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Willem Rebergen (born 12 September 1985), better known by his
stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...
''Headhunterz'', is a Dutch DJ and
music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...
. Rebergen is also a
voice actor Voice acting is the art of Acting, performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animation, animated, ...
. He has done
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for several
film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...
s and
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. He started his career in 2005 working on
hardstyle Hardstyle is an electronic dance music, electronic dance genre that emerged in the late 1990s, with origins in the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy. Hardstyle mixes influences from techno, new beat and Hardcore (electronic dance music genre), har ...
music. Headhunterz has performed at
Qlimax Qlimax was an annual hardstyle and hard dance event in the Netherlands. It was a major attraction held by Q-dance, and considered to be one of the leading hardstyle events, attracting nearly 30,000 people annually. It contains some of the most sop ...
, Defqon.1, Q-Base, In Qontrol,
Decibel The decibel (symbol: dB) is a relative unit of measurement equal to one tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a Power, root-power, and field quantities, power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whos ...
, Hard Bass,
Electric Daisy Carnival Electric Daisy Carnival, commonly known as EDC, is an electronic dance music festival organized by promoter and distributor Insomniac. The annual flagship event, EDC Las Vegas, is held in May at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and is the largest e ...
and
Tomorrowland Tomorrowland may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Tomorrowland (Disney Parks), a theme land at a number of Disney theme parks around the world * Tomorrowland (festival), an annual electronic dance music festival in Boom, Belgium * ''Tom ...
. He released his work on
Scantraxx SCANTRAXX is a Dutch record label founded by Dov Elkabas (famously known as DJ The Prophet) in 2002, specializing in both hardstyle and hardcore music. S.W.A.T Between November 2007 and April 2008, the label organized a number of shows u ...
through his own sub-label,
Scantraxx Reloaded Scantraxx Reloaded was a Dutch record label and sub label of Scantraxx Records. Scantraxx Reloaded was owned by Willem Rebergen (who released music through the label under the name Headhunterz), and specialized in releases by Headhunterz, Gostosa ...
, but in 2013 he started his own record label, HARD with STYLE. He signed with the North American
electronic dance Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...
label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...
Ultra Music Ultra Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, which is a subsidiary of Sony Music Group. Company history Established in 1995 in New York City by Patrick Moxey, a former executive of PolyGram and Virgin Record ...
in 2013 and left his own label in 2015. Since June 2017, he officially returned to the hardstyle community at the closing ceremony of Defqon.1 Weekend Festival 2017. In 2018, Headhunterz and fellow DJ
Wildstylez Joram Metekohy (born 7 January 1983), better known by his stage name Wildstylez, is a Dutch hardstyle DJ and record producer. Having previously released hardstyle records under the alias 'Seizure', Joram Metekohy had his first solo release as Wil ...
started a new hardstyle label called Art of Creation.


