Jay Hardway

From:The Netherlands

DJ style: “House/melodic/mainstage.”

Best known for: “‘Electric Elephants’, ‘Wizard’ (w/ Martin Garrix), ‘Spotless’ (w/ Martin Garrix).”

Fave tune of 2022: “Tiësto ‘Can U Dance (To My Beat)’.”

Rising star DJ/producer of 2022:“Fred again.. He’s in a league of his own, and what he is doing is inspiring thousands of producers and artists worldwide.”

Dutch DJ and producer Jay Hardway became a father in 2022, so he spent a lot of time focusing on his family and figuring out what is most important for him in his career. This time led him into production overdrive after a period of creative drought during the pandemic. The removal of limitations or outside influence has seen him exploring a wide spectrum of genres within his productions. He even released tracks under different aliases outside of his ‘usual’ sound.

Hardway’s family commitments and introspections seem to have kept him away from clubs and festivals this summer, though he curated a star-studded line-up for his ADE showcase. The showcase was an extension of his Inspire Radio series, which now boasts over 100 episodes. 2022 really has been all about production for Jay Hardway and, although he released a handful of tunes via Spinnin’ Records and HEXAGON, he’s still sitting on stacks of unreleased material which he hopes to find a home for in 2023.

What’s the best DJ set you’ve seen this year?

“Either Fred again..’s Boiler Room set or Charlotte de Witte at Fest Festival (Poland).”

Name one

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Cuebrick

From:Germany

DJ style:“Progressive house.”

Best known for:“‘Squid Game’ with Blasterjaxx.”

Fave tune of 2022:“James Hype ‘Ferrari’.”

Rising star DJ/producer of 2022:“Marten Horger.”

What’s the best DJ set you’ve seen this year?“Tale Of Us, Afterlife show at the Brooklyn Mirage.”

After finishing just outside of the Top 100 in 2021, this year German DJ and producer Cuebrick breaks in for the first time this year. He now sits at the top table of global dance music after standout shows everywhere from Los Angeles to San Francisco, Singapore to Bangkok.

While releasing big tunes on labels like Spinnin Records, Armada and Ultra Music, he also works as a radio-host on bigFM’s nitroX show, which is the biggest radio platform for electronic music in Germany.

This year he has worked on a new sound which he says “can best be described as a fusion of different elements from genres such as techno, hard techno, and trance. Hard techno kicks are the foundation, with classic trance synthesizers.” It’s a sound that has seemingly connected with fans, who will be pleased to learn Cuebrick has signed a deal meaning “Smash the House will be the main home for my music for at least the next two years.”

Name one great festival you played for the first time this year…

“Hypercat Festival at Noa Beach Club.”

What’s the longest DJ set you’ve