This edition of We Cause Violence, we decided that both areas will get their own anthem, dedicated to the event. For the Survival area, just picking one heavy-hitter wasn’t enough. So to make it even more special, two talented industrial slammers teamed up for this special track. And of course, we are curious about how this went. So let’s ask the anthem makers Mykoz and Viciouz about this experience.
Can you introduce yourself?
M: "Hi, I'm Mykoz. I'm an artist from Belgium, born and raised in the city of Antwerp."
V: "And I'm Nico aka Viciouz, a North German DJ and producer of – as my name says – vicious music!"
How did your career started?
V: "I took my first steps in DJing in 2014 with a small shitty controller. A friend of mine suggested that I should get into DJing, after pulling off an insane two-tabs YouTube set at an afterparty. In the first years, I casually mixed a bit at home and uploaded one or two sets to Soundcloud (they're still there btw). I've gotten more serious in 2017, as I joined a DJ team that I was already in the background as a music supplier for the hardcore floor, and I had my first gig at a club after I came back from Harmony of Hardcore."
M: "I started my journey six years ago with mixing. Shortly after that, I started producing since it was hard to get bookings by only DJing. I always had the dream of playing on a big stage and watching people enjoying themselves when I was performing. Luckily, this dream came true by playing in six different countries and having my first big festival booking at Dominator."
V: "My first gig as Viciouz was at a contest on NYE 2017-2018 in Hamburg. But shortly before that, I played at a private birthday party alongside Dither. Before even playing, he said to me that because of how I danced to his set, he saw I totally got it in my veins and I should've start producing. And so, he gave me a deadline of a month to send him a track. So I did and he gave me some feedback. After that, things went really well. For example, I played in the Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen twice and I have a lot of other awesome bookings coming up, as well as that I played recently at Rebirth Festival."
How would you describe your style?
M: "Well, I have a lot of my influences from UK Hardcore and industrial. I make all sorts of different types of tracks, varying within a range from 150 to 220 BPM. I can’t really describe my style exactly, but I use a lot of melodies. Although, I don’t like to make them too happy or standard. I like melodies that keep the flow of the track going and I like to combine this with hard kicks and amen breaks. Most people recognize my tracks because of this combination, so I can say it’s my signature."
V: "To be honest, I'm not quite sure how to describe my style. On one hand, I like the more complex side of industrial hardcore very much, especially the UK style. But I also want to create music which is receptive to a wider audience than just the dedicated industrial scene, just to create a gateway. Every time I start a track, it starts pretty straight and "user-friendly", but then I end up with crazy kickrolls, architectures and all stuff. Gladly, I am always able to keep my flow. I am thinking about what direction I want to go in the future, but I think it will be industrial hardcore with influences from UK hardcore, terror, schranz and uptempo within a range of 190 to 230 BPM."
V: "As a DJ, I like to cover the full spectrum of industrial hardcore, as I love all of it. This makes it easy for me to play different sets, regarding the crowd and the event itself. I play on a big variation of events with different focus styles: industrial, hardstyle, uptempo, hardtekk and even hardtechno. So I mix up being fast or slow, more or less snares, based on what I expect the audience will like. But I have to say: a heavy UK and terror artillery in an HKV style is my favorite. Fun fact: my ADHD pretty fucks up my life, but I guess that also influences my music in a good way."
What's your vision about the current industrial scene?
M: "That's a topic I talk about a lot lately. I remembered about eight years ago, I rediscovered my love for hardcore music when I went to Hardcore4Life in the Maassilo. I can't remember it exactly, but there was an industrial stage and I couldn't stand still over there, as I was sucked up by the energy and let it out on the dancefloor. Back then, there was an industrial stage on almost all big events. But now, almost every big party has dropped the industrial stage or replaced it with something else."
V: "Industrial is at a very low point right now, I would love to see it come back more in the mainstream. It's cool to be under the radar, but if it stays here for too long, it will eventually die off. Less parties result in less gigs for the industrial artists and less motivation to produce new music. For me, it's hard to get fresh new tunes for my sets on a monthly basis."
M: "I think industrial music is a very complicated genre to produce and has the widest variety in creativity in it then any other genre in hardcore music. The newer generation seems to appreciate this less and that makes me sad. Anyway, nowadays "hardtechno" is a rising genre with a lot of industrial influences in it. So I think, in the future, a lot will still shift as everything has done in the past as well."
V: "I would also love to see industrial make a return to the mainstream, to give hardcore more diversity in general. I think the genre is too much focused on only one style. You can see this in both the line-ups for events, but also in people's mindsets. The audience have to be confronted with styles like industrial and terror, otherwise they can't fall in love with it. For example, I would love to see a weekend festival doing both an industrial and a terror stage for the whole weekend. If festivals will do this, it’s worth again for people to go buy a weekend ticket for just those areas. Like they say at PRSPCT: Make hardcore great again!"
You guys created the anthem for We Cause Violence II – Butterfly Effect. Where did you get the inspiration from?
V: "The biggest inspiration was the movie 'The Butterfly Effect', in relation to the event's name. If you haven't seen this movie, watch it! It's one of my favorites and it gets me emotional every time."
M: "Alex (Survival, red.) asked us to do it and gave us a few elements he wanted to hear in the track. He made it clear what he had in mind, so we began with some melodies and vocals that fitted the event and his demands. It wasn't that long before we knew we could present him something that would give him butterflies. Our own 'Butterfly Effect'.”
V: "So I came up with the vocals from the movie, where I searched for the ones that fitted to the speech about how the addressed person should not play god. Therefore, I also looked up the "I am God" vocals from the movie 'Malice'. Because of this, we had a storyline in the first act, which got totally crushed by the second act by discarding the warning in the first act. The mood of the track was carried well by the choirs and a blend of industrial, UK hardcore and terror. Plus, as the movie 'The Butterfly Effect' is about time traveling, some glitchy amen breaks give the listener the feeling of a difference in time. It turned out just as planned."
How was it working together on this project?
V: "It was really great working with Mykoz. I have to say, I always play tracks of him in my sets, so I really like his sound. A collab with him was always on my mind, so this was the perfect chance to initiate it. I might even started this whole idea and pitched it to Alex who then got Mykoz hooked for it :D".
M: "In the past, I've done a lot of collabs with all kinds of producers. But to be honest, Viciouz and I were a little scared at the beginning. I love Viciouz as a person and as a musician, but our styles are very different, which could lead to a collab that didn't work because of that. But luckily, in the end, I was surprised how well we were able to blend our different styles together to present the people a perfect mixture of these styles. I'm really happy how it turned out and I can't wait to give Viciouz a hug when I see him."
V: "Getting to the result was actually an easier process than expected. We liked each other's changes and if not, we found a quick solution about which parts we wanted to keep. I previewed the first version of the anthem at Rebirth Festival, which was an awesome moment that gave the confirmation we were on the right path with this project if I saw the crowd's reaction. Only a few adjustments and the final version was there. Hit me up when you are down for another one, Mykoz!"
Have you ever been to the Mikroport Club before?
V: "I've been to Mikroport Club before, both during the previous We Cause Violence as well as other parties, both as an artist and as a visitor. The location has something to it, especially the tunnel. I guess it's just the right spot for a terror/speedcore party. And the upstairs floor works perfectly for other styles like industrial. The sound system is loud and strong in bass, that's a good setting for a violent party!”
M: "Yeah, I've been to Krefeld before. It was five years ago and this was actually my first international gig ever. But to be honest, I can't remember for which event it was. So if the event promoter is reading this, please forgive me :D.”
What do you expect of We Cause Violence?
V: "I expect a family meeting with nice music. I hope the whole industrial family (and terror and speedcore family of course) gathers like we normally do at other events and celebrates some hours of my favorite music. The line-up is perfect and I'm sure that all artists will deliver. I am very happy about being able to drop the craziest stuff with aggressive mixing, to a crowd which really gets what I'm doing."
M: "I know the guys behind the event are absolute professionals and they will do their best to make this a night to remember. The line-up is massive for both areas and I'm sure all the artists involved will deliver VIOLENCE!"
Why should people come to this party?
M: "Because we don't have that many parties like this anymore. And attending it will only make sure more of these can take place again. Everyone who likes the harder and faster stuff should go to this event and support the scene. As I said before, the line-up is insane and the people behind this work so hard to give the people an epic and unique raving experience."
V: "Let's keep industrial, terror and speedcore alive. These genres are vanishing from big events and small parties are getting close to zero. It's a lot of work to put something like this together. If you love these genres, get your ass there!"
Anything else you want to share?
V: "I would like to address that there are many talented new producers and DJs who should be considered when doing the line-ups. Not just for industrial and terror stages, but the talent and hardcore stages as well. These talents are the future. We need motivated artists. Spread out our beloved genres!"
M: "And don't forget to get your tickets! Bring all your friends and families and let's rave together till the early morning!!! :D"
Excited to get to We Cause Violence II - Butterfly Effect? Tickets are available via our website.