Thera er nok mest kendt fra sin tid da han var den anden halvdel af Brennan Heart. I onsdags blev en ny interview offentliggjort på den hollandske site Partyflock og herunder ses hele interviewen på engelsk. Det er god læsestof og giver god indblik i hans projekter.


It is the second most popular music style at Partyflock: a stunning 33% of all members likes to listen to Hardstyle. Names as Dana, Headhunterz, Technoboy and Zany appear in their favourite lists. A large percentage of this 33% visits the big and most well-known parties in this style. There they meet with the partygoers who are not a member at Partyflock (yes, even in 2010 they still exist!). Some of them visit the party for the show, the festival feeling, the experience or because their friends are there. They do not really know the details about the music. Most visitors know hardstyle, know the names of the most popular DJs and sing along with the breaks of the high rotation tracks. Some of them also know the track names. A smaller part also knows the label that released the track. The more we filter, the smaller the group and the bigger the need to talk and discuss about hardstyle and the changes in the music and the scene. In the end, a very small amount of the 33% of people on Partyflock that dig hardstyle arrive on its forum and/or other forums. They are the purists, the critics, the die-hards, the 'true fans'. Mostly people who have been around from the start and who know all the ins and outs. They live and breathe hardstyle, sometimes so much that they cannot cope with the constant changes in the music (which resulted in taking down the worlds biggest hardstyle platform: Global Hardstyle last week).

Most artists do not care about this small group of followers. They just want to see the dancefloor move. Score hits. It is important to earn some money of course. Pieter Heijnen (30) is not a rookie and knows everything there is to know in this scene. As part of the duo Brennan & Heart he was playing at the biggest parties during the upcoming hardstyle period and produced huge world-class tracks. But he continued his path in a slightly uncommon way: he disappeared from the mainstream to the underground. As DJ Thera. He understood the growing amount of criticism of the hardstyle followers on internet and, instead of neglecting them, he responded. When you compare it to the 33% hardstyle lovers at Partyflock, it's only a handful: 150 Thera fans and 30 fans of his label Theracords. But the chances are very high that these ratings will become way more impressive in the next few years. That's because Thera has a vision that can be groundbreaking in the Hardstyle scene. Mark EG already mentioned Theracords as the best label of 2009 and every single release goes straight to the number one position at Junodownload. Itss about time to introduce this uncrowned king of the underground, so Partyflock invited DJ Thera for an interview.





Hey Pieter! The die hard hardstyle followers know you for about ten years already, but the big crowd has probably never even heard from you. You are not on the line-ups of the biggest and popular parties and by opening this interview they'll probably think you're a newcomer. Can you tell something about your musi history?"
Of course I can! Let's go back in time. I was born in 1979 and grew up in a musical family in a small town in Limburg (the Southeast of Holland). My father always played (and still does) in lots of bands and my mother was (and still is) very passionate about music: she bought lots of new records all the time. When I was three I was constantly playing with those records, making a mess of her collection. Most interesting for me was the music of Queen, Alan Parsons Project and Jean-Michel Jarre. While other children were playing with Transformers, I played with this old synthesizer I got from my dad when his band bought a new one. I was constantly making melodies on this thing and recorded them. Music, and mostly electronic music, has always run through my veins. Even though I was quite young, I definitely experienced the rise of house music and I was grabbed by the hardcorevirus that was spreading around Holland. No, I did not shave my head, but I did wear a bomber jack (laughs). I was already more interested in who made which track. I bought loads of CDs and read the booklets inside out. Around the age of 14, I went to small hardcore parties in the neighbourhood and a few years later to the bigger parties like Shadowlands. Nevertheless, my hardcore interest vanished quite quickly. I lost interest and searched for different music. Then I found this CD from 1997 called 'Hard Trance'...."

'Hard Trance - The Electronic Mindfuck'? With this weird guy holding a syringe in his mouth on the cover? That was my favourite CD for years!
"Yes, that's the one! It was something completely different than what we call hardtrance nowadays though. It was a collection of loads of diverse tracks but all tracks had an enormous drive. It contained very melodic tracks with lots of acid and I immediately thought the feeling was spot on. Party organisation Hellraiser was responsible for the famous Digital Overdose parties, always hosting an area called Immortality. The music that was played there was also released on CD. And Gary D started his D.Trance compilations. Wow, what an incredible cool music! In stead of going to hardcore parties, me and my friends started visiting club E-Dry in Germany. Cosmic Gate were residents there and we went there as often as possible. When they played 'Fire Wire' back in 1999 I was sure: 'I do not only want to listen to this, this is the music I want to play and produce myself!'"

