HCBX : January 2026

HCBX: Alright Jonas – how the hell are you?

Wasbeer: Hey, I am fine. I just arrived back home from New Year’s celebration and a small holiday to the UK – ready to head back to work, but also ready to head back to work in the studio: one of the two I am excited for and the other one not so much, aha.

HCBX: Thanks very much for getting involved in the show and sending on a top quality set. We'll talk more about the set in a bit. But firstly, how did you get into Hardcore Techno – you mention it all kicked off back around 2008? Was there a particular track or party that got you hooked?

Wasbeer: Back in 2008 I was in my first year of middle school. We had music class and some kind of show & tell thing to bring a CD. I didn’t really know a lot about music back then.

One of the class-guys said that the music that got put on did suck and we had to put on Hardcore.

It sounded interesting to me – I went on a search on YouTube and discovered the music from Angerfist and various tracks from Thunderdome that got me instantly hooked – the rest was history.

HCBX: You started out under the Terrorwasbeer alias, which already had a life before music through the This Is Terror radio show chat. Tell us more about the show and how you came about the name.

Wasbeer: First I need to talk about the “Wasbeer” part, which means raccoon.

Around 2011 me and some friends had an internet group chat for the video game we played. At some stage one of the guys went to the zoo and sent some pictures of penguins and stuff, but also of raccoons. There was a sign with information included about the animal and I thought it was very interesting.

The raccoon became like the mascot of the group eventually.

Around that time my musical taste did evolve very fast as I discovered the online radio channel Hardcoreradio from Rige. Every Thursday evening there was a show hosted by Chainsaw Madness, showcasing more extreme music and getting various DJs over to play like SRB and such.

DJ Plague from Canadian Speedcore Resistance was also involved a lot with the shows, as Chainsaw Madness also did live pyro with the CSR live act. As I was searching on the website of CSR, I discovered that there was a radio chat for the shows, so I joined it.

I needed a name for it, so Terrorwasbeer came out of the hat to write in this chat group.

DJ Plague eventually visualized the Terrorwasbeer with an artwork which I adapted for my DJ alt.

HCBX: What prompted you to step into DJing in 2015?

Wasbeer: A turn of events, but to start with: the dream already lived since 2011, to be honest.

I was 15 years old and I was also listening to some Hardstyle at that time. There was a kid of the same age, Adrenalize from Sweden, that brought out great music and played at events – I did want to do the same but with Hardcore, although I didn’t have a clue how without production skills or money for gear.

Time went by and in 2015 I was able to buy a cheap Hercules DJ controller from a classmate, and the Terrorwasbeer artwork was created by DJ Plague, so all pieces fell together to start out.

HCBX: Your first proper booking at Staalhard in Antwerp didn’t go well by your own admission. Talk us through that. What sort of tracks did you play and what was the reaction?

Wasbeer: It was only like six months after I bought that controller that I did a contest mix for the event I was really proud of (but listening to it back, wondering how it even got accepted, aha).

I could play at the event. It was not much – in a pub next to the bigger Zappa (where other hard electronic parties get hosted in Belgium, like Heresy for example).

I had zero experience with club gear, so I watched some videos about the club standard, hoping that I knew what to expect when playing there.

Turns out my intuition was totally wrong and their gear at the party was a bit more dated than in the videos I watched. Also, my headphones didn’t work on the mixer, so I technically couldn’t really mix the music.

Out of misery someone lent me his headphones to make the best out of it (without much success).

The music was some Hardcore and mainly Terror, around 200 to 300 BPM, and some Speedcore.

I remember people sitting down questioning their lives, two drunk people having the time of their life, and some friends also enjoying it – that sight meant the world to me, not the ones that sat down on their ass.

HCBX: A lot of people could have stopped there. What did that experience teach you, and how did it shape your mindset going forward?

Wasbeer: Of course I felt disappointed after, but as mentioned above: focus on the good things that happen, not only on the bad things.

I still wanted to carry on, even though I knew that not having decent gear at home meant it would be a hard time to get used to things.

After getting some money I was finally able to buy at least something of the Pioneer range, a DDJ-400 controller, which I decided to take on my future gigs.

That came with its own flaws and errors, but it did work and my mixing quality improved.

When I had to play on Innercore for the first time there was no space to build the controller setup and I just felt: now is the time – and I played on the club gear and it went flawless. Since then, the controller stayed home.

HCBX: You mention your focus shifted heavily towards Oldschool-driven sounds around 2018. Labels like United Speedcore Nation, Kopfkrank Records and Speedcore Worldwide clearly left a mark on you. What was it about that era and those labels that helped you kick on?

Wasbeer: Just the difference of how it was compared to nowadays Speedcore: how simple but effective those tracks were. The music of around 290 till 400 BPM gets me the most still, and that is pretty much the speed of the music on those labels.

The music hits you like a hammer. It sounds less raw than nowadays Terror & Speedcore but still packs a heavy punch.

And there is a lot of variation of music out there; every producer has its own personal style.

I’ve learnt that in those days people just worked with what they had at home, mostly only some kind of tracker software and samples, or a keyboard to derive some sounds out of.

And of course it is an important history and legacy to keep alive and adapt in its own signature of sound.

HCBX: Playing Deadtown in Germany in 2019 seems like a turning point for you, where the sound finally connected with the right audience. Looking back, what made that set different from what you were doing before? What are the memories of that night?

Wasbeer: It was great. I was on the verge of quitting, to be honest, because too many false promises did happen and gigs that I was excited to play got cancelled. So getting this opportunity given by Nekrosystem after talking on Masters Of Hardcore was amazing.

This was finally my debut in Germany, in the club I’d been to a few times before as a visitor: Mikroport in Krefeld.

This was when I still brought my trusty controller to play, so I did. I think it was my first full Oldschool-driven set, starting at 220 till 400 BPM and some Speedcore to finish with. I had to open, so it was a great warming up for the night to come.

Despite having to open, there were still quite some people that came to witness the set and the response was great. I had many talks with fans and friends, but also with other artists where I left a lot of impressions, like with Groan-er for example.

HCBX: In 2021 you joined the Speedcore Italia DJ team. How important was that move for you, not just in terms of bookings, but in finding your place within the more extreme end of the spectrum?

Wasbeer: Like mentioned prior, a lot of false promises did occur already: too many people wanting me to play but eventually cancelling the event, or refusing to pay travel costs and such. That stuff happens; that is the sad reality.

So when offered the chance I gladly took it, as I knew Speedcore Italia would take care of things, but also knowing that I would get a certain certainty to play on events, because there are plenty of Speedcore Italia events or involvements happening every year.

Also to be part of a community of other extreme producers from around the world. We are from a diverse bunch of countries: mainly Italy, but also Germany, Holland and France, and some further away countries like Norway, even Japan – and then you have me being from Belgium, one of the few Terror producers this country contains and the only one that is part of Speedcore Italia.

It is just fun seeing these people again and playing at events where really devoted people travel to. Some people drive over 1000 km, some people even flew from the USA or other far countries – it’s crazy, it’s dedication!

HCBX: When did you know you wanted to start producing tracks and how did you start that off?

Wasbeer: Already back in 2011 with my dream, but it didn’t take off sadly. I had “lent” myself a copy of Fruity Loops, but with zero knowledge and the wonky / messy workflow FL had (it did improve a lot throughout the years though), without success.

I tried again a few times later, but just couldn’t get used to it.

In 2017 a friend offered an opportunity to come over and play around with Cubase. He did follow a production masterclass of Angerfist as well, so he could show me multiple things.

I did enjoy the workflow of Cubase and decided to get the trial version to play a bit around with (which is very limited, eight tracks only) and created my first track at home: Dronken Wausman, which directly found a release on the now-defunct label Hakkuh Dan Records.

Looking back at the track: 300 BPM, a mess just built out of my limited knowledge, acid bassline. The track eventually got remastered for its five-year anniversary in a more Oldschool style.

But it was the beginning of everything to come.

HCBX: What gear do you use? Not just for production but for mixing too? You mention you started off putting mixes together in DAWs and buying a friend's controller. Has the setup evolved over time?

