MDC Interview#42 "Adamant Scream a.k.a. Miss Hysteria / Lucy Furr "

Adamant Sceam has been active for quite some time now with different projects and aliases. Every genre knows ups & downs and lives by certain borders + rules. This project makes the borders blur and goes in between various styles..

Making music is all about creating and getting the inspiration speak. She is a creative producer that spends a lot of time and effort in the tracks to make sure they all have their story. As a dj she loves to take the crowd with her on a musical journey and with her experience as a dj, she knows how to pull this of.

Adamant Scream combines the most ruthless kicks with the delicacy of a variety of musical instruments. This results in remarkble djset that bring diversity to your line-up. The bpm range will be somewhere between 150 and 200, depending on the timeslot of the festival. This variety in tempo can also be found in her productions. As we said, there are no rules!

Q.Where are you from? Where are you based now?

I'm from Amersfoort in The Netherlands. I currently live in Utrecht.

Q.Please tell us about your hometown. Where did you spend the most time?

Amersfoort was a fun place to grow up. I used to play a lot outside with friends when I was little and switched my love for horse riding to going out and partying at the age of 13/14. Times were different, we could go to a bar and order alcoholic drinks with no problem at all. I never liked my time at high school. I had friends, and of course we made fun, but I hated school. I hated getting up early and to be pushed into the system. After I finished high school, I was clueless what to do or study next so I worked fulltime for a couple of years. I picked up studying again when I was 21, a bit more calm, less rebellious and motivated and everything went really well. I got my degree as social worker and started with a part-time job next to my music activities.

Q.Since when are you interested in music? Which vinyl was your first one to buy? Which work (any kind of such as film, book, art etc) influenced your music mostly?

I was into music since I can remember. I had some piano lessons when I was a kid and started experimenting with some gear as tape recorders and simple cd players. When I was 12/13 years old, I started doing drive in dj sets on mainly school parties and was saving money for the real deal! (Technics turntables) My first vinyl ever was a trance ep, Strings of Harmony (1998 I believe) but I was slowly getting more and more into hardcore and bought my first bunch of vinyl's in 1999/2000. I believe The Stunned Guys & DJ Paul Feat. MC Ruffian – Hardcore Takin' Over was one of them. But damn, vinyl was pretty expensive.

Q.When did you first listen to Hardcore? What was your first impression?

I started listening mainly to rave, rave cd's and Thunderdome cd's (or might have been casette tapes lol) I was attracted to it because it was angry and rebellious, just as I was in my teens lol. I was too young to go out partying but it all seemed magical to me. When I was 14 years old, I sneaked into my first rave ever, Mysteryland indoor in 1998.

Q.What did your friends or family think of Hardcore? Was Hardcore popular around you?

I had certain friends at school who were into hardcore, but not that many. My family didn’t really thought it was actual music. I can remember the disapproving faces of people around me what made me more rebellious again. I used to shave the back of my head and wear the typical gabber clothing. Everybody belonged to his own peergroup..I remember you got the kids who were ‘skaters’ you’ve got the gabbers, the rappers and everybody hated each other for no reason lol. But that’s very much age related of course. My parents started to take everything more seriously when spend some time at parties, watching me perform and experiencing the positive energy emerging from the crowd.

Q.When did start your music activity as Miss Hysteria? What is the origin of the name?　What genre did you play at that time? What you doing before that?

I had my first gig when I was 17, so I had to think of a name. Hysteria seemed pretty brutal to me 'cause of the genre. And putting Miss or Lady in front of your name was pretty usual at that time, although my views on using a gender specific artist name has changed, as a mature artist. 

Q.When you joined the Hardcore scene, what was the scene situation?

When I started partying myself, from what I can remember, it was more divided in hardcore, trance and breakbeats...Newstyle was emerging and was taking the tempo down. There was oldschool (slow) and early rave (mainly faster) and producers kept on finding new ways to distort them 909 kicks. Eventually this transformed in what we now call, millennium hardcore. Playing these old tracks from all the genres bring back a lot of sweet memories.

Q.When did you start making music? What equipment did you use initially?

After starting dj'sing I started producing tracks a few years later, around 2003/2004, with Cubase!

Q.Your first release is "DJ Wicked Meets DJ Lunatic And Miss Hysteria-Hard-Quake EP"? Please tell me the background of this EP.

This first ep was a try out and a journey of discovery into producing. We used a bit more hardware back then. Sampling, synths and and mackie mixer and so on. Michel, Dj Wicked, introduced me and Patrick into the world of producing and we tried to create a party-minded ep. It was pure experimenting, we didn't work with a plan. If it sounded nice, it stayed in the track.

Q.What festival did you first appear in? Do you remember that time?

I had to dig deep into the Partyflock.nl archives to find my first outdoor festival lol.. it was Nightmare Outdoor, 2005. Partyflock was a very popular and well known Dutch community based website with an enormous database. It still exists nowadays.

Q.Looking back on the Hardcore scene through 2000's(2000-2010), how do you feel now?

A lot has changed, people change, music and technology evolves.. For many years I played my fucking ass off, 5 gigs a week for example. Every shithole had it’s own dancing, bar or café and parties were many. Once, I played at the same club 4 times a month. Those weekends were fun and exhausting. I don’t feel the need now to play that much. I want to focus on my set and experience something of the night, party and crowd itself. I don’t mind having a weekend off now and then (Am I getting old? ;-)). And the scenery changed. Most of all those bars, dancings and clubs closed. Everything is mainly focused on the festival season. I wished we could have a bit more clubnights throughout the year, but it’s really hard to manage financially for the owners.

As I grow older I know more and more what I don’t want. Especially with my new project Adamant Scream, I focus mainly on the music I love instead of considering what is popular and so on. And I realize that my taste of music is a bit….different lol. I’m happy that industrial area’s are represented at a lot of major festivals, but I wish there was some more room for us. More room for alternatives and the other sides of the spectrum. Sometimes the smaller industrial area’s are just loaded and too full with people. We are there! See us and embrace us!

Q.You also create industrial hardcore. I think Industrial Hardcore has various styles.What is the definition of Industrial Hardcore for you?

Industrial hardcore for me is a certain feeling, vibe ánd sound of a track. It's made with an idea or story in mind, not created through a basic formula to suit the mood of the big crowd. It's not easy listening, so we always will work for the smaller crowds. The sound can be more distorted, angry, aggressive or spooky and dark...it can be more experimental and divers. For me personal, it feels like there are less rules, content wise and structure wise.

Q.You create Hardcore Drum & Bass / Crossbreed as Lucy Furr. Why did you get interested in Hardcore Drum & Bass / Crossbreed?

That was around 2007. I felt really attracted to drum and bass and the whole scene surrounding it. Breaksbeats, different vibe and I experienced more openmindedness, dj's played more crossgrenre then I was used to. Hardcore was my main business, together with my former partner, but I missed something for myself. So I started it off as a hobby, just for fun. I enjoyed it so much that I took it to a more serious level in 2014 and released my first ep as Lucy Furr (Desolation ep)

Q.Do you change your mindset when you make D & B and Hardcore?

yeah I became more interested in playing and producing a bit more cross genre…switching from breaks, to kicks, to breakbeats, straight kicks, kick/snare. I tried to work some dnb and breakbeats into hardcoresets back then.

Q.Crossbreed became popular from 2010 to 2014. How do you think Crossbreed influenced the Hardcore scene?

Well, from what I can recall, the scene did became more open minded for breakbeats and kicksnares instead of just straight kicks and that was good! It was an enrichment and made room for more creativity. It brought a whole new wave of 'industrial’ music and hard drum and bass and hardcore grew closer together

Q.You started Adamant Scream last year. Why did you start this project?