Biography


Early life and career

Willem Rebergen was born on 12 September 1985 in Veenendaal, Netherlands. From an early age Rebergen had an interest in music. Having struggled with bullying at school, Rebergen looked for a distraction to make himself happy and so joined a local kid's choir. Here he had his first exposure to a professional studio, recording Christmas albums with the choir. This experience left Rebergen interested and inspired by the process of creating music from the other side of the studio. In 2003, while working at a clothing store he was offered tickets to
Qlimax Qlimax was an annual hardstyle and hard dance event in the Netherlands. It was a major attraction held by Q-dance, and considered to be one of the leading hardstyle events, attracting nearly 30,000 people annually. It contains some of the most sop ...
from friends who could not attend. This was his first exposure to hardstyle music. This experience gave him the impetus to forge a music career and in his own words from then on he was "devoted to hardstyle and from that point interested in how to make the music. I wanted to make that kind of music." He purchased some turntables and connected them to his mixer practicing his DJing, while simultaneously making music in
FL Studio FL Studio (known as FruityLoops before 2003) is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by the Belgian company Image-Line. It features a graphical user interface with a pattern-based music sequencer. It is available in four different ...
, a digital audio workstation. Rebergen began sending demos out to labels under the alias Nasty D-Tuners, a duo project he formed with close friend Bobby van Putten. In 2004, Nasty D-Tuners entered and won the Defqon.1 DJ contest, winning a spot on that year's lineup. Rebergen and van Putten heard of a new hard dance music label, Hardcontrol, that was opening in Veenendaal. In 2005, a year and a half after their performance at Defqon 2004, Nasty D-Tuners were signed to Hardcontrol Records having two successful releases, with their work being played by then major hardstyle producers/DJs. Also in 2005, Rebergen and van Putten began attending a DJ class at the Rock Academy in the Netherlands. Rebergen found his time at the academy frustrating, due to a lack of encouragement towards producing hardstyle and negative responses to the genre as a whole. Alienated by his experience at the Academy, Rebergen continued to send out Nasty D-Tuners demos to respective labels, one eventually reaching Scantraxx founder, Dov Elkabas ( The Prophet). Seeing promise in the young duo, having heard of their performance at Defqon.1, Nasty D-Tuners were signed to
Scantraxx SCANTRAXX is a Dutch record label founded by Dov Elkabas (famously known as DJ The Prophet) in 2002, specializing in both hardstyle and hardcore music. S.W.A.T Between November 2007 and April 2008, the label organized a number of shows u ...
in late 2005. Unable to keep the alias Nasty D-Tuners due to disagreements with the former label, the name Headhunterz was chosen. By the end of 2005, Rebergen and van Putten had performed at major hardstyle events including Defqon.1, Q-Base and The Prophet's X-Qlusive, all of which increased their profile within the hardstyle scene.


2006-2007: Scantraxx and the beginning of Headhunterz

The year 2006 saw the first Headhunterz release "Aiming for Your Brain/ Left Some Answers", on Scantraxx Special. Their debut release was followed by "The Sacrifice/D-Tuned", again on Scantraxx Special. "The Sacrifice" was the duo's most successful hit to date, Rebergen since stating his fond memories of the positive reception that The Prophet gave him the first time he heard it. Problems soon began to emerge when Rebergen came to the conclusion that he would be unable to perform and record for
Scantraxx SCANTRAXX is a Dutch record label founded by Dov Elkabas (famously known as DJ The Prophet) in 2002, specializing in both hardstyle and hardcore music. S.W.A.T Between November 2007 and April 2008, the label organized a number of shows u ...
while simultaneously completing his course at the Rock Academy. Rebergen told van Putten of his decision to leave the Academy and hoped he would join and commit himself to Headhunterz and Scantraxx. van Putten then made the difficult decision to leave Rebergen, Scantraxx and Headhunterz and continue with his musical studies at the Rock Academy. Rebergen's first solo performance as Headhunterz was the 2006 edition of the Q-Dance event, Defqon.1. Following the final release of van Putten credited Headhunterz work, Scantraxx gave Rebergen his own sub label
Scantraxx Reloaded Scantraxx Reloaded was a Dutch record label and sub label of Scantraxx Records. Scantraxx Reloaded was owned by Willem Rebergen (who released music through the label under the name Headhunterz), and specialized in releases by Headhunterz, Gostosa ...
which he would administer. Headhunterz' first release on Scantraxx Reloaded was the three track vinyl EP ''Victim of My Rage'' released in late 2006. The Prophet continued to nurture the young talent, inviting Headhunterz to perform alongside him at the popular annual Q-Dance event,
Qlimax Qlimax was an annual hardstyle and hard dance event in the Netherlands. It was a major attraction held by Q-dance, and considered to be one of the leading hardstyle events, attracting nearly 30,000 people annually. It contains some of the most sop ...
. The year 2007 proved to be a successful year for Headhunterz. He had his first collaborations with fellow Scantraxx artists The Prophet and Abject (DJ Frontliner). Along with the collaborations, Headhunterz also released several successful solo tracks such as "Forever Az One" and "Rock Civilization" which is his most popular track on the streaming service Spotify. Headhunterz then performed at the 2007 editions of Q-Base and Qlimax. He then created his first major anthem for the 2007 edition of Qlimax, "The Power of the Mind". Headhunterz then had his first solo performance at Qlimax and played alongside DJs who he admired,
Technoboy Cristiano Giusberti (born December 19, 1970), known by his primary stage name Technoboy, is an Italian hardstyle DJ and producer from Bologna. Cristiano is also a manager and producer for 'The Saifam Group', a record company. He began in 1992 ...
and The Prophet.


