Interview with MC Focus

By Hard News 06 April 2016

To start off, could you introduce yourself?
YOOOOO!!! To kick things off. My name is Tommy van Dijk a.k.a MC Focus. I am 26 years old and I live in a small town named Zuidland (near Rotterdam). I currently work as Terminal Operator at a container terminal in Rotterdam, but thats just during the week.

Could you describe how you’ve gotten into music and Hardstyle in particular?
Well, I guess its that same old story everybody tells when they ask this question; ‘at a young age’. Yes, it did start at a young age. Back in ’95 when I got my very first ‘Hakkuhbar’ CD from my parents. I never had heard such uptempo and happy house beats. During the years the ‘Gabba’ sound evolved and so did my taste for that particular music. Names like Donkey Rollers, Lady Dana and Zany where part of my CD collection these days. Many years went by and my love for the style never faded.

“I live for Hardstyle baby!”

How have you gotten from that moment, to where you are today?
Believe in myself and tell myself I can also perform on that huge stage. Why couldn’t I be the host of that particular hardstyle event? And also a lot of practice, for example listening to other MC’s on livesets and ask other MC’s about their experiences. That really helped a lot!

It all started for me at Club Oscars in Raamsdonksveer. A good friend was a resident during harder-styles events at that time. After closing time he kept practicing in the club. I went along with ‘em. During his practice, I started saying some lyrics on the mic. It sounded pretty well, so as a ‘joke’ we went to the owner of the club and asked him if I could have an oppurtunity to MC at an event in Oscars. He agreed and gave me the opportunity to give it a try at a prom party of the local high school. It was a great succes!

From that point, I started profiling myself as a MC. I got more opportunities to MC at Club Oscars. I’ve had the honour of hosting headliners like B-Front, Radical Redemption, Adaro, E-Force.

After that, I started recording my own vocals at Shotcallerz’ place. I started sending some demo’s to producers.Then Igor (Unresolved) asked me if I wanted a collab with him. Our track hit the charts at number 14 in the Hardstyle.com Top 100!

Unresolved & MC Focus – Raw Soldiers

You have recently signed with Ignition Digital (Gearbox) and Pure Bookings, can you describe what that’s like for you?
I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE IT! This might be the biggest step in my carreer! Being a part of a label that houses some of the biggest Raw heroes like Rebelion, Unresolved, Luminite, Electric Punk, Malice, Rooler and my mate MC Invalid is a huge honour for me.

I would like to thank Jean-Luc van Geffen (Pure Bookings) and Tim Rademaker (MC Invalid) for giving me this chance and supporting me from the very beginning!

What does Hardstyle mean to you?
Hardstyle means the world to me. Being in the scene for a while now, I know Hardstyle unites people from all races and from all different places in the world. Sharing that one passion. I love it!

Who inspires you?
Good question. For me that would be MC Da Symdrome! The way he interacts with the audience is so awesome. I kinda look up to him. He always has the perfect vocals on stage and I like his crazy dancemoves. Great guy.

What’s your greatest ‘Hardstyle memory’?
That would be the endshow of Intents Festival 2015. The combination of classic tracks, overwhelming fireworks and lasershows litteraly brought me to tears. Also travelling to Tallin, Estonia last January, which was my very first foreign booking. Hosting hardstyle legend Dj Isaac!

Greatest tracks ever made?
JDX Ft. Sarah Mariah – Live The Moment
Queen – Who Wants To Live Forever
Headhunterz – Scrap Attack

Who would you like to work with in your career?
There are plenty of names in the scene I want to work with, hahaha! Do I really have to choose? Radical Redemption, Dj Isaac, Sub Zero Project and also D-Sturb!

What things do you aspire to accomplish in your music career?
Hosting at a festival, that would be a dream come true!

What can people expect from you on short term? Any upcoming gigs/releases?
Yes! On the 16th of April I will be hosting at Hardstyle Feelings. Also a big Raw Hardstyle event in the summer. More info about that will follow.

About the releases, keep a close eye on my socials, I will be announcing two huge collabs pretty soon!

What’s the best advice you’ve gotten about starting a career in music?
“Don’t let anyone stop you or tell you what you can’t do”.

What funfact don’t a lot of people know about you?
I can speak English in many accents. Come have a chat with me at a gig. Aye?