Future Legends: Imperatorz

A talent for making hardstyle, an energetic stage presence, a unique drive and a special view on music. The upcoming hardstyle DJs of today are the legends of the future. Every month, a new talent. Read on, get surprised and discover some new, fresh talents: Imperatorz. Mitchell Hendriks and Kevin Arps met a few years ago. Together they form the dj-duo Imperatorz. Before that, both of them already had an enormous passion for hardstyle and hardcore music. The fact that this love went further than just attending parties quickly became apparent. The boys started a website and hard copy magazine together, better known as: Hardstyle Mag. They wrote reviews of parties and did interviews with artists. “So it's really cool for us that this time we're the ones being interviewed, haha!” During their Hardstyle Mag time, they discovered they were missing something in the scene. “There was always a hassle between lovers of raw hardstyle, euphoric hardstyle and other EDM genres. The result was that a lot of dj-sets within the subgenres started to look alike. That's why we started with Imperatorz. We mix hardstyle with psytrance, dubstep, drum and bass, we’d like to give another vibe and drive to our sets.”

 

Whether there are 10, 100 or 100 people in front of us, Imperatorz stands for 100% energy

“We want to create an unforgettable and energetic atmosphere. For us, it’s not about us being the dj's, but about feeling the music all together.” That's why they think experimenting is very important. “You can hear this in our tracks but also on stage. We like to be influenced by old tracks, out of the box tracks, edits of our own music and new music. At Decibel outdoor 2018 we even played death metal and classics in between the raw hardstyle.” Their dj-name often raises questions, the boys tell us. Because what does ‘Imperatorz’ actually mean? “We are both fans of Roman history, so we wanted to do something with that.” Mitchell and Kevin started their research and looked at the ranks of the Roman army. “An imperator has its own legion, so we thought it was a cool idea to combine this into a hardstyle alias. This eventually became Imperatorz. If you want to call the fans our legion, that's up to you, haha!” More than music Yet, their lives are not only about their musical careers, but there’s also a whole other side. Mitchell works for the province of South Holland and has a very diverse job here. “I believe that together we can make the world a little better than it is. The government is a major player in this, so I am working with companies and residents to get the best out of the world! Kevin works as an account manager at an American company. “I really enjoy the work I do there!” For Kevin it started with old Luna and The Prophet tracks, around 2008. He spent days in front of his computer watching YouTube videos of parties. “That energy really got me, right away. I told myself and all my friends and family that one day I also wanted to be there on stage, and here I am. It's still unbelievable!” Mitchell’s brother brought him into hardstyle. “Back in the days I played bass guitar and saxophone, and I liked heavy metal music. All those hardstyle songs seemed the same to me.” But after a while he started to listen to more hardstyle music and even went along to Qlimax. “I was so overwhelmed by the show, the enthusiastic audience and the music. That was the moment I decided to put my bass guitar and saxophone in the storage room. I wanted to focus on making hardstyle music.”

 

 

 

If we ask who their biggest example is, we get a more complex answer than with previously interviewed DJs. But their view on this is certainly interesting. “Some DJs don't make the best music and some producers aren’t very good DJs. That's why we always struggle with the term ‘dj’, a dj isn’t always a producer, or the other way around.” Mitchells favourite DJ is Crypsis. “His mixing skills are so on point. The same goes for Unexist, he mixes like a giant! And Regain is also a very good DJ.” Kevin also chooses Crypsis and Regain. “Attending a set of Crypsis or Regain is always a highlight for me. Those skills of mixing fast, layering tracks, looping and scratching the sh*t out of everything, for the tiny bit of extra entertainment is exactly what I need at a party - that tiny bit extra.” In terms of producing, Mitchell chooses Atmozfears and Demi Kanon. “The great melodies and powerful kicks of Atmozfears are fantastic. The same goes for Demi Kanon, a producer who I think is very underestimated!” Still, euphoric hardstyle is less ‘his thing’ as a DJ. That's why he likes to be inspired by artists like I:Gor and Dither. “They combine different genres in a very unique way. Their productions and sets are always filled with a lot of crazy and unexpected parts!” Kevin also chooses Atmozfears, for the same reasons. But Audiofreq is also a great inspiration to him. “His diversity in sound is next level. He combines so many different genres with hardstyle and the energy in his tracks gives me goosebumps.” Just like Audiofreq, Kevin likes to be inspired by other genres and he also loves artists like Kayzo, Dubloadz, Dion Timmer and Snails. Legends of the future As Imperatorz, Mitchell and Kevin shared one big dream: to play at the INDIGO stage on Defqon.1. And that's what happened this year. They played on Saturday, as the opening act. “We were so nervous! We were afraid it would be empty.” But nothing was further from the truth, it was a madhouse! Within 20 minutes the area around the INDIGO was fully packed. “I saw a group of people wearing Imperatorz t-shirts and flags and suddenly I realized how far we have come”, Kevin says. “After our set we received so many nice reactions on our socials. It was really that feeling again when we opened the second area on QAPITAL in 2018. I didn't expect us to feel like this again, but it was even better. The INDIGO at Defqon.1 was the next level!”

 

 

Their bucket list is filled with dreams like these. Or even bigger. They want to play at Intents Festival and Loudness in the Maassilo. The BLUE stage at Defqon.1 is on their bucket list and they hope that one of their tracks will be played on the RED one day. “A booking abroad would also be very cool, like the legendary Masif events in Australia.” In addition, they also have plans for their own event. This allows them to gather their most dedicated fans and they are in charge of everything themselves. “That's the way to give our fans back what they deserve.” The future looks bright for Imperatorz. These future legends of raw are working hard on their new music and expanding their bookings. Since yesterday they are officially signed at Scantraxx Silver. “We are really proud of that. Hopefully one day we will be able to grow to the main label. We still have a lot of work to do, but we’re on the right track”, says Mitchell. Kevin totally agrees. “We will continue to expand our sound. We even have a collab planned with an artist outside of the hardstyle/hardcore scene!” Meanwhile the Imperatorz boys are working on the release of their collab ‘Valhalla’ with Aversion, which they played for the first time at Defqon.1. They're also coming up with a collaboration with Retaliation and they're working on many more collabs and remixes. Tomorrow they will release their new solo track ‘Hurricane For My Brain’, the first release on Scantraxx Silver. “If you like screeches and hard kicks you will love this track. We'll keep you updated! ”