EDITORIAL: A Recap of Hardwell’s Busy 2015; Part I

Robbert Van DeCorput, more famously known by his stage name, Hardwell, has had an incredibly busy and successful year. From his debut album, “United We Are,” to his premiere of I AM Hardwell – Living The Dream, to his international festival appearances and his United We Are Foundation charity project, Hardwell maintained high-quality music production while he expanded his brand to something beyond his recording studio.

January: Debut Album Released, United We Are Tour Launch

Hardwell started 2015 off with a bang. On January 23rd, he released his debut album, “United We Are”, featuring hits such as Arcadia, Don’t Stop The Madness, and Eclipse.

To coincide with the album launch, Hardwell’s brand new world tour, United We Are, kicked off as a two-day event at Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome with many special guests. Both concerts were completely sold out with 12,000 people in attendance each night. Additionally, the first show was broadcasted live through twenty-five national FM radio stations worldwide and a video stream was embedded on his website, where over 14,000 viewers tuned in from America to Australia to watch. Since then, the tour has appeared in several major cities, including: Lisbon, Santiago De Chile, Bangkok, Singapore, Istanbul, Gelsenkirchen, and San Francisco, with upcoming shows scheduled for Manila and Macau.

February: 2M Twitter Followers

Hardwell reached a social media milestone on February 11, reaching two millions followers on Twitter. To celebrate this achievement, he released the first two hours of his United We Are debut set from Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam. With an incredible light show and a high energy audience, the 120 minute release featured many tracks from his debut album mixed in with reworked classics, ending with a fun 8-bit version of Apollo.

“Live the moment. Don’t be afraid. Express yourself. Be Present. Be here. Live fully. Live now. United We Are.”

Hardwell live @ Ziggo Dome – January 23rd 2015

March: Multiple IDMA Award Winner

Of the nine 2015 IDMA nominations he received for his contributions to the international dance music scene, Hardwell won five of them: Best Electro/Progressive House/Electro DJ, Best Podcast/Radio Mixshow, Best Compilation/Album, Best Global DJ, and Best Electro/Progressive House Track (for Hardwell & Joey Dale ft. Luciana – Arcadia).

April: Revealed Recordings 5 Year Anniversary

The Dutch record label was established in 2010 and has released hundreds of tracks by signed artists who fall under the electro, house, big room, progressive house, and tech-house genres. To celebrate a successful five years in business, Revealed Recordings encouraged fans to vote on their favourite tracks to determine the track listing of the Top 100. The results served as the base to the mix album “Revealed Recordings 5 Year Anniversary” produced by Hardwell himself. The top ten tracks were as follows:

1. Hardwell – Spaceman
2. Paris Blohm ft. Taylr Renee – Left Behinds
3. Kshmr & Dallas K – Burn
4. Hardwell & Dyro ft. Bright Lights – Never Say Goodbye
5. Hardwell ft. Ambra Shepherd – Apollo
6. Hardwell – Eclipse
7. Headhunterz – Once Again
8. Blasterjaxx & Dbstf ft. Ryder – Beautiful World
9. Blasterjaxx – Fifteen (Hardwell Edit)
10. Hardwell & Joey Dale ft. Luciana – Arcadia

May: Jäger!

Life exists outside the recording studio and the DJ booth. Robbert introduced the world to his new puppy, Jäger. The cute baby pug has his own Instagram account with over 52 thousand followers. Jäger’s posted pictures of himself playing, sleeping, eating, writing music in the futuristic themed studio, meeting Revealed artists, and occasional posts of selfies with Robbert.

Gaming and chill A photo posted by Jäger van de Corput (@jagerpug) on Nov 28, 2015 at 5:25am PST

June: Summer Festivals, Ushuaïa Ibiza Residency

June kicked off the beginning of 2015’s summer festival season. Hardwell was booked to perform at some of the world’s biggest electronic music festivals, including Ultra Music Festival Korea, Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas, Summerfestival Belgium, EDC UK, Ultra Europe, Barcelona Beach Festival, Tomorrowland, Veld Festival, Smukfest, Weekend Festival Baltics + Finland, and Creamfields. In addition to all his main stage performances at these international festivals, he presented his own Revealed Recordings stage at Tomorrowland and Creamfields, featuring many artists that are signed to his label.

Throughout the summer, Ushuaïa, Ibiza became his second home. Welcomed back for his second residency on the party island, Hardwell’s Carnival ran from June 23rd to September 8th.