Were you active in producing music since your kindergarten symphonies?
"Oh yes! I hosted a local radio show for a couple of years where I played dance and hardcore every Saturday and I worked at a bar where I took care of the music. At home I produced all kinds of stuff. Hardcore, happy hardcore, club... When Faithless started with those pizzicato sounds, I also tried to make that. It was all great to do and I really liked what I made, although it probably sounded awful (laughs). Anyway, in 1999 I heard that track and I knew I wanted to follow that direction. Then things started to move in serious directions."

Was it during that period you got in touch with Fabian Bohn, nowadays better known as Brennan Heart?
"No, I already met him at school. He was like me, always working on music, so it was a love we had in common. I also had a different passion back then: writing. I was chief editor of the school newspaper and I wanted to pursue that career as well. That's why I started studying Journalism in Tilburg in 1999. One year later, Fabian moved to Tilburg as well for his study Music Management. He already knew he wanted to work in the music business. When he moved to Tilburg, there was a spare room in his student flat so I thought: 'when I move in there, we can work on music together all the time'. So that's what happened and then things really started. We set up our first project 'Bass Driver'. In 2000 we produced the track 'Fatal Invasion', which was released one year later. Even though hardstyle didn't yet exist as a particular style in that time and our track was more of a mixture between UK hardhouse and German hardtrance, it's still considered to be one of the first hardstyle records ever. We performed at all kinds of local clubs and then Multigroove called us. They were working with Don Diablo, a Dutch DJ who we were in contact with, and were interested in getting us out there. We choose a different project name: Brennan & Heart. We wanted to create something using the first letters of our last names (Bohn and Heijnen) and this was the result. And then suddenly we stood behind the DJ booth at the mainstage of Multigroove. As newbie's! That performance really bestirred it all. We started releasing numerous tracks on different labels. In 2005 we were really sucked into a slipstream of weekly bookings and appearences on parties like Defqon1, X-Qlusive Labels & Liveacts and Q-BASE. I noticed I felt more pressure, it was like we were making tracks to score hits in stead of producing stuff we liked ourselves. We focussed more on what tracks from other artists scored well, what organisations and the crowd wanted... That did not feel good at all."



Is that the reason you and Fabian split in 2005? Still numerous of strange stories and gossips are circulating about that break-up...
"It was one of the reasons. Our opinions about how to create music and what to do in the future were diverging by the minute. Let's call it 'creative differences. More stuff was going on during that period and that's probably why people think Fabian and I are still having have big issues with each other. But both of us have left the break-up and everything that happened back then behind. That book is closed. Negativity is a waste of time and right now we are both very happy with what we're doing. In the end, this split was very good for both of us. It definitely took me some time though. After the hectic period with Brennan & Heart, I actually distanced myself from everything. Producing wasn't really possible anyway, since the studio was located at Fabian's house. I only had an old PC, luckily containing Cubase. Everything I used took me hours of rendering before I was able to hear what I made. I'm a very impatient person so producing in this way didn't work at all for me. I had invested so much already and I didn't feel like starting all over. So I quit producing for a while. I still received requests for DJ sets though, mostly from abroad. I guess that when you have this passion it's impossible to ignore it, so I picked up performing again and came up with a new name: Thera. Thera is an anagram of Heart. When I was playing again for a while, I couldn't deny anymore how much I missed producing. So I invested some money in rebuilding my studio, but I really kept my equipment low-profile. I do have a pro sound card but it's a cheap one, I have a cheap midi keyboard and my monitors have a nice clear sound but weren't expensive. I finally started producing tracks I fully believe in and which I was certain of they would do very well at a party. I sent demos to some labels, but got feedback like: 'It does sound nice, but this isn't going to work. We need certain melodies and you have to use the triplet rhythm, otherwise it won't sell.' No one wanted to release my tracks."



So I guess you didn't use that type of melodies and triplets? What did u make then? And why?

