Hey BMBERJCK! Nice to chat with you. "Burn" is your latest track released on NEXXUS, and we thought this would be a great opportunity to get to know you!
So, could you introduce yourself first and take us through your journey? How did you get into the industry, and how did you get to where you are now?
So my real name is Paul Haagmans and I'm 21 years old, coming from Venlo. When I was about 10 years old, I was introduced to Hardstyle through my brother, and I immediately fell in love with the music. A friend of his once DJed at my cousin's house for her exam party, and he put me behind the turntables to show me how it's done. From that moment, I knew this is what I wanted to do. I started producing at the age of 12, but it took me years of trial and error on various programs until I got something decent, so to speak.
In 2017, I attended the Stereo Sunday festival in Venlo, where I met Regain and took a picture with him because I was a fan. I posted that picture on Instagram, and I got a DM from a random guy who was also at the festival. He saw on my profile that I was into DJing and producing. That person turned out to be Eloy (Sparkz). We became really good friends after that, and we taught each other a lot about producing. Through him, I met the owner of Unfold Records and Thijs from Dual Damage in 2020.
Eloy and I were able to join the Oblivion Records label where Thijs was under "Backfire" at the time. After our first few releases, it became apparent that people really liked our style. We started getting more bookings gradually, and the streams also went up.
due to some challenges we faced, we decided that it was time to move forward. Robin then took the initiative to say, "Let's start a new label with our friends." We wanted to do everything right from the start. Robin had already built a small network, so we also got help from time to time. Ever since the start of Unfold Records, things have been going really well for all of us. After a few months, we all started getting calls from certain Booking agencies, etc. I then got in touch with Pure Bookings. I've been signed there since 2023.
About "Burn": How was your new NEXXUS release "Burn" translated from an idea to a track, and what feeling did you want to convey with it?
Burn feels like a fresh start for me. My quality has increased quite a bit since this production. Also, I think this is the perfect track to showcase my style the way I want it to be. I want to bring back the old hardstyle feeling in my new tracks by revamping old elements in a new way, but with a crazy twist. If you also listen to my live sets, you'll definitely notice that I use a lot of sounds that aren't from this generation. People also notice it, and I only get good feedback about it. That really motivates me to continue with it.
First Encounter with SCANTRAXX: When/how did you first come into contact with SCANTRAXX?
When I was young, I listened a lot to artists who were also under SCANTRAXX. It had always been a dream of mine to release on SCANTRAXX, but I never found it realistic with the style I had. A while ago, I was in the studio with Marijn (Bright Visions). He said I should just send something to see what they thought of it. So I did, and now I have a release. I'm super proud that it worked out, and I'm also happy that SCANTRAXX is excited.
Every road has a bumpy ride. Could you share any obstacles you encountered in producing "Burn" and how you tackled these challenges?
From this project, I started doing something different with my kicks. I had a bit of trouble with that. But through this track, I found a way to make my kicks a lot cleaner than before. This was also my first project with the Virus TI Snow. I think the artists among us know this device well, and they probably know the struggles of the Virus too. But luckily, everything turned out fine in the end.