Wasbeer: The beginning of the beginning was indeed putting mixes together, aha. Some are still on SoundCloud (like Speedcore Therapie) at the bottom of my SoundCloud. I used MixPad for that.

After that I bought that controller from my classmate, a very small Hercules controller with Virtual DJ that didn’t work too great.

After that it was time to get more into the Pioneer gear. I have a big box XDJ-R1 at home and the DDJ-400 controller that I took to play at events, which I still use to record mixes at home.

Space is sadly an issue at my studio. I have collected a lot of vinyl but only have one turntable. I plan to do an upgrade and sell the big box for a smaller mixer and a second turntable.

DAW-wise I’ve always used Cubase 8 Elements, never upgraded, but it started to show its age and I recently switched to Reaper for a more efficient workflow.

I also have some hardware at home like a Roland Alpha Juno 2, a modular Neutron synth and a 303 clone. Some upgrades are in the planning as well.

HCBX: You've decided to split your output across different aliases. What prompted this choice? I've heard both positives and negatives on this from a few producers – how is it working out for you?

Wasbeer: I wanted to explore a bigger spectrum of releases and had the feeling it just wouldn’t fit under one alt anymore. Also by taking things more serious and feeling overachieved as Terrorwasbeer made me the choice. In all honesty, I never thought I would achieve as much and end up playing in so many different countries.

My name also generated quite a stigma of playing “only fast music” and also made its name thanks to the track that got a bit out of hand – for those that know, you will know (for those that don’t know: Ik Hak Niet Op Die Holle Kicks, of course). I wanted to get rid of that reputation but also have a healthy split honouring its roots: Wasbeer, but also a cool new name. The Impermissible came out of the hat (which means “the forbidden one”).

How it went: timing couldn’t be more horrible, I guess, as it was the Covid era, but I had the feeling that I didn’t have anything to lose as well because there was nothing going on.

It’s hard to get a new alt going, it still is. The Impermissible music usually gets a lower response / play count than Wasbeer does, but I had the luck to bring its debut on Noisekick’s Terrordrang with a massive turnout in the area, which made a great first impression. Also the first track release Canzone dell’inferno left a massive impression on the people.

HCBX: When you produce tracks, do you go in with a plan, e.g. “Today I'm going to create an Impermissible track”, or do you just make a track and see which alias it fits into afterwards?

Wasbeer: I have a big book of ideas to work with, so I pretty much always have inspiration going on.

I select something and start working on it. The usual core rule is: anything under 240 BPM is Wasbeer tracks, and anything above that is The Impermissible tracks.

But of course I do sometimes stray away from the rule. If a certain alt feels better suited, I will go with that, mainly decided on the spot if the vibe of the track feels like it suits the most.

HCBX: You've said you draw inspiration from Rock, Metal, Dubstep, Drum & Bass and 80s music. Do those influences sneak into your Hardcore productions?

Wasbeer: Yes, of course. Especially the sounds of the 80s – I have a habit to recreate (or blatantly lend) some sounds from 80s songs. Synthesizers from the 80s are just legendary.

Basslines from Dubstep or Drum & Bass, or various elements, also often sneak into my productions.

And yes, Metal – love using riffs! I would say: more to come for sure ;)

HCBX: Your album The Codex of Sound was written back in 2021. Would you say it's more like a long experiment than a traditional album, as there's a bunch of styles in this? What was the thinking behind the album?

Wasbeer: Creating an album isn’t an easy task. I just can’t mash a pile of tracks together and call it an album – there has to be a lot of thought behind it.

The track Analog Culture was the building brick for the album. I had an opportunity to play around and record sounds in a studio full of hardware and Euroracks, an amazing experience for sure.

I did demo the track to Headfuck Records for a vinyl release but never got a response back. I thought it was the best track I’d done to date, so it was a shame. I thought: this track deserves a worthy destination, and I was thinking a lot to find one.

Is it finally time to do an EP, or can I take this even further? I started to write down many notes, many ideas.

It felt like it was time, and it really was time because it was year one of the pandemic and I had nothing else to do anyway. I felt I had nothing to lose to devote myself to deliver the ultimate album – something that captures every sound that I love in one release.