2008: ''Headhunterz & Wildstylez Presents: Project One''

In 2008, Headhunterz had his first collaboration with fellow Scantraxx artist
Wildstylez Joram Metekohy (born 7 January 1983), better known by his stage name Wildstylez, is a Dutch hardstyle DJ and record producer. Having previously released hardstyle records under the alias 'Seizure', Joram Metekohy had his first solo release as Wil ...
. Their first song "Blame It on the Music / Project 1" was released in March and proved a success. It also provided the impetus for the launch of a new project and debut album for the pair, ''Project One''. Finishing in under three months, producing an average of one track a week, Headhunterz and Wildstylez completed their 13-track debut album, ''Headhunterz & Wildstylez Present:
Project One Project One is a DJ and production supergroup consisting of two hardstyle artists, Willem Rebergen (Headhunterz) and Joram Metekohy (Wildstylez Joram Metekohy (born 7 January 1983), better known by his stage name Wildstylez, is a Dutch hards ...
''. The album was planned to debut at In Qontrol in a special one-hour set, showcasing the album. This performance was cancelled when Headhunterz suffered appendicitis. The album debuted at Defqon.1 2008, and was officially released shortly after on both CD and digital formats on 25 July with Dutch graphical designer Ruud van Eijk providing the artwork. ''Project One'' contained tracks such as "Life Beyond Earth", "The Art of Creation", "The Story Unfolds", "Best of Both Worlds" and "Fantasy or Reality" all proving to be successes on the dance floor. The album was a defining influence on the direction hardstyle would take in the years to come, with its emphasis on synth based trance influenced melodies and heavy use of pitched kicks. A ''Project One'' Tour followed along with 6 full-length album samplers and 1 remix sampler, all released on Scantraxx Reloaded. Along with ''Project One'', Headhunterz had three solo releases that included the tracks "Just Say My Name", "Subsonic" and "Reloaded Part 2" all on Scantraxx Reloaded, along with a collaboration with Italian hardstyle DJ Tatanka, "Call It Music".


2009-2011: ''Studio Sessions'', ''HARDwithSTYLE''

