ABOUT

IRