The Levitation Station stage at Kosmos offers hard and fast beats. Today we are introducing a Hard NRG artist joining our lineup from Bournemouth, England – Aeon.
How is the UK Hard NRG scene doing nowadays?
– Digitally I see Hard house NRG/Schranz labels continuing to push the sounds, with success, but I’ll admit it’s less visible outside of those established Hard House/NRG brands. The labels of ‘NRG’ and so on, are long lost on physical mediums such as flyers, CDs, and raves but the unmistakable sounds are absolutely prevalent as ever – as are the ravers!
– Iconic events such as Frantic and Tidy have no issues in stuffing KoKo Camden to the rafters, full of sweaty aging ravers being serenaded in the main room with sounds of a nostalgic Hard House past, whilst meatier NRG & Schranz echoes can be heard, for a generally younger crowd, in its back rooms.
– But finding those fresher faced DJs with new and unreleased beats, playing to an emerging crowd of enthusiasts is harder to come by – especially if you’re Google searching ‘hard NRG’ for events.
In Finland the Hard NRG / Freeform scene has fallen into the margins of the electronic music scene since its glory days of 2000s. Do you think there is still a place for Hard NRG in the scene with all todays hard and fast genres?
– As mentioned, it’s no secret that our labels (hard house, NRG, Schranz etc..) are lost to obscurity, alongside your discarded Don’t Stay In lanyards and raving pictures somewhere BUT the uniquely identifiable sounds that we associate with those labels are EVERYWHERE.
– Techno is globally adopting techy percussions & distorted kicks whilst charting pop music in the UK is returning to euphoric leads and driving up the BPM.
– The music remains, whilst less obvious to find, it is in the twilight of a renaissance – look at Klangkuenstler for an example of the scale.
TL;DR – people are listening to it, even if they don’t know they are!
Are you looking forward to Kosmos? What are “must do” -experiences in Finland?
– I cannot wait. Finland for me has become a personal pilgrimage over the years. Memories of high fives to broken doors, saunas with best friends and jalovina.
– Kosmos has always been a bucket list item for me and after releasing a track on FINRG last year, it is the logical next achievement!
– Experiences that cannot be missed; Fishu, salmiakki, jalovina and long drink, whilst battling the local drunk at pool in a dim rock bar – I rejoice.
Thank you, Aeon! Always a pleasure to hear from the UK Hard scene! See you on the dancefloor.
AEON on Levitation Station on Saturday 00-01!