Well, I continued solo as Miss Hysteria in 2014, but something was happening, things were changing. I noticed that I had to make some concessions with my choice of music. Crowds didn't always followed the direction I was going. The 'traditional' industrial music lost it's space and was less and less represented on line-ups. Also quality mainstream music was only received well if it was not too difficult arranged. The tempo went up...Uptempo dj's and industrial dj's were programmed in the same area's though the crowds were completely different. This was very confusing. There was a time that I got programmed on weird spots on the timetable...closing stages after several uptempo dj's and so on. I didn't feel comfortable and happy anymore about these shows, though I kept producing.

Still felt like there were blockades to write the music I really love myself and I didn't felt connected to my alias 'Miss Hysteria' anymore. It felt like I grow out of it. So, would I quit hardcore al along? After a lot and a lot of discussions and talks with my colleagues about this situation and all these struggles, I decided to drop Miss Hysteria and make a fresh new start. I needed a name that had no connection with my gender (why in god sake?) and represented what I am now. Adamant stands for strength en the will not to give up. And the scream stands for power and the energy I give to my music. Under this alias, I give myself the freedom to create and write exactly what I want. To make to music that I love with no restrictions and boundaries. And that is how I became happy again in music :-) So, I'm willing to do a Miss Hysteria millennium set once in a while, and I will never forget where I came from, but that's it.

Q.You have collaborated with great producers such as DJ Hidden, Limewax, Sinister Souls, Dolphin & more. How do you decide which producers to collaborate with?

The decision to collab can be made on several things. It could be a great match style-wise but it's also really cool to collab with a good friend and see whatever happens. Weird combinations can be really intereseting. The producers you mention are ones that I highly respect, so it's really an honor to creating something with them!

Q.What equipment do you use now? When do you come up with your song ideas?

I'm still working on Cubase! I've got Adam A7X speakers in my studio and a Seinheiser HD 650 headphone. There are several plugins I use a lot in every project, like Fabfilter and various stuff from the Wave bundle. I do use my Virus TI a lot and softsynths like: Z3TA2, Rapture, Alchemy, FM8, Serum and EKS Pro. Song idea's come up randomly. Sometimes it's a vocal in a movie that really triggers me to create something around it. Sometimes it is a feeling or emotion, or something that happened that inspires me to create a tune to empty my head. When I come home from playing an amazing gig abroad, I'm loaded with energy and inspiration. So, I don't have like one structured way of working..I just write..

Q.In your various works, to which one you feel deeply attached?

Oh, hmm there are several tunes with quite some story behind it. Well, it's kinda indirect, the story is the inspiration source. And I like to add little hints in tunes with vocals saying something particular. And nobody knows what it's about, except for me :-) I've got an unreleased track (called: It's a mess) which is very special to me. It helped me to get rid of some nasty feelings and emotions. In a parallel universe is a same kind of example. I wrote the tune in one night. Genocide (Lucy Furr collab with Sinister Souls) is also a quite emotional tune, and I still play Desolation a lot, one of my first hard dnb tunes. My upcoming Adamant Scream ep (This break my fucking heart ep) is loaded with anger and fire. It shows on the artwork too. I'm very proud of this piece! What Really Matters and Worst Possible Misery For Everyone are special tunes for me from the past. (Miss Hysteria)

Q.You've mixed industrial hardcore with Techno in a recent DJ set. Are you interested in Techno?

Well, I'm interested in good music and I find a lot of interesting tracks and producers on the edge of industrial techno and industrial hardcore. I'm also very fond of the energy in schranz and hardtechno. So I like to blend everything in my set to create an uplifting energy. 

Q.I think Hardcore and Techno have crossed over in recent years. Why do you think this has happened?