To give a quick summary: film score, industrial, Drum & Bass, Gabber, French Hardcore, Terror in all its forms, Acid, 80s music, Breakbeat, Metal, melodic music.

The album just flowed. I didn’t witness any writer’s block or anything, only scrapped one idea which got reformed into another track eventually. And of course the collabs were easy to arrange because everyone else had time as well.

It became the essential building brick I needed to improve my sound to the way it is now. The amount of wisdom I’ve gained in the production journey is unmeasurable.

HCBX: Your vinyl debut was the EP Melting Point on Dedicated to the Core (where you have both Wasbeer and Impermissable tracks) - Do you reckon this is "your sound"? What finally clicked for you when working on this?

Wasbeer: Not fully “The Sound” but close to getting there, in all honesty: I can’t fully remember the full thought behind doing the E.P. aha I just wanted to try again as I did some unsuccessful attempts before – I use the same philosophy as the album: I just can’t mash some tracks together, things do have to fit in some way or another.

I did produce the track “245 Hammers Per Minute” when I went to play in Glasgow, I wanted to create more solid suiting music and bundle it together.

After that came the track: “FILTH,” which is another really solid slammer.

Then came Chop Shop Shiz’: The E.P. was in need of a more accessible track as well so this 205 BPM Deathchant style UK break infused Hardcore piece came out of the hat.

Then I wanted to do an ode to “Terrorwasbeer” by creating a track around 300 BPM, using a bit of its old signatures (like the kick preset etc.) and “Warhead” was created.

Then it was time to create “Melting Point”, that was a bit of a difficult task and I did purposely wait till the end to think a lot as the track needed to be perfect. The idea and concept art of Melting Point was created already and I wanted to deliver a track like it would be standing inside a steel melting oven or something, deliberately using sounds of factories and making it sound experimental/sinister and such. Kinda a small tribute and wink to a release that means a lot to me but also a lot to the “Underground History of Hardcore”: FIST-01!

The guys from Australia did also sample/warp/mangle and use many sounds of a steel melting plant on their first release.

After that I was wondering if there was maybe still space left for a Speedcore track. I did want to aim to deliver as much as I could one single vinyl to give the best bang for the buck.

And it did, a short and powerful 416 BPM Track: “Omae Wa Mu Shindeiru” including riffs, power and a vocal sample from “Fist Of The North Star” that I wanted to use in a track for a very long time.

HCBX: French Industrial, Oldschool Hardcore have become your main focus in mixing of late, and there's a fair French contingent in the HCBXCast set (which I love by the way!). What draws you so strongly to that obscure edge of the sound?

Wasbeer: I finally had some recent opportunities to do so :) I have the feeling the “only playing fast” stigma is fading away and I did once want to prove it with this podcast as well.

From a producer's perspective I just love how complex the sounds in those tracks can go: It’s a lot of knob turning and “Doing this and this happens” in producing which keeps things fun. I love to just play around and experiment, sampling things and warping them into oblivion.

I think the same mentality houses in the many others that produce or produced this kind of music: Just play around with machines and sounds, experiment and create crazy obscure soundscapes and texture: That is something what I love a lot in French Hardcore there are just so many subtle changes going on but still managing to keeping the groove, a lot of music nowadays in other subgenres are having a hard time to keep a groove and are just too random to my likings.

HCBX: Do you have any particular go-to tracks from that style that you want to shout out?

Wasbeer: That list goes on endlessly aha, but I will recap some producers to check out:

Starting off with producers that are active nowadays or have recent productions: Desolation, Oraj, Laboureur, Asmatik, NOXXS, Le Talium, Fabio SSP, but also some long active titans like Armaguet Nad, Middle M, SpeedyQ’s, Angel Flo, Atomic Compressor still going strong.

The Old Radium / Micropoint stuff still stays an essential, just like the S.O.D.O.M. and its sublabels releases – Liza N’ Eliaz her music and of course Laurent Ho / Ingler’s music can’t be forgotten.

