Paradox

We catched up with upcoming Hardstyle duo Paradox who are part of the Gearbox Euphoria family. Their name intrigued us and Arjan & Joshua will have their first gig together this Saturday so we wanted to give everybody the chance to get to know them. Check it out below!

Hi guys, thanks for taking the time to do this interview! To start, we’d like to give the readers a chance to get to know you a bit. Could you tell us a bit about yourselves?

Arjan: Of course! My name is Arjan, I am a 21 year old student who lives in The Netherlands. Basically I have a pretty standard life. I go to school and work and in every single free moment of the day I work on music ^^

Joshua: Hey! My name is Joshua. I’m 25, I’m from Edmonton Alberta, Canada. I graduated from Music School in 2012 and since then I’ve been working to pay the bills and on my free time I work on music, exercise, and play video games(sometimes a little too much)

Could you describe how you’ve gotten into music and (Euphoric) Hardstyle in particular?

Arjan: Well I remember hearing a Hardbass Chapter.. (can’t remember the exact one though..) somewhere around 2006 / 2007, and I immediately fell in love with the “harderstyles music”. After 2 years, Pavo – Raven came out and my biggest heroes (Headhunterz, Wildstylez & Noisecontrollers) we’re making amazing tracks. At that point I decided to stop producing hip hop beats (which I did for fun haha)! And start focusing myself on producing Hardstyle. And everyday I fall more and more in love with the music.

Joshua: I was 18, driving around, my friend forgot his iPod in my car. I decided that day I wanted to listen to something different (I used to be really into hip-hop). Scrolling through his iPod I came across the name “Headhunterz”. I thought, “Who the f*** is Headhunterz?” I clicked on the song D-Tuned. At first I thought it was hilariously “Eurotrash”, listening to it more so to make fun of it. But then after awhile I got hooked, looking up more artists and music, discovering artists like Noisecontrollers, Frontliner, Showtek, Brennan Heart and much more! I completely fell in love with the music and just one day had an epiphany. That I wanted to make this music for a living. Knowing nothing about music I started looking up how to “make music” and discovered FL Studio. I wasn’t too serious about it at first, messing around on FL now and then, I was busy being 18, going to bars and drinking, you know. But when I was 20 I finally decided to get serious and go to school. I’m still learning everyday and there’s still lots of room for improvement. But I am very happy I discovered Hardstyle, it definitely changed my life. I think I’m more into the Euphoric sound because that’s the kind of Hardstyle I discovered and that’s the style that really drew me in, hence the artists I first discovered. Who knows where I’d be today if my friend never forgot his iPod in my car.

How have you gotten from that moment, to where you are today together as a duo?

Arjan: I think my drive to continue and not willing to give up my dream. Which is hard sometimes, but if it wasn’t for hardstyle I never would’ve met Joshua and we never would’ve started to collab . Which was such a good experience for us both, we decided to combine our skills into Paradox.

Joshua: Just like Arjan said, if it weren’t for Hardstyle we never would have met. I’ve always kept pushing forward, even in my most darkest times where I was close to giving up, I never did. Us forming Paradox, to me has been the best thing that’s happened ever since I started producing. A lot has happened so fast, and I can’t wait to see what the future of Paradox has in store for us.

Why the name Paradox?

Because we want to do both raw and euphoric stuff and the name Paradox fits that description very well.

Why the artwork that’s so similar to that Dimitry Vegas & Like Mike?

Who?:)

What does Hardstyle mean to you?

Arjan: Everything. I breathe it, live it, dream it & Eat it (if eating it was possible). Hardstyle is a way for me to peak my emotions. But also to lose my mind and just party until the sun rises again.

Joshua: Everything, it’s literally formed who I am and where I’m at today. It’s the only music I can continually listen to without getting bored. It’s the only thing that’s motivated me to attempt achieving something bigger than myself. Before Hardstyle I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, I wasn’t interested in much at all. I’d probably still be in that same spot, wondering what to do, if it weren’t for Hardstyle.

Who inspires you and why?