"I still visited parties in 2007/2008. When I was about to go home again it always felt like they were playing the same track as when I arrived there. All I heard were those triplet chords, you know, the Basshunter type rhythm, in my opinion. Combined with kicks flying around to all kinds of heights and lows matching the chords... Do not take this the wrong way, I do not hate this type of hardstyle, but I don't like listening to it for six hours straight. To me, a perfect party develops very different. I like to enter in a dark atmosphere with underground techno, you know, that you feel something big is about to happen. Then the music should build up: classics, new stuff, variety. And the perfect closing of would be hardcore or lethal industrial. I just need diversity on a party, but there hardly is nowadays. Lots of labels stick to a 50 seconds intro, then the DJ mix is already done and you get a build up with a steady kick. After that, you hear a long break followed by a happy melody and those flying kicks. And that times one hundred. On all big labels. I didn't want to make the same stuff. Making music because it sells it what bummed me out during the Brennan & Heart period already, I didn't wanna go there again. I do understand it though. The labels are just companies, it is business. They have to earn money. But it wasn't my dream, so I thought 'I'll do it myself!"



And then you founded Theracords?
"That's right. I did research on how to start a digital label, since vinyl is going down. Which is a huge shame of course, because vinyl is holy in my opinion, but it sure is a fact. When you press vinyl you need to sell everything only to reach your break-even. Which is completely impossible being DJ Thera in 2008. Or maybe if I would've added my old résumé on every label artwork, but I didn't really desire to do that (laughs). Digital is the future in my opinion, but if you do it: do it right! So I signed up at Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, the whole nine yards. And this pays off. In Holland we are still clinging to vinyl, while in the UK labels as Tidy Trax and Nukleuz that went digital years ago stile are being considered respectable labels. I do understand the dangers of going digital. It is easier to have a track released, which means more competition, making it harder to stand out. Besides that, you know that when a release is out, it will be available for download illegally immediately."

You started this label for releasing your own tracks in the first place, but now lots of tracks from other artists have been released also. Can you tell something about them?
"When people want to release on my label the most important thing for me is that I want them to have the same attitude towards making music as me. It's not enough when a track is well-made: I also care about the idea behind the track and about someone's personality. In a very short period of time I collected a group of talented people and in my opinion they are the bomb! Every single artist on my label has something unique. Stana for instance is a real entertainer, you have to see him perform live. Such a freak behind the decks, using the microphone and stuff like that. Sinith is a master in creating atmosphere and he's the perfect opener for any party, no matter which style of music there's being played. Geck-o is the one who surprised me the most. That guy is only pducing since two years and the quality level of his productions is so freakishly high. And then I heard him play at his first gig, which was in Belfast: I almost fainted! He is that good!"

Don't you focus just on production talent?
"No, for me it is very important that my artists can spin as well. The Theracords Radio Show, which is aired weekly on eight different radio stations, is the best way to find that out. Every week, a different artist delivers a DJ set and I always insist they record it live. I am totally against pc mixing. I have a deck of Pioneers at home and for me it has to happen in one take. If there's an error in the mix, too bad, that would happen at a party too then. Hardstyle is not the most challenging style for mixing. That's why I always start my mixes with a few techstyle or hardtrance tracks, so I can mix longer. Try and mix a hardstyle track for three minutes and you'll be in the break already! What I also kinda dislike, is that lots of people mainly listen to hardstyle behind their computers. It was named 'dance' for a reason. The music of Stana or Gatty may come off slightly monotone at home, but at a party you can totally lose yourself in their music. Itss music you have to experience, not just hearing but feeling."

But an important part of your fame can be ascribed to those people who are listening to your music from behind their PC...
"That's true, but then again I am very active on internet. I like openness and accessibility. A lot of artists are so unreachable, like they've put themselves on a pedestal. I am just a music lover who happens to produce and mix. I really love talking and discussing about music. And I'm also very open-minded towards feedback. If someone doesn't like one of my tracks I'm always curious to know why because I want to keep improving myself. I also respond on people who mail me that they like my label or thank me for an add on MySpace or Facebook. Mostly that results in surprised yet very positive reactions, because lots of artists don't have that type of interaction. I'm also always available for the artists of my label. The minute they have finished a release, they can call me and I will listen to it immediately."