2009 saw Headhunterz release seven new singles/EPs. Amongst these releases was the 2009 Defqon.1 Anthem, "Scrap Attack". This opportunity to create the anthem, saw Headhunterz close the Mainstage of Defqon.1 for the first time. Speaking about the moment, Headhunterz stated that he achieved one of his long-term goals within Hardstyle that night and felt "complete happiness". Along with the anthem, 2009 was a notable year in regards to collaborations for Headhunterz. He again teamed up with Wildstylez and along with Noisecontrollers created the incredibly popular anthem "Tonight". In the Q-Dance harder styles top 1000 poll held in late 2013, "Tonight" was voted into second place. "The Summer of Hardstyle", made with The Prophet, proved to be an instant hit at events. Gaining inspiration from older Hardstyle DJ, Zenith, the track was a break from recent Headhunterz work with its emphasis on Reverse bass and simple scratching sounds from vinyl. The ''
Project One Project One is a DJ and production supergroup consisting of two hardstyle artists, Willem Rebergen (Headhunterz) and Joram Metekohy (Wildstylez Joram Metekohy (born 7 January 1983), better known by his stage name Wildstylez, is a Dutch hards ...
'' Tour reached its finale with a first time visit to Australia. The duo making multiple appearances at the final editions of "Transmission", a popular music event that was held in Sydney and Brisbane. 2010 reflected Headhunterz and Hardstyle's growing popularity around the world, in his own words 2010 was "a year where my international bookings overtook my national ones." At the beginning of 2010, Headhunterz was offered the chance to host his own ''X-Qlusive''. Held on 30 January at the Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam, ''X-Qlusive:Headhunterz'' featured
Wildstylez Joram Metekohy (born 7 January 1983), better known by his stage name Wildstylez, is a Dutch hardstyle DJ and record producer. Having previously released hardstyle records under the alias 'Seizure', Joram Metekohy had his first solo release as Wil ...
, The Prophet,
Noisecontrollers Bas Oskam, better known by his stage name Noisecontrollers, is a Dutch people, Dutch Disc jockey, DJ and hardstyle music producer based in Veenendaal, Netherlands. Noisecontrollers was formerly a duo before Arjan Terpstra left the project in 2013 ...
and
Brennan Heart Fabian Bohn (born 2 March 1982), known professionally as Brennan Heart, is a Dutch DJ and hardstyle producer. Career Brennan & Heart In 2002, Fabian Bohn co-founded with Pieter Heijnen (known as DJ Thera) a duo named Brennan & Heart concentrati ...
joining Headhunterz on the main stage. Headhunterz described X-Qlusive as the highlight of 2010 as "It was an amazing night - a milestone in my career and personal life. I could have never imagined getting so far." In the buildup to ''X-Qlusive'', Headhunterz revealed he was planning the release of his first studio album, ''Studio Sessions''. Released on 8 March, ''Studio Sessions'' was a 15 track album containing a mixture of new unreleased tracks, collaborations, edits of older Headhunterz tracks and remixes done by Headhunterz and others. The Album release was followed by a world tour visiting The United States, Australia, Russia, Canada and many performances across the Netherlands. For the second year in a row, Headhunterz was asked to make a Defqon.1 Anthem, this time for the Australian edition, "Save Your Scrap for Victory". Along with the anthem, Headhunterz' other releases in 2010 was the "psychedelic" EP, which featured the popular title track along with "Dreamcatcher" and "Emptiness" and an EP with Noisecontrollers. 2010 also saw Headhunterz make his first appearance in DJ Mag's yearly top 100 DJ list, coming in at 36th, the highest Hardstyle DJ in the list. It was the first year Hardstyle artists were featured on the top 100 with Noisecontrollers,
