Headhunterz Announces Return to Hardstyle at Defqon.1

Headhunterz will return to the hardstyle scene by producing a new album and rebooting his podcast Hard With Style.

During this weekend at Defqon.1, Headhunterz performed at the Defqon.1 Legends set showcasing some of the greatest hardstyle acts in the scene, including former hardstyle artists Showtek. After a medley of his biggest hits played, Headhunterz unexpectedly announced he will return to the hardstyle scene.

According to an interview with Hard News, Headhunterz plans to return to the scene by relaunching his podcast with a YouTube livestream. In addition, he will release an EP of hardstyle-only tracks later this year, including the track “Destiny” heard at the end of his Defqon. 1 set. Platinum Agency revealed that he will rejoin their roster of artists, who include Brennan Heart and Wildstylez, to help support his upcoming tour dates.

Fans have expressed their gratitude for Headhunterz returning to the hardstyle community. During the rise of EDM, certain DJs and producers left their genre roots to chase trends, like big room house and future bass. It’s possible that artists like Headhunterz found themselves unable to compete in the crowded mainstage market. In a similar sense, artists returning to their roots have been met with mixed results in the trance genre. For example, Sander Van Doorn returning to tech trance with Purple Haze has been almost universally praised, while W&W returning to trance with NWYR has not.

With Headhunterz coming back to hardstyle, is this what the genre needs to make a comeback in the electronic music scene?

Watch Headhunterz perform at Defqon.1 2017 on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Headhunterz/videos/10154543169037019/

Read the heartfelt letter Headhunterz wrote on Facebook:

Dear hardstyle family member,

Yes, this letter is for you. Remember this picture? It was taken exactly one year ago, a moment in time that changed my life.

2014 – I guess it was almost impossible to explain why I left the hardstyle scene to explore the world out there, more so because I didn’t even really know myself what I was looking for yet. Hardstyle was the music I grew up with, making it was the most natural thing to do when I started making music. But my mind has always been curious and adventurous. Thus, at some point, I couldn’t resist the question: “What else is there?”. Like Simba that was given a whole kingdom by birthright but couldn’t resist to go see what lay beyond.

2016 – I was learning a lot of new techniques as a producer, seeing new places and standing on my own feet, out there in the big bad world. Despite not having found what I was hoping for yet, I was doing pretty well. I thought…

When I appeared before you at DefQon.1 2016, I literally broke down. My world fell apart and I saw the bigger picture. Suddenly feeling so tired of going against the stream of my true nature, all the pieces of my puzzle fell together. I had left home only to set out on a journey back to where I started. But now I have been given the answers I was looking for. I did not fall in love with hardstyle just because I grew up with it. It was love at first sight with hardstyle and myself! I fell in love because it was the only music in the world that connected with every part of me that made me human. Raw emotion and energy, uncontaminated and right underneath the surface of our rapidly moving society that consumes everything in its path. It has united people like nothing I have ever seen in my life and it has made even the toughest men shed tears at times, like it did at that moment in time.

That day changed me as a person. I no longer felt the need to prove to myself and the world that I could do it all. The illusion that something else better than this is out there evaporated. I made it to the elephant graveyard and back. Thank you for showing me the way home. Thank you for always leaving the door open. I hereby return as a humble member of the community, offering my works, committed to spreading the word.

“One day, sooner or later, we see this music is our destiny”

W

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