Read the Frex(tratone) Interview below and share it on social media.
Please tell our readers who you are and what you do?
I'm DJ Frex or Frextratone. I'm a 23-year-old mainly Uptempo Hardcore/ Frenchcore DJ and producer and a fulltime student from The Netherlands. I started with DJing at the age of 16/17 with a friend and after I had finished high school and had a few years untill my next study, I decided to get more serious with making music and got my DJ level 1 and 2 and music production level 1.
From there on I started posted mixes on Soundcloud and made my own podcast French vs Uptempo, which I still try to do every month in between studying.
I'm DJ Frex or Frextratone. I'm a mainly Uptempo Hardcore/ Frenchcore DJ and producer and a fulltime student from The Netherlands. I started with DJing at the age of 17 with a friend and after I had finished high school and had a few years untill my next study, I decided to get more serious with making music and got my DJ level 1 and 2 and music production level 1.
From there on I started posted mixes on Soundcloud and made my own podcast French vs Uptempo, which I still try to do every month in between studying.
https://soundcloud.com/gashinkuro/french-vs-uptempo-2
Further, when I produce tracks I really like to give modern pop music a hard twist so it's hard and cheerful at the same time, but when my tracks are labeled Frextratone you know I'm going all out with the hard madness! Only I haven't managed to release a lot of my own tracks just yet but a lot will be coming this year!
How would you describe your influences and how have they changed over the years?
In one way my tastes didn't change at all but it actually did change quite a lot. I got to know hard dance music when I was 15 and first started listening to hardstyle and artists like Tatanka, Headhunterz, and Wildstylez but when I got older and started going to Defqon.1, Decibel and all sorts of parties, I soon discovered hardcore. Only unlike a lot of my friends at the time I went straight passed mainstream hardcore to frenchcore and later uptempo hardcore and even now terror as well. But I still like every sub-genre of the hard dance scene because I've been listening my way up the hard dance ladder and still appreciate them all in there own way
What´s new right now?
Next week I have a small gig when I perform for my student Association, not a standard performance or anything I would post on my Soundcloud but still fun none the less and a great way for me to gain additional experience as a DJ.
for upcoming tracks keep an eye out for my revisited mashup of Frozen's "Let it go" in a frenchcore version and a lot more pop tracks getting Frextratoned and own releases coming soon this 2018!
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Are you a superfan of anyone? How did you become a superfan? Do you remember how you become a fan and what turned you into super fan? Have you ever thought about why you´re such a fan?
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What was the biggest mistake you made when you started making music and what would be the number one tip you could give to a newcomer musician?
Like I said in an earlier question, in the beginning, I kept changing things in my own tracks and actually lost quite some cool sounds. So my tip is, don't just be critical by yourself but let others give it listen as well and if you decide to change something drastically but are uncertain keep the other project file in case you want to go back.
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How do you get gigs? Can you share any tips?
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Do you have good promotion tips for other musicians?
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Do you have insights on how to grow your audience on soundcloud that you want to share with our audience?
Try to post regularly which I still fail to do somethings and try commenting on other artists to get noticed and show support for your colleagues!
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What has been your biggest challenge right now? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?
My biggest challenge is finishing tracks of my own. I'm always too critical of myself and don't get anything done because I keep changing it. I recently overcome this by just letting good friends or even my family listen to it. I gather al the information they give me and maybe change a few things or give it a final polish and so I just recently finished my first track.
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How do you personally discover new music?
I look at my Soundcloud every day and follow popular and know artists as well as unknown still new artist like myself and try to keep up to date that way and as well as via Instagram and Facebook.
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Once you discovered new music, do you tell others about the new music/artist you discovered? If yes, how exactly?
“If I find something cool I'll repost it on Soundcloud or share it with friends or when I find something new which I think now a lot of people know about and I think its really great I put it in a mix of my own and share it that way.
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What is your number one tip to improve your music production or songwriting skills?
Go to a masterclass. I went to the masterclass of Noisecontrollers and Bassmodulators even though I produce Hardcore and not Hardstyle it was still very valuable information which gave me a lot of insights in how to approach music production.
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What is your best tip for those who struggle with finishing their tracks?
Just go with it. Even though you may not be 100% happy with your work yet. Getting it out there and getting responses on your work helps more than endlessly changing your tracks or throwing them away!
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We meet again in one year. What has changed?
Well, I never thought to go full pro, but in this next year I'd want to finish a lot of ideas for tracks I kept over the last few years and maybe win a DJ contest and from there we will see how it goes ^^.
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https://soundcloud.com/gashinkuro
https://soundcloud.com/dj_aurelian
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Enter your questions to the artist in the facebook comment section below.
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