Spanish violence in the house

Most people probably know Rottencore for his early sound, but that doesn't mean that's his only thing. In fact, for upcoming Deadtown 14, he's going to do his first speedcore only liveset! What's the story beind that? In this interview, namesakes are chatting about Rottencore's experience with the scene and what's coming during this event.

Hi Rottencore, could you introduce yourself?

Hello, I'm Sergio, aka Rottencore, and I was born in Barcelona in 1988. I like to play and produce hardcore/gabber, terror, and speedcore, even though I used to produce industrial/darkcore/doomcore under another alias. I like to play livesets with a midi keyboard and let the flow go on.

How did you start listening to hardcore?

Being a happy kid in Barcelona, somewhere around 1994, I was playing with my toys (most likely Dragon Ball Z) in my room and liked to put on the radio for some makina music. It was the golden era of Spanish/Catalonian makina. My dad has put an old car radio cassette player in my room, and I liked to turn it on and roll the radio signal roller, constantly changing the radio station. That's how I found a radio station where they played makina and I really liked how that electronic music sounded.

One day during summer, my older cousin that also liked makina and hardcore, saw me playing with the radio, and he gave me some recorded cassette tapes. Besides the makina, there were some Thunderdome tapes and CDs too. I really liked the Thunderdome Megamix 1-5 (the one with the baby on the cover) and I couldn't stop playing it all day. I remember the "Heeeeere's Johnny!!!" vocal and still get goosebumps when I play this CD from time to time.

What makes you like heavier stuff like terror and speedcore?

I had a friend that liked terror music, and he used to give me some CDs too. This is how I found out about the classic 'Xtreme Terror' CD from ID&T, with tracks of Creatures of the Occult, Nasenbluten, Nordcore, Coffeecore et cetera. As far as I remember, this was before 2000, because I remember perfectly that after 2002-2003, I played my favourite terror CD ever, which is 'This is Terror Volume 2 – The Coffeecore Cru Mix'. That CD has the most special spot in my heart, and I honestly have played this double CD like 250 times from start to finish already. After that followed Noisekick, all CSR records, and well, I was super into terror/speedcore.

Back then, I had two very good friends. One of them was addicted to makina, and the other liked hardcore, but only the 'mainstream'. I was the only one who went 'extreme' about music. All my other friends never liked hardcore, so I was mainly 'alone' about this.

And what made you produce music yourself?

It was in that period of time, around 2003, that I've tried to start producing hardcore. I had a feeling inside. I wanted to do it too, but I had no idea where to start. I had no internet, but I did remember having a CD from a magazine that had a program to start producing music, which was Fruity Loops. I've installed it, but I had no idea how it worked. I was 14 back then and my head was everywhere except concentrating hahaha, so I've got tired of trying.

Two years later, I tried it again. And once I got some beats running, I got addicted to producing. Those first productions were shitty tracks with shitty sound. But sometimes when I listen to them, I think I had some nice ideas but not the skills yet.

How's the hardcore scene in Spain?

We never had a big hardcore community here in Spain. Some big clubs played some hardcore, but it was mainly in the mid-2000s where they mainly booked mainstream names. We were a small community compared to other countries, and I'm sure it was (mainly) because the makina era was at the same time as gabber was growing through Europe. People had another taste in electronic music. In 1995, there was a Thunderdome event in Barcelona, but it wasn't as popular as Thunderdome parties in other countries.

We also never had any big label releasing this music continuously. There were some releases, but not consistently. And this is only about the 'mainstream' hardcore styles. If you look at gabber/terror/speedcore, it is like non-existing. Small events didn't survive. I even threw some 12-hour parties with friends near Valencia and Madrid, where we even booked guys like Komprex and Frazbass in 2009, with a 3-4 hour liveset that left you breathless! But almost no-one knows that, since only a few people were there.

How would you describe your style?

If you asked me about this 15 years ago, I'd say dark, aggressive terror/speedcore. It's because this is the style I started with back in the days. Since 2009, I started to get more focused on gabber/oldschool/artcore. I always maintained the oldschool vibe in my productions, because it is what I have always liked. But when it comes to terror/speedcore, I also like the modern sound and I'm more open to this than I was before.

How did you get in touch with Speedcore Italia?

I found out about Speedcore Italia because I always liked Nekrosystem's tracks. I've always seen that SCI had a great vision of quality, perseverance, clear ideas, and full support to the extreme core music. I respect Speedcore Italia a lot because they still have survived and endured, even when the terror/speedcore scene was looking very bad in terms of popularity. I admire people that are just like that. Also, it's not usual to see a party that's focused mainly on these kinds of music styles.

Have you ever been to one of the Speedcore Italia events before?

No, I have never been to a SCI event before. I've spent three years between working and studying to get a nice job, so I have been very busy for many years. Especially now, because since 2020 I'm a daddy, so I barely have any time between that and my daily job.

During Deadtown 14, you will play your first ever speedcore-only liveset. What could people expect from this?

It will be different to what I usually play. Normally, at other parties, I always play gabber, starting around 190-200 BPM, and raising the tempo. I always like to go a little bit terror/speedcore at the end, because if I start and end at the same speed, I get bored. Also, playing live is risky and fun at the same time.

I have never made an entire set of only terror and/or speedcore. And that's something that I miss, because those are the styles that really got me into hardcore and that made me want to research deeper into the underground of music.

What are you looking forward to the most?

I'm going to try to surprise you a little with the liveset, since Deadtown is a party without speed limitations. I think it will be difficult to surprise in that sense. I think I'll have a cold beer around hahaha.

Are there any other things that you want to try out anytime?

Uptempo and piepkicks! Nah, just kidding. Sometimes I thought about doing some techno, just to try. But there are already thousands of people doing this. However, since I don't have enough free time, I prefer spending my time on what I really like and enjoy and even helps me to fall asleep: hardcore.

Thanks Rottencore for this interview. Curious about what this unique set will be like? Join him and everyone else during Deadtown 14 on the 4th of October in Mikroport Club Krefeld, Germany. Tickets are available at the website.