When I found out early yesterday that Hardwell's camp had produced a movie (aptly titled I Am Hardwell), my first reaction was a snicker… that escalated quickly into a full-out howl at my desk. After I'd had time to calm down, I walked over to The Vogue and decided to learn more about house music's 99 percent."What do they listen to in their free time?" "Where do they find their music?" "Have they been following the Chicago house and instrumental hip-hop revivals sweeping North America?" "Do they do coke?" These questions were all flowing through my mind as I approached the theatre. Picking people out from the admittedly small line outside, I gave myself two minutes per group to ask a series of standard questions.THUMP: What do you think about the current state of music?
1: I like it. It's growing.
2: It's transforming.From what into what?
2: I think it used to be that the most heated thing was hip-hop and now it's slowly transforming into EDM. Five years ago the radio was never playing EDM. Right now there's new EDM hits every day.
1: And festivals and everything.Who are your five favourite artists?
2: Number one, Aless…
1: Alesso!
2: Uhh, Hardwell, Nicky Romero.
1: Tiesto, obviously.
2: Tiesto, yeah.
1: Last one I'll switch it up, I like trap artists like Hucci.Who are five up-and-comers on your radar? Acts that aren't big now, but that you think will be big in a year.
2: Okay, uh… 3lau, he's coming to Simon Fraser University, uhhh… five. Come on, man help me out.
1: I don't know, I can't think of any.
2: I don't know, Martin Garrix you could say is an up and coming.--THUMP: What do you think about the current state of music?
3: I think it's in a pretty good shape and that music is expanding on a daily basis. There are different genres and people liking different things. And style, all these styles are coming together with all these music festivals.What's your favourite style?
3: Uh, be more specific.What's your favourite genre then?
3: Uh, like trance and EDM.EDM?
3: Trance.Who are your top five artists?
3: Armin, Dash Berlin, Above & Beyond, Shogun, and oh this is a tough one… Alexander Popov.Who are five up-and-comers on your radar? Acts that aren't big now, but that you think will be big in a year.
3: That's a tough one because I don't really know… Well maybe I can think of one.Take your time.
3: Ah, no, I can't even think of one, sorry.What do you think the sound of tomorrow is?
3: The sound of tomorrow? I don't even know it could be anything.What's your favourite drug?
3: That's kind of personal.--THUMP: How do you feel about the state of music today?
4: It's okay. It's just that everything is blowing up right now, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just that more people are being introduced to the scene. I feel that a lot of people are going to hate on that.You don't sound very stoked.
4: I'm high.Who are your five favourite DJs at the moment?
4: Oh…
5: Adventure Club, Hardwell, Tiesto and Kaskade.
4: That's a bit generic, well… I like Porter Robinson.Who are five up-and-comers on your radar? Acts that aren't big now, but that you think will be big in a year.
4: 3lau, 3lau is going to be big.Didn't he sell out Celebrities recently?
4: Yeah, there you go.What do you think of Cashmere Cat?
4: He's cool, we saw him at Contact Festival.--THUMP: How do you feel about the state of electronic music?
6: We love it.
7: Its come a long way from what it used to be.What do you love most about it?
7: Probably the music festivals.
6: Music festivals and dancing.
7: They're a lot bigger than they used to be.
6: When the beat drops.What's your favourite music festival that you've been to?
7: EDC Las Vegas.
6: EDC.Who was your favourite artist there?
7: Oh, jeeze. It's probably a cop-out saying Hardwell, right?
6: We love Hardwell, we've seen him a couple of times. Hardwell or Above and Beyond.Who are your top five DJs at the moment?
7: Obviously Hardwell. Above & Beyond, Nicky Romero, Kaskade and Avicii.
6: I liked Dada Life too when I saw them.
7: And probably Flosstradamus as well.Who are five up-and-coming DJs that you think will be big this year?
7: Carnage, Uberjak'd… that's a hard question.
6: We don't know.
7: We don't follow it closely enough.Where do you find most of your music?
7: Most of the music that I've found has been at a club in Australia called Red Square because it's all local artists who are up-and-coming.
6: A lot through concerts and YouTube rips of old music festivals.--THUMP: How do you feel about the current state of electronic music?
8: I love it, I absolutely love it.What do you love about it?
8: The fact that it's in-stream again. It's out on the radio, people enjoy it, and it's everyday living.What did you listen to before electronic music?
8: I've listened to electronic music for like 14 years, so I'd say old school rock and rap before that.Who are your five favourite DJs at the moment?
8: Hardwell, Borgore, Datsik, Nero and Armin van Buuren.Who are five DJs who aren't big now, but you think are going to be big in a year?
8: Longwalkshortdock, Gareth Emery for sure, DJ Bricks—shout-out to my homeboy.Where do you find most of your music?
8: Online, YouTube, friends, links and stuff--THUMP: How do you feel about the state of electronic music today?
9: I think it's really cool that everyone's getting involved and it's getting a lot bigger. Even in high school, everyone's getting into it now. It used to be a couple of friends and me, but now everyone wants to go to shows.
10: It used to be really stereotypical, but now a lot of people are embracing it.So now it's not stereotypical.
10: Yeah.What was the stereotype before?
10: Kind of like dirty, rave-like. It's a brighter feeling now.Who are your five favourite DJs at the moment?
10: Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Martin Garrix, MAKJ. I love Sleepy Tom, and I'm going say Dannic.Who are five DJs who aren't big now, but you think are going to be big in a year?
10: I was just listening to some… let me look on my phone.
9: I think that Cashmere Cat and a lot more stuff in that style. Wave Racer, Trippy Turtle, they're all going to get really big.
