DJ Thera — From Brennan & Heart to Music Produced From The Heart

I was a huge fan of electronic music in the '90s, with quite a wide range of tastes — from The Prodigy and eurodance to the heaviest hardcore. I've always been interested in it, actually!

We went to the same school in Panningen and first met at a local club. We were both already creating music, and when I moved to Tilburg to study journalism, Fabian told me he would move there too for his studies. Then we decided it would be cool to live in the same student apartment so we could produce music together — and so we did!

We were literally producing whatever inspired us. We would often listen to new music in vinyl stores, which would influence us, and we'd take those influences back with us when creating new music.

At first, we were just using lots of different aliases. That seemed to be what most producers were doing. But we decided it would be good to come up with a name that would also work well for DJ performances. The B&H name came from the first letters of our last names, and after brainstorming together, we came up with Brennan & Heart.

Basically, it became clear as we got more bookings. It was fun to realise that the music we were making before the word 'hardstyle' was even around had become a genre in itself!

Fabian was always super strong on the technical side of things, while I always loved the creative part the most. But every track was different and went through a different process, so it's too black and white to say that was the only way we worked. A track also never seemed finished until we decided it was finished enough, lol.

I don't like ranking tracks because music isn't a competition in my mind. So when I get a question like this, it's more about what comes to mind first rather than really putting a track at 'number one'.

In this case, I'd go for 'We Are Possessed', as we got the idea when visiting an abandoned graveyard in the Chicago area that was supposed to be haunted. We tried to record vocals for the track right there on our laptop, but the laptop didn't work because the battery was empty. Back at the hotel, we opened the laptop again, and all of a sudden the battery was full! Huh? Very suspicious! With that experience in mind, we created the track.

It put a lot of pressure on us. At least, that's how it really felt for me, and I was personally struggling a lot to live up to those expectations we had actually just put on ourselves. It took a toll on me and on my mental health.

I always wanted to produce whatever came to mind, regardless of whether a track became a hit or not. That's difficult when there's quite a bit of success and you want to build on that. So obviously we had our differences about that.

Looking back now, though, we simply lacked proper communication. I felt way too much pressure, which made me super anxious, stressed and eventually even depressed, but I was too ashamed to communicate about it. With all that was going on, and with us not having good communication, it became obvious that we couldn't continue the project anymore.

I simply had to heal from my depression, and during that healing period, I eventually realised that I just wanted to make music I liked, regardless of the outcome, and that I should just do it. I approached it as a hobby: no pressure, not measuring success. Just making music I love.

I thought it would be a nice gimmick that also wasn't too obvious, because I didn't want to use the Brennan & Heart period to gain success or attention. I just wanted to build something for myself.

Because I don't want to produce whatever others want. I want to produce what I enjoy and love. And when that doesn't match the current market, I always think: at some point, the market will eventually appreciate it, because this is awesome music! Hahaha.

I really liked having my own imprint, having that independence and not having to please A&R managers — which, at that time, was much more difficult, as releases were still being pressed on vinyl. So when I was struggling with sending demos, I immediately looked into just releasing the music myself.

The tagline 'Music Produced From The Heart' is still the main philosophy, and it always has been. Complete artistic freedom for artists to produce what they want and focus on uniqueness.

Literally, the uniqueness. Hearing within seconds that an artist has their own sound and style is still super exciting and the most important thing!

It begins with the idea: how would both sounds blend together? If that inspires and excites me, then there's a basis for a collaboration. It doesn't always work out, but that initial question is the most important.

I have a great team around me, and that definitely helps! And, as always, it's important to have a good balance between the roles.

Genres evolve, and although my own approach has never changed that much, I now find myself in a music industry where I could be labelled a trance, techno or hardstyle artist. I feel that with Theracords, I already have an outlet that caters to the more hardstyle-oriented stuff, but I didn't have one for the more trancy stuff.

Also, to keep developing myself, I still like exploring new music. Current trance and techno releases seem to have a lot of influences from the '90s and '00s, which is where my personal taste has always tended to go too. With Tranceparency, I can still go wherever my inspiration takes me, and I can decide per release which label is the best fit.

I love that I still produce with the same intention as always: from inspiration only! Sometimes an idea pops up, and I just go with it. That then shows the diversity I have.

That's obviously very subjective, but I think it just comes down to what you feel while listening to a track.

One thing I find exciting is that we seem to be moving more and more away from genres and boxes. People can enjoy multiple genres, and artists are able to release music across multiple genres too. I see that as an absolute win.

Other than that — and I'm probably showing my age here, haha — I don't like the importance of social media. Without a social media presence, having a unique sound alone is no longer enough, so it's much harder nowadays to break through as an artist.

It's pretty simple. I make music I like without thinking that others will like it too. Creating something from scratch that ends up being a finished track, and then noticing that people enjoy it, still feels like a great reward. That keeps motivating me to continue my crazy journey!

I want to give some good advice here. If you like an artist and their music, share it and comment on their posts. It helps the artist massively!

If you don't like an artist, refrain from expressing it online. By expressing it, you actually give that artist more reach. It can then end up with your favourite artists getting zero attention while the ones you don't enjoy get way more. Focus on positivity and support!