Arjan: Wildstylez, Isaac, Noisecontrollers & Headhunterz but also guys like Kygo, Ummet Oszcan, Hardwell or more classical guys like Hans Zimmer. I have no particular point where I get my inspiration from, it can come from music, but also from feelings or trip to the woods.

Joshua: My biggest inspiration was always Headhunterz, I loved his style of music and love what he stands for. Many different songs from many different artists and genres have inspired me over the years.

Could you describe your own style in music?

Arjan: Euphoric with a harder kick and we like to make raw as well. But overall commercial music.

Joshua: I’d have to agree with Arjan, definitely a more euphoric style but with a harder kick, and some raw elements. We’re definitely open to producing many different “styles” of Hardstyle.

What’s your greatest ‘Hardstyle/music memory’?

Arjan: Well this is pretty awesome. You probably know (or don’t) our track Only You(?)! Well I started up that track, because I was feeling very in love with my girlfriend (cliche) but still it’s true. So I heard these vocals and they fitted the track just so, with almost 0 editing. After wrapping up the track with Joshie, we got the news that our track was featured in the Isaac’s Hardstyle Sessions Number 75! And that news, well I got that news on my girlfriends own birthday haha! So that was pretty awesome. Also the label night of us was really special .

Joshua: Yea, hearing the news about Isaac playing our track was huge, I was in shock for two days! Absolutely couldn’t believe it! Also my most “Star Struck” moment was getting a picture with Headhunterz, at a meet n greet after one of his performances. Standing in line waiting I was literally shaking and rehearsing in my head what to say to him. When I finally got to go up I was so nervous I think all I said was “Good job tonight” or something lame like that. Got my picture, got his signature and got the hell out of there!

Greatest tracks ever made?

Arjan: Digital Punk & Noisecontrollers – Blue Horizon.

Joshua: Headhunterz – Dragonborn

Who would you like to work with?

Arjan: I hope we can sit down in the studio with almost the whole scene one day! Guys like, Atmozfears, Noisecontrollers, D-Block & S-Te-Fan, Isaac and the list goes on and on.

Joshua: Too many to name, like Arjan said, the whole scene!

What things do you aspire to accomplish in your music career?

Arjan: Well my biggest dream is a Qlimax. So definitely Qlimax.

Joshua: Well, my biggest thing for me would be to make music my Career, travel the world to perform and have my own studio. I’ve always wanted to play at Defqon 1, I think I’ll cry on stage if when get to perform there.

What can people expect from you guys on short term? Any upcoming gigs/releases?

Arjan: Joshua and I have our first gig (TOGETHER)!! 30th of january 2016 in Club Broadway (Erp, NL) We also have a lot of tracks almost (like 80 – 90%) done and we will soon send them in for a scheduled release. Expect some collabs, remixes and brand new tracks! Maybe a free bootleg? Who knows.. ^^

Joshua: What he said.

What’s the best advice you’ve gotten about starting a career in music?

Arjan: Frontliner gave me this one: Never ever let anyone tell you what you can and can’t achieve. In this world you have a lot of haters, and the more you have the more successful you are. (I won a DJ Clinic from him by Pepsi in 2014).

Joshua: I remember Technoboy told me one time. “Have a great personality, if you have a great personality, you’ll make it in this scene.”

Also my favorite quote from Jim Carrey: If you can fail at what you don’t want, then why not take a chance on what you love.

What funfact don’t a lot of people know about you?

Arjan: I’m pretty crazy. Maybe we like to overdress ourselves for the gigs because we like costumes. But overall I’m nuts. 24 hour ADHD and it just keeps on going and going and going and going…. No but seriously, fun fact: I DON’T LIKE SPIDERS!!!!!!

Joshua: I’m Luke’s Father.

Alright, thanks for this interview guys & all the best for the future!

Connect with Paradox:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paradoxhardstyle/

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/prdxhardstyle

Gearbox Euphoria: https://www.facebook.com/GearboxEuphoria/

Pure Bookings: http://purebookings.nl/