10: I think The Chainsmokers will take off soon.Didn't they just hit Billboard #1 in dance?
10: Well yeah, but I think they'll have more fans.Did you go to their show in November?
10: No, we're not of age yet. I'd like to go though.Have you ever been to a music festival?
10: Yeah, I went to Center of Gravity last year and it was really fun.
9: I went to Contact last year.
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1: I like it. It's growing.
2: It's transforming.From what into what?
2: I think it used to be that the most heated thing was hip-hop and now it's slowly transforming into EDM. Five years ago the radio was never playing EDM. Right now there's new EDM hits every day.
1: And festivals and everything.Who are your five favourite artists?
2: Number one, Aless…
1: Alesso!
2: Uhh, Hardwell, Nicky Romero.
1: Tiesto, obviously.
2: Tiesto, yeah.
1: Last one I'll switch it up, I like trap artists like Hucci.Who are five up-and-comers on your radar? Acts that aren't big now, but that you think will be big in a year.
2: Okay, uh… 3lau, he's coming to Simon Fraser University, uhhh… five. Come on, man help me out.
1: I don't know, I can't think of any.
2: I don't know, Martin Garrix you could say is an up and coming.--THUMP: What do you think about the current state of music?
3: I think it's in a pretty good shape and that music is expanding on a daily basis. There are different genres and people liking different things. And style, all these styles are coming together with all these music festivals.What's your favourite style?
3: Uh, be more specific.What's your favourite genre then?
3: Uh, like trance and EDM.EDM?
3: Trance.Who are your top five artists?
3: Armin, Dash Berlin, Above & Beyond, Shogun, and oh this is a tough one… Alexander Popov.
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3: That's a tough one because I don't really know… Well maybe I can think of one.Take your time.
3: Ah, no, I can't even think of one, sorry.What do you think the sound of tomorrow is?
3: The sound of tomorrow? I don't even know it could be anything.What's your favourite drug?
3: That's kind of personal.--THUMP: How do you feel about the state of music today?
4: It's okay. It's just that everything is blowing up right now, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just that more people are being introduced to the scene. I feel that a lot of people are going to hate on that.You don't sound very stoked.
4: I'm high.Who are your five favourite DJs at the moment?
4: Oh…
5: Adventure Club, Hardwell, Tiesto and Kaskade.
4: That's a bit generic, well… I like Porter Robinson.Who are five up-and-comers on your radar? Acts that aren't big now, but that you think will be big in a year.
4: 3lau, 3lau is going to be big.Didn't he sell out Celebrities recently?
4: Yeah, there you go.What do you think of Cashmere Cat?
4: He's cool, we saw him at Contact Festival.--THUMP: How do you feel about the state of electronic music?
6: We love it.
7: Its come a long way from what it used to be.What do you love most about it?
7: Probably the music festivals.
6: Music festivals and dancing.
7: They're a lot bigger than they used to be.
6: When the beat drops.
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7: EDC Las Vegas.
6: EDC.Who was your favourite artist there?
7: Oh, jeeze. It's probably a cop-out saying Hardwell, right?
6: We love Hardwell, we've seen him a couple of times. Hardwell or Above and Beyond.Who are your top five DJs at the moment?
7: Obviously Hardwell. Above & Beyond, Nicky Romero, Kaskade and Avicii.
6: I liked Dada Life too when I saw them.
7: And probably Flosstradamus as well.Who are five up-and-coming DJs that you think will be big this year?
7: Carnage, Uberjak'd… that's a hard question.
6: We don't know.
7: We don't follow it closely enough.Where do you find most of your music?
7: Most of the music that I've found has been at a club in Australia called Red Square because it's all local artists who are up-and-coming.
6: A lot through concerts and YouTube rips of old music festivals.--THUMP: How do you feel about the current state of electronic music?
8: I love it, I absolutely love it.What do you love about it?
8: The fact that it's in-stream again. It's out on the radio, people enjoy it, and it's everyday living.What did you listen to before electronic music?
8: I've listened to electronic music for like 14 years, so I'd say old school rock and rap before that.Who are your five favourite DJs at the moment?
8: Hardwell, Borgore, Datsik, Nero and Armin van Buuren.Who are five DJs who aren't big now, but you think are going to be big in a year?
8: Longwalkshortdock, Gareth Emery for sure, DJ Bricks—shout-out to my homeboy.
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8: Online, YouTube, friends, links and stuff--THUMP: How do you feel about the state of electronic music today?
9: I think it's really cool that everyone's getting involved and it's getting a lot bigger. Even in high school, everyone's getting into it now. It used to be a couple of friends and me, but now everyone wants to go to shows.
10: It used to be really stereotypical, but now a lot of people are embracing it.So now it's not stereotypical.
10: Yeah.What was the stereotype before?
10: Kind of like dirty, rave-like. It's a brighter feeling now.Who are your five favourite DJs at the moment?
10: Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Martin Garrix, MAKJ. I love Sleepy Tom, and I'm going say Dannic.Who are five DJs who aren't big now, but you think are going to be big in a year?
10: I was just listening to some… let me look on my phone.
9: I think that Cashmere Cat and a lot more stuff in that style. Wave Racer, Trippy Turtle, they're all going to get really big.
10: I think The Chainsmokers will take off soon.Didn't they just hit Billboard #1 in dance?
10: Well yeah, but I think they'll have more fans.Did you go to their show in November?
10: No, we're not of age yet. I'd like to go though.Have you ever been to a music festival?
10: Yeah, I went to Center of Gravity last year and it was really fun.
9: I went to Contact last year.