Labels like old Psychik Genocide, B.E.A.S.T., Epiteth are also full with amazing releases: Use these as guidelines to start your Discogs journey and discover niche releases. There are for sure many artists out there or labels with only one release – French HC stays Underground as Fk anyway!

Also the Free Party culture & Tekno deserves a shoutout, as a lot of these artists started out playing on free parties and a lot of the first releases found their sales there – Spiral Tribe is legendary and so are many other systems with their labels.. I did also include a little bit of Tekno into the mix for sure.

HCBX: Talk to us about the set you have sent in then - did you plan it out the way it's turned out, or did you just plug in an play?

Wasbeer: I always aim to create a blend of Old tracks, hidden gems (whether they are old or new) and try to produce some new songs as well to include. I am pretty much everyday on the hunt for new music to include in my sets.

Sometimes the music gathering can take a while but I always aim to create a folder with tracks I want to play out in a podcast or on an event and just do the thing with it, always plentiful and always prepared in case of having to play last minute or extra time and such.

HCBX: You're definitely keeping the old school sound alive, and you've spoken about not being as connected with more modern styles.  Do you see this changing?  How do you keep your style going?

Wasbeer: I want to start this answer off with: I do of course love new Terror & Speedcore, and everyone can listen to whatever they want.

But I don’t feel as connected or totally disconnected with other new subgenres in Hardcore. I have the feeling these aim too much to deliver a set industry standard which limits the creative flow.

Tracks are becoming shorter and shorter, a lot of tracks are under 3 minutes long already. I can’t see how a track that short can set a groove – and spoiler: They usually don’t do it at all.

Prefer the more experimental mindset Old School producers take and especially the French HC producers: Want to do a track over 10 minutes long? Go for it! , want to include irregular tempo switches or stray away from the “4/4” structure? Just do it! Creativity shouldn’t have borders.

HCBX: You've spoken about this music career of yours as a hobby that's got out of hand!  Did you ever see it turning out the way it did? And how do you see this developing going forward into the future?

Wasbeer: No not at all, I always thought I would be a bedroom DJ occasionally playing on an event in Belgium and producing not really taking off but at this point of time I’ve played more outside Belgium than I actually did in Belgium, and released music on various labels.

I only do see this trend continuing, playing some quality gigs and releasing music on various labels.

HCBX: And outside of the musical endeavours - what else do you get up to?  You've talked about creating abstract art - is this the same headspace as creating music, or something completely different?

Wasbeer: If traveling is a hobby, that would be my other hobby aha.

The reference of creating abstract art is how I usually visualize myself making music and also how I explain it to people that aren’t home into this kind of music like painting some kind of abstract painting: It is niche and not many people will get it but a small group of very dedicated people will definitely get it.

HCBX: What are you hoping to work on in the near future?  You mention having loads of demos prepared - a few more releases on the horizon?

Finishing the book of inspiration; It is endless so I guess I will keep on producing eternally.

Year wise I will aim to bring out 2 E.P. 's on the “desired medium” as we say ;) I just need to complete the puzzle and find the right label(s) of course.

And keep contributing to various labels like Speedcore Italia, my own “Wasbeer Records” and various other compilations that look interesting to contribute music to.

And last but not least: Launch a new project that will replace the “WASBEERLIVE” concept and also will produce under that alt: The puzzle sadly isn’t complete enough to tell more about that yet one vital component still misses, so stay tuned in for that once that is obtained.

HCBX: We'll wrap up here – massive thanks for the set. Right up my street! Anything else you want to get off your chest?

Wasbeer: Another book written, damn aha. I did quite some interviews to date, but this was the most interesting and lengthy, and definitely the most uncensored.

Thanks for having me for the podcast, and thanks to the people that have taken the effort to read the interview till the end.

For those that never heard of me and the set left a great first impression: welcome!

For those that are following for a while, thanks a lot – you guys and girls are the reason I keep doing this and keep creating abstract, heavy-hitting music.

Massive thanks to Wasbeer for a proper in-depth interview! Here are some links so you can check out more:

HCBXCast Vol 76 Premieres on Saturday 10th January - 9pm UK Time here: https://youtu.be/5h91w0LSDFQ