BLKDRVGON: Bringing Harder Style Dance to Australia to Feed His Inner Beast
BLKDRVGON Follows His Lifelong Love of Hard Dance Styles & Shares It With The World
Personally, I enjoy the occasional hard style track or session every now and then. My motto for any type of music I listen to: If it brings me energy, give it to me.
But there are others who live, breathe and eat hard styles. Basically “Eat. Sleep. Hard Style. Repeat”. BLKDRVGON is one of those die hards, from fan to DJ, and it’s awesome to see.
The Legendary Dragon Begins…
Born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, Vass BLKDRVGON (Black Dragon) grew up with early trance and other dance music styles as early as the age of 5. That love for dance music started when he heard “Mr. Vein” on the radio in his mother’s car, followed by her jamming some of the old hard energy (NRG) CDs in the car a few years later.
Since he turned 15, he’s been “cheekily” enjoying Melbourne’s hardstyle scene in an underground fashion from his own family. Hey, when something flows deep in your veins, you do what you gotta do to get it and keep being you, right? 🙂
As a fan and raver, he’s enjoyed events and the community grown and perfected by brands such as 3D, PHD, Bubble and Hard Kandy. Finally realizing he wanted more, BLKDRVGON made the transition from hard style fan to DJ in July of 2020.
Since he picked up the decks and his mixing skills, his DJ career has been 100% Twitch-based (except for one performance at TR!P), but as lockdowns end and the world begins to adjust to a post-vaccination society, his plans and dream include more live club dates in the coming months.
So if you ever feel like something is missing in your life, like music that ranges in the 155-225 BPM range, there’s a good chance that DJs like Vass BLKDRVGON are the cure to what ails you.
An Interview with Vass BLKDRVGON
STL: What music got you started as a DJ?
BLKD: My love for dance music come from listening to “Mr. Vein” on the radio in my mothers car at the age of 5, then growing up and her jamming some of the old hard NRG CDs in the car , then fell in love and fell straight into the scene. Now here I am one year in of mixing! So old school 90s dance and classic trance and hard trance got me into the music side of things. DJing I have always wanted to do, it’s just has been a money issue.
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STL: What is your preferred music genre(s) to spin/mix?
BLKD: I spin Melbourne bounce, minimal, hard n dark techno, hard trance, hard-style, reverse bass, UK hardcore , hardcore and frenchcore.
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STL: What is your favorite stream you have done?
BLKD: I like to say that my favorite one I’ve done would be my dirty 30th birthday raid train that I organized to include most of Melbourne’s finest. A big shout out to everyone that was on that train, from all around the world! You know who you are!
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STL: What made you become the DJ you are today?
BLKD: Sitting back while watching your 2 best mates do what you wanna do does wonders your whole life. (HAHA) But in all honesty I just fucking love the tunes, I do this because I love everything involved with this scene. I live for this shit. It’s in my blood!
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STL: What is your favorite meal?
BLKD: My home cooked Drvgon Steak or if I’m going out it would definitely be Japanese BBQ with all the premium cuts of wagyu.
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STL: Who do you inspire to be most like?
BLKD: Straight out Alex Kidd.
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STL: Who else in your family is a musician?
BLKD: Two of my uncles were also DJs but they played more RnB and Rap.
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STL: How would you describe the energy in your streams and chat?
BLKD: The energy in my streams is like the fire coming out of the drvgon’s (dragon’s) mouth itself!
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STL: What is your favorite drink?
BLKD: My favorite drink is a Double Jack Daniels & Coke
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STL: How much has Twitch changed over the COVID lockdown for you?
BLKD: It has changed a lot for me in how many people I follow on the platform and how many new friends I have made from around the world.
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STL: What is your biggest change since becoming a Twitch DJ?
BLKD: I’ve always been a Twitch DJ since I started mixing in July of 2020, but I have had one in-person gig at TR!P here in Melbourne. A big shout out to DarkSin for giving me that big opportunity!
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STL: If you could give any advice to a new streamer, what would it be?
BLKD: Connections! Connections! Connections and networking! Have the self confidence to be yourself on the mic and camera. Know that audience engagement is key, so make friends in your chat, as well as other streams’ chats, so people get to know you.
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STL: How do you think things will change as lockdowns end and venues start to come back?
BLKD: Nothing will change; only the amount of streamers that aren’t able dedicate enough time to the platform because things start opening again.
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STL: If you are adding live shows to your Twitch line-ups, are you excited or nervous to add this change or go back?
BLKD: Excited as all fuck to be honest! As I said I’ve already done the raid train for my birthday , and I’ve organized a couple of others between me and the krews from down-under , but as soon as COVID lifts best believe I’ll be having a live event somewhere with everyone on Twitch!
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STL: Are you a producer of your own tracks as well?
BLKD: Not yet but hopefully within the next year I’ll have something out there to share. I do have some dreams I’d like to make a reality with my music but I’ll keep on the hush with that for now. 🙂
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STL: Is there anything else you’d like to add? Thank you for sitting down with us!
BLKD: Much love GVNG GVNG!
Catch BLKDRVGON Live in Twitch
You can catch BKLDRVGON when he usually streams on Saturdays 4:00pm AEST and Mondays 2:00pm AEST, unless he’s part of a raid train on the weekend. You can also check out the BLKDRVGON Channel for his streaming schedule.