Well, I'm not completely sure. I can only analyse this movement from my own personal perspective. I think the uptempo movement created a lack of downtempo tracks ánd the lack of preferable line-ups on events for the not 'particular uptempo fans'. I think a group of people became 'lost' and maybe felt attracted to to the techno scene, filling up this empty space. I think it also attracted a lot of dj's and producers who felt kinda finished with the current (uptempo) hardcore scene. Personally I think more Hardcore people are coming to Techno parties than vice versa. Hardcore dj's are booked on techno line-up and I see more and more collabs apprearing. I think the sound and the tempo fit really well together and makes room for very interesting crossovers in productions, dj sets and line-ups!

Q.What are your recent favorite producers and labels?

I think the most played artist in my playlists is Ophidian haha. I do have a very broad taste when it comes to music but to name a few: The Dj producer, Outside Agency, Dolphin, DJipe, Tymon, Obi, Scalameriya, Enzyme X, KRTM, Somniac One, Sacerdos Vigilia and for drum and bass I play a lot by BSE, Katharsys, Merikan, Sinister souls, Phytius, L33, Counterstrike, dj Hidden, The Clamps, Synthakt, Hallucinator, Limewax and so on. When it comes to labels, PRSPCT Recordings, Heresy, Meta4, Genosha, Eatbrain, Blackout Music, Ram records, Algorythm Recordings, Othercide Records and so on.

Q..Please tell me the top 3 track you played most in the 2000 / 2010s?

Oh dear, this is hard…something like

- Psychiatric ass by Nosferatu & Ophidian

- The Mine - Ophidian

- WO3 - Catscan

2010(2010-2019)

- Inception by Sound - Ophidian

- The Outside Agency & Ophidian – The Silence

- I:gor – Total Confusion

Q.What do you spend the most time outside of music activities?

I'm working on this interview in Corona times..so my daily life looks a bit different now. I did work from home a lot before Corona, so that particular aspect didn't change a lot. I write music, work on some side tasks like social media, podcasts, merchandise and what not. I try to work out or walk/run every day to stay fit, this keeps me mentally sane and helps me to sleep well. Throughout the week, I enjoy cooking healthy meals and safe the wine and beers for the weekend, but really failed in this aspect during this quarantine lol. I visit my parents once a week and work some hours as a freelance social worker. I do miss my social life as it was before lockdown. I really enjoy going out with friends, having diner and drinks a good talk. I miss traveling and the dj gigs. sometimes everything feels pointless but I'm sure everyone faces their demons in their own way. It's just weird times and I hope we can pick up living the normal life soon.

Q.How do you think the hardcore scene (industry) will change after corona? Do you think there will be changes in the scale and structure of the festival? Did it affect your music production or style at the moment?

Well, I have no clue what will happen to all the big festivals/gatherings.. I hope smaller events/clubnights can make a comeback step by step. I hope that everyone will manage financially in the meantime. Maybe vinyl will make a comeback. I see a lot of people dusting off their turntables to do livestreams. Everybody is doing livestreams now, maybe there will be a version in the future where a whole party experience is digitalized and there is some money to make of it. People are getting creative. As a producer, you’re isolated a lot, investing in your music so you can play it out loud in the weekends. I really miss that last part. It feels like you’re missing out on half of the job. 

Q.Do you have any goals or challenges in your future music activities?

I just want to stay happy in music and have a fulfilling career. So I will do what I necessary to achieve that! I want to find/keep (this process is always dynamic) balance between my musiccarreer and other activities & my social life and family.

Q.Let us know your future release information.

Well, my new ep 'This Breaks My Fucking Heart' will be released the 29th of May! Very excited for this one! It will be released on Vinyl accompanied with some amazing piece or artwork by Mike Redman. It goes from 155 bpm to 190 bpm and contains a collab with Thrasher. I'm finishing new drum and bass material as we speak and I'm working on a very interesting remix, can't tell you more yet! But keep an eye on my socials to stay up to date!

Facebook: @djadamantscream / @djlucyfurr
Insta: @adamantscream / @djlucyfurr