I understood that you give quite a large amount of the sales income to your artists, while a digital label doesn't have so much profit nowadays. Besides that you invest a lot of time and money in the promotion of your label and artists... How on earth do you pay your rent?
"From my own experiences I know that an artist only receives a very low percentage of the sales income. I am very determined about this matter: it's the artist who makes the track so that is why he deserves 50% of the income. I do not make a lot of money with my label and that's why I still work as a project manager at a software company. Fortunately, I'm slowly getting more bookings, so I cut back my hours over there to 32 a week instead of fulltime. My label requires a lot of time. It's pretty normal for me to work 100 hours a week. I do like my job at the software company, but I hope that one day I can make a full income in the music business one day. Music is my biggest passion."

Aren't you afraid of feeling pressure again when you would work in the music scene fulltime?
"No. In my opinion it's the strength of the label to do everything from straight from the heart. 'Music produced from the heart' is my motto. The music I release is original and diverse and that will remain. I don't know if it will cause a furore among the big crowd, but that's not my main goal. As long as it sets my own heart on fire I'm happy. I really believe in what I produce. When you look at the tracklists of most famous hardstyle DJs there's no a wave, just straight lines. They play hit after hit because they think that otherwise nothing will happen on the dance floor. The crowd is being provided with the same music over and over, which makes them get brainwashed. I really think the people need to become more open-minded. So much more is possible in this scene, really!"

Theracords also holds a sublabel: Therabyte. Why?
"When I just started my label, I released all kinds of music. There wasn't really an overview anymore. Even though I strongly dislike labelling music, it was necessary to create some borders which would provide more clarity to the outside world. Therefore I started Therabyte. At Theracords, I only release music that at least has some hardstyle influences now. Therabyte gives me the opportunity to experiment with different types of hard dance. Which made it possible to have guys like Ultraform and Louk working on Therabyte releases."


At the 24th of April, you'll host 'The Delicate Sound Of Thunder' together with Multigroove in the Brabant House, Helmond. How was this collaboration accomplished and why did you pick an unknown location in the south of Holland?

"We already organised a few Theracords parties abroad and those were very sucessful. But we definitely wanted to throw a party in Holland, so we could show what the label stands for. I always had good contact with Multigroove so I gave them a call. Ilja (Reiman, cofounder and owner of Multigroove) didn't do much with hardstyle anymore since it was sounding too happy lately in his opinion. So I let him listen to some Theracords stuff: he was really blown away by it. Our cooperation was a fact withing days. I also owe my wife big time for being able to throw this party. She's extremely talented at organizing, arranges all the bookings and is involved in Theracords nowadays just as much as me. She does this all to support my passion and I am really thankful to her! Multigroove wanted to organise a party in the south of Holland for a while already, that's why we choose the Brabant House in Helmond. When we entered this location for the first time it felt good right away. The main area slightly reminds me of the Heineken Music Hall. It was love at first sight: a great industrial atmosphere, good acoustics with great sound and the bars have lights that change colour. It's also easy to reach by car and public transport: only a ten minutes walk from the central train station of Helmond. Really a perfect location to party!"

What can people expect musically from this event?
"The line-up has been revealed already. I am playing at the main area, which is awesome, because I get to play alongside artists like Pavo and Dana. We owe this complete scene to people like them. I am still a huge fan of Dana. They both will play some great classic tunes. I also really wanted Crypsis at this party, his productions are groundbreaking and original. When you say Multigroove you say Dano, and because the party is in Helmond, Vince couldn't be missed either. He's technically one of the best DJ's in this country! In the second area the guys from my label will perform and I'm really pleased Ultraform is flying over for this evening as well: he almost never plays in Holland anymore. Groovy electro house will be played in the chill area, so there's a lot of diversity and there's something for everyone's liking. That's what Multigroove stands for and that's what Theracords stands for as well."

The last question for you: at which party would you really love to play?
"As Dj Thera I have to answer Dance Valley, but with Theracords it's my dream to have my own bunker at Q-BASE. It would be even more insane if both things could be possible, actually, why not? I also visit a lot of parties of different organisations. I think that organisations should keep competition, politics and arguments inside. Music is a creative thing and that's how it should stay forever!"

Source: Partyflock