the title] Not too much besides a lot of the tracks are both produced and played by night of course. It suits very well therefore.”
With such production skills in the studio, certain tracks completely stand out that show his love for music. Especially in Enigma, Bas crafted a 9 minute piece that takes you on a journey through beautiful melodies. Bas wanted to show his other musical tastes, not caring what others will think. True fans of his music need to learn that producers can venture out of their zone and we as fans, should welcome it.
“From the beginning when I started producing electronic music I always produced different styles like trance or house. For me those tracks aren’t that weird at all. So far the reactions were great. It shows how open-minded my fans are and I am really proud of that.”
Going forward to playing live, Noisecontrollers is known for his high energy sets and reading a crowd to it's key. Recently, Bas has journeyed through North America playing everywhere from San Francisco, LA and even Mysteryland USA. With the growth of Hardstyle in America and Q Dance at the forefront, Bas has had close ties with Q Dance for many years.
“Ive worked closely with Q-dance for such a long time now. They pull off the most amazing shows and are truly the best in the world when it comes to Hardstyle events. Music wise we work close together too. Like anthems or special shows they involve a lot, which is great. It makes it possible to combine show and music on the highest level. They are active in North America which is great for all the hardstyle lovers over there. They have some new things coming up. So stay tuned!”
New things coming up for us here in North America? That certainly raises a brow as we are all hoping for the next announcement. As Q Dance has been busy with Defqon 1, Noisecontrollers took on an insane set and even premiered the newest single with Bass Modulators, Solar.
Hardstyle is without a doubt always changing. Things are getting faster but there is still the other side. The beautiful uplifting melodies and even collaborations with other acts outside of the hard dance scene. With a genre that is globally recognized and getting bigger – there is always room to push the music forward.
“Every music genre is changing and developing. Therefore its good, right now for example the sound is going a bit harder with raw style and same time a bit slower as far the euphoric hardstyle. I think together with many other great producers and colleagues we pushed hardstyle forward in many ways. It became better produced and more mainstream for a bigger audience. Of course that last wasn’t our goal. All we did is making music we loved. And that will always stay my contribution to it, whether it becomes popular or not.”
When it comes down to it, Noisecontrollers is ahead of the game when it comes to music. He has worked hard for where he is and All Night Long clearly shows. The production, the energy, and the passion is always top-notch for Bas and we are always looking forward to what's next. Finally ending things on a lighter note, if there was a zombie apocalypse right now, what would Bas do? “Watch all the episodes of the Walking Dead. Still didn’t. shame on me.” Seems like he has some catching up to do! Thank you Bas for taking the time for this and congratulations on the new album!