D-Block & S-te-Fan A block of the periodic table is a set of elements unified by the atomic orbitals their valence electrons or vacancies lie in. The term seems to have been first used by Charles Janet. Each block is named after its characteristic orbital: s-block, ...
and Showtek all ranking in the top 100 alongside Headhunterz. At the beginning of 2011 Headhunterz was recognized for his achievements in the past year at the 8th annual Hard Dance Awards, claiming best European hard dance DJ, best international DJ and best track, "Psychedelic". Speaking on social media he stated “Thanks so much for all the nice congrats. I can't describe how good it feels to get so much recognition for my work. Respect to all of you!”. 2011 saw the start of the monthly podcast, ''HARDwithSTYLE''. First released on 27 May 2011 through
iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
,
SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...
and
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
, the hour-long podcast was promoted with the tagline "Bringing you the music that comes from within!" and was aimed at showcasing Headhunterz's favorite tracks of the month, from both established and up and coming producers. With many unheard and new tracks getting their first broadcast on ''HARDwithSTYLE'', the podcast quickly become one of the most popular electronic music podcasts. Headhunterz again was ranked in DJ Mags yearly top 100 DJs list, coming in at 17th, the highest of any Hardstyle DJ and confirming his place as one of the most sought after Hardstyle DJs. 2011 had significantly less releases from Headhunterz compared to past years mainly due to a large amount of time and effort being put into what would become his 3rd studio album which was planned for a release in 2012. Nevertheless, Headhunterz had his last solo release on
Scantraxx Reloaded Scantraxx Reloaded was a Dutch record label and sub label of Scantraxx Records. Scantraxx Reloaded was owned by Willem Rebergen (who released music through the label under the name Headhunterz), and specialized in releases by Headhunterz, Gostosa ...
, with the EP "From Within / The Message is Hardstyle". "The Message Is Hardstyle" had a mixed reception, many disliking the track due its soft kicks and perceived ironic lyrics given the nature of the song. The track "Make it Loud (Headhunterz Remix)" popular for its reverse bass intro, also finally gained a release on Blutonium Records. Headhunterz also had many notable performances in 2011, performing at Decibel, The Qontinent, Defqon.1, X-Qlusive: D-Block & S-te-Fan and Thrillogy. Headhunterz also had a major tour of the US and Mexico visiting 18 cities along the way and also performed at the first
Mysteryland Mysteryland is the leading electronic dance music festival in the Netherlands, organized by the Netherlands-based promoter ID&T. Being the first of its kind in the country when it was established, its organizers have billed the event as the old ...
to be held outside of the Netherlands, in Chile.


2012-2015: ''Sacrifice'', Ultra Records

In 2012 Headhunterz released his second studio album ''Sacrifice'' on 15 March. The 10 track album was the culmination of work done in 2011 and Headhunterz donated all profits to
Dance4Life Dance4life is a foundation working to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS. History The organization claims to have raised money for HIV prevention projects in the Global South In May 2006, DJ Tiësto became the official worldwide ambassador for the dan ...
, an international initiative that mobilises and unite young people (13–19 years old) to push back the spread of HIV/AIDS. The album was a collection of new tracks, edits and collaborations. Amongst the track list were standouts, "Dragonborn", a previous freely released track inspired by the game, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim featuring the popular "FUS RO DAH" sample. "Doomed", a track that was produced in response to the significant criticism of his musical direction and track "The Message is Hardstyle", feature lyrics that make light of the many 'haters' that feature on an artist's web blog. Other highlights were the early hardstyle inspired, "Back In the Days", the 2012 Hardbass Anthem, "Eternalize" and a collaboration with Psyko Punkz, "Disrespect". Along with ''Sacrifice'', Headhunterz recorded and released a number of remixes for popular
house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...
artists stating, "Doing remixes for other genres makes so much more sense than remixing stuff in your own genre...it gave me a whole different approach in producing hardstyle and I hope the same fans will benefit from that." He had his first song release on
Ultra Music Ultra Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, which is a subsidiary of Sony Music Group. Company history Established in 1995 in New York City by Patrick Moxey, a former executive of PolyGram and Virgin Record ...
with one such remix, "Lessons in Love" by
Kaskade Ryan Gary Raddon (born February 25, 1971), better known by his stage name Kaskade, is an American DJ, music producer and remixer. ''DJ Times'' voted Kaskade as "America's Best DJ" in 2011 and 2013. ''DJ Magazine, DJ Mag'' named Kaskade fifty-fi ...
. He remixed the
Hardwell Robbert van de Corput (; born 7 January 1988), known professionally as Hardwell, is a Dutch DJ and music producer from Breda. He was voted the world's number one DJ by ''DJ Mag'' in 2013 and again in 2014. In 2022, he was ranked at number 43 in ...
song, "Spaceman" which saw a release on Hardwell's ''Revealed Recordings''. Two remixes for German House producer,
Zedd Anton Zaslavski (; born 2 September 1989), known professionally as Zedd (), is a German record producer and DJ. His stage name, Zedd, was derived from ''zed'', the Z#Name and pronunciation, English pronunciation, barring American English, for ...
, "Spectrum" was released for free through Headhunterz's social media and "Clarity (Feat. Foxes)" was released on the ''Clarity Remixes'' EP released through ''Interscope Records''. Lastly, he remixed Nicky Romero's popular 2011 track "Toulouse". All these remixes proved to be incredibly popular and increased his exposure outside of Hardstyle, being played by many House DJs in their sets. Headhunterz, in collaboration with
Wildstylez Joram Metekohy (born 7 January 1983), better known by his stage name Wildstylez, is a Dutch hardstyle DJ and record producer. Having previously released hardstyle records under the alias 'Seizure', Joram Metekohy had his first solo release as Wil ...
and Noisecontrollers, produced the 2012 Defqon.1 Anthem for the Dutch edition of the popular festival. "World of Madness" was released on 16 August with the intro of the song featuring elements of the three previous Defqon.1 Anthems that the three had produced consecutively, "Scrap Attack" in 2009 by Headhunterz, "No Time To Waste" in 2010 by
Wildstylez Joram Metekohy (born 7 January 1983), better known by his stage name Wildstylez, is a Dutch hardstyle DJ and record producer. Having previously released hardstyle records under the alias 'Seizure', Joram Metekohy had his first solo release as Wil ...
and "Unite" in 2011 by Noisecontrollers. Headhunterz again climbed up the ranking in DJ Mags top 100 DJ list, coming in at 11th reflecting the further influence hardstyle was having within the dance music scene. In October 2012 Headhunterz hosted and performed at another Q-Dance showcase event ''Q-Dance presents: Headhunterz - HARDwithSTYLE''. Held at the newly opened
Ziggo Dome The Ziggo Dome ( ) is an indoor arena in Amsterdam, Netherlands, located next to the Johan Cruijff ArenA. It is named after the Dutch cable TV provider Ziggo. In 2014, the Ziggo Dome Awards were announced, recognizing artists who performed at ...
in
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
, the event was a sellout featuring artists such as Code Black, Adrenalize, Isaac,
Ran-D Randy "Ran-D" Wieland (18 May 1981 in Zeeland) is a Dutch DJ and music producer. Ran-D has been active in hardstyle music since 2006, when he released his first track "D-Pression" on Special Records. After his debut release, Ran-D moved on to rel ...
and Adaro who all had featured prominently on the ''HARDwithSTYLE'' podcast since its beginning. Along with this Headhunterz performed at both the Australian and Netherlands editions of Defqon.1, both editions of
Mysteryland Mysteryland is the leading electronic dance music festival in the Netherlands, organized by the Netherlands-based promoter ID&T. Being the first of its kind in the country when it was established, its organizers have billed the event as the old ...
, The Qontinent,
Tomorrowland Tomorrowland may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Tomorrowland (Disney Parks), a theme land at a number of Disney theme parks around the world * Tomorrowland (festival), an annual electronic dance music festival in Boom, Belgium * ''Tom ...
,
Electric Daisy Carnival Electric Daisy Carnival, commonly known as EDC, is an electronic dance music festival organized by promoter and distributor Insomniac. The annual flagship event, EDC Las Vegas, is held in May at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and is the largest e ...
, Q-Dance Presents: Scantraxx 10 Years, Reverse and X-Qlusive: Noisecontrollers. In February 2013, Headhunterz signed with major dance music label
Ultra Music Ultra Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, which is a subsidiary of Sony Music Group. Company history Established in 1995 in New York City by Patrick Moxey, a former executive of PolyGram and Virgin Record ...
. The signing was a landmark in Hardstyle reflecting the growth of the genre both inside the Netherlands and internationally, growth of which Headhunterz had been at the forefront of. Speaking on his signing, Headhunterz stated: On 30 August, Headhunterz had his first official solo release on Ultra Music with his track, "Colors" (Feat. TaTu). It entered the Dutch iTunes Top 100 at number 5 and number 2 under the "dance" category. A remix of "Colors" by trap group Yellow Claw followed, also released on
Ultra Music Ultra Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, which is a subsidiary of Sony Music Group. Company history Established in 1995 in New York City by Patrick Moxey, a former executive of PolyGram and Virgin Record ...
. In November he had his second release, the collaboration with fellow label artist,
Krewella Krewella is an American electronic dance music band from the Chicago suburb of Northbrook, Illinois, United States, that formed in 2007. Their musical style has been mainly described as EDM, dance-rock, and dance-pop. However, Krewella's style ...
for their track "United Kids of the World". The track was launched in November by Ultra Music in partnership with DoSomething.org, a non-profit organization with the goal of motivating young people to take action around social changes, with a campaign focusing on the problems of cyberbullying. Along with his signing to
Ultra Music Ultra Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, which is a subsidiary of Sony Music Group. Company history Established in 1995 in New York City by Patrick Moxey, a former executive of PolyGram and Virgin Record ...
, Headhunterz launched his own record label HARDwithSTYLE Records. Not connected to Ultra, the label focuses on promoting the harder styles of dance music from both established artists and new, fresh talent. The label aims to be as non-restrictive as possible, "Different from the standards in our scene thus far, we are not being restrictive with the artists who give the label music. We want to sign singles, no options, no commitments other than artists giving us great music we love and we push, no agenda, no-nonsense, no bullshit. Just music. For artists who have contracts with other record labels, no problem, if your label will give you a 'pass' then we would love to have a record from you." The first release on ''HARDwithSTYLE'' was ''The Leaked EP'' by Headhunterz, featuring tracks "Reignite", with vocals from Malukah and "The Power of Music", a track which Headhunterz rates as one of his best and most complete tracks of his career. Headhunterz first release for 2014, "Breakout", is his first collaboration with Australian Hardstyle artist, Audiofreq and was released in March. In the Spring of 2014, Rebergen announced he was working with
Breda Breda ( , , , ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...
duo, W&W. Rebergen then released 'Shocker', a 132 BPM track with Hardstyle kicks and synths and choppy vocals faced with W&W's image of house. When W&W performed at
Tomorrowland Tomorrowland may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Tomorrowland (Disney Parks), a theme land at a number of Disney theme parks around the world * Tomorrowland (festival), an annual electronic dance music festival in Boom, Belgium * ''Tom ...
they brought Headhunterz as a guest and they played Shocker and premiered another song. The other song was released in November 2014 and the title was called 'We Control the Sound.' In late December, The Worlds #1 DJ
Hardwell Robbert van de Corput (; born 7 January 1988), known professionally as Hardwell, is a Dutch DJ and music producer from Breda. He was voted the world's number one DJ by ''DJ Mag'' in 2013 and again in 2014. In 2022, he was ranked at number 43 in ...
announced he would be working on a track with Rebergen for his album ''
United We Are ''United We Are'' is the debut studio album by Dutch DJ and record producer Hardwell. It was released on 23 January 2015 by Cloud 9 Music, Revealed Recordings, Sony Music and Ultra Music. Singles " Young Again" was released as the lead single ...
'' the track was called "Nothing Can Hold Us Down". The track also featured
Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...
vocalist Haris. Despite the negative response of his fanbase, Rebergen commits to his creative freedom and heads for a new direction. In September, the Origins project kicks off on his HARDwithSTYLE label, a collection of 8 years worth of Headhunterz classics.


