The number one DJ in the world has certainly faced his share of criticisms lately. After releasing his debut artist album ‘United We Are' earlier in 2015, Hardwell was bombarded with backlash from the dance community over his rock infused track ‘Sally'. Since then, dance fans have felt the artist has lost a sense of validity as the world's #1 DJ, waiting patiently for him to redeem himself.
Hardwell recently sat down with Billboard to set the story straight on his stance over the recent criticisms, where ‘EDM' is headed, and his plans for the future. Hardwell explains the inspiration for the track ‘Sally' stemmed from his bootleg of Nirvana's ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit',
‘I came up with the idea for “Sally” since I'm always playing my bootleg of Nirvana's “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” and my fans love it when I drop that. I wanted to do a crossover track with rock and more EDM elements. I think I don't have to explain — but progressive house music is not going to work with rock music. So I wanted to do a really easy, hard-hitting EDM track; the drop reminds me a bit of “Spaceman'
All controversy aside, Hardwell's prediction of where mainstream dance music is headed may be exactly what we're about to see in 2015,
‘With things getting more separated and big room house going down a bit, there is maybe room for more trancey and progressive sounds. I think we're going back to the more melodic stuff and even more downtempo progressive stuff with guys like Kygo and Flume. I definitely think there will be more variety in the festival lineups within a year from now'.