2015: Creative freedom

Early 2015, Headhunterz goes on a 6-week North-America tour, as part of
Steve Aoki Steven Hiroyuki Aoki ( , ; born November 30, 1977) is an American DJ and record producer. In 2012, Pollstar designated Aoki as the highest-grossing electronic dance music artist in North America from tours. In 2024, Gold House recognized him as ...
's Neon Future Experience Tour. 'Once Again', Headhunterz' solo track, gets released on
Hardwell Robbert van de Corput (; born 7 January 1988), known professionally as Hardwell, is a Dutch DJ and music producer from Breda. He was voted the world's number one DJ by ''DJ Mag'' in 2013 and again in 2014. In 2022, he was ranked at number 43 in ...
's
Revealed Recordings Revealed Recordings (or shortened to Revealed, stylized as revealed) is a Dutch record label established by Hardwell in 2010. The label is headquartered in Breda, Netherlands. History The label was established on 11 April 2010 by electronic musi ...
and the Headhunterz remix of Armin van Buuren featuring Mr. Probz - Another You is released on
Armada Music Armada Music is a Dutch independent record label that specialises in releasing electronic dance music. Armada Music was founded on 1 June 2003 by Dutch producer Armin van Buuren, Dutch business executive Maykel Piron, and music manager David ...
. At Ultra Music Festival in Miami,
Steve Aoki Steven Hiroyuki Aoki ( , ; born November 30, 1977) is an American DJ and record producer. In 2012, Pollstar designated Aoki as the highest-grossing electronic dance music artist in North America from tours. In 2024, Gold House recognized him as ...
invites Headhunterz on stage to premiere their collaboration, yet to be released. Headhunterz' collab with Crystal Lake, 'Live Your Life', is released on
Spinnin Records Spinnin' Records is a Dutch electronic music record label founded in 1999 by Eelko van Kooten and Roger de Graaf. In September 2017, Warner Music Group acquired Spinnin' Records for over $100 million. Background Van Kooten is the son of former ...
in May and reaches #3 in Beatport's overall charts. In interviews, Headhunterz says that his changes in style have to do with him claiming his creative freedom. Despite committing to his creative freedom, he continued to play hardstyle in his sets. On 26 June 2016, Rebergen made a surprise appearance at Defqon.1 2016, alongside Technoboy and The Prophet. The reaction from the crowd left him emotional and he has promised to never forget his roots. That same day, Headhunterz and KSHMR released "Dharma" on Spinnin' Records. Ending 2016, Headhunterz returned with
Wildstylez Joram Metekohy (born 7 January 1983), better known by his stage name Wildstylez, is a Dutch hardstyle DJ and record producer. Having previously released hardstyle records under the alias 'Seizure', Joram Metekohy had his first solo release as Wil ...
as
Project One Project One is a DJ and production supergroup consisting of two hardstyle artists, Willem Rebergen (Headhunterz) and Joram Metekohy (Wildstylez Joram Metekohy (born 7 January 1983), better known by his stage name Wildstylez, is a Dutch hards ...
and played some new tracks at
Qlimax Qlimax was an annual hardstyle and hard dance event in the Netherlands. It was a major attraction held by Q-dance, and considered to be one of the leading hardstyle events, attracting nearly 30,000 people annually. It contains some of the most sop ...
2016 and Knockout Circuz in Australia.


2017: Return to hardstyle roots

In late June, Headhunterz returned to red mainstage of Defqon.1 in the Netherlands as the track "Sacrifice" was playing on stage. He made a speech and also made a post that had claimed that he would return to hardstyle, announcing that it was impossible that he had left the hardstyle scene.


2018: Art of Creation, ''The Return of Headhunterz''

On 2 February 2018, Headhunterz announced the inception of his new label in collaboration with Wildstylez
Art of Creation
The label is described as "a dynamic platform where years of experience, friendship, talent and passion come together and spark new inspiration on the pursuit for quality and greatness in music." As well as he has described that Sub Zero Project have some of the “Best Hardstyle Productions since his own” Headhunterz released his third studio album titled ''The Return of Headhunterz'' on 2 March 2018, which was dubbed as his "return to hardstyle production" by
Dancing Astronaut Dancing Astronaut is an American media platform founded in 2009 that primarily covers the electronic dance music industry. The website covers concerts and festivals, reports on entertainment news, reviews music, and publishes original content syn ...
.


Filmography


Voice-over (dubbing)

Rebergen frequently dubs English-language films and TV series into
Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...
.


Discography

* ''Headhunterz & Wildstylez Presents: Project 1'' (2008) * " The Best of Headhunterz (2009) * '' Studio Sessions'' (2010) * ''Sacrifice'' (2012) * ''The Return of Headhunterz'' (2018)


References


External links


Official homepage
* * {{Authority control 1985 births Living people Hardcore techno musicians Hardstyle musicians Dutch male voice actors People from Veenendaal Dutch progressive house musicians Future house musicians Revealed Recordings artists Dutch electronic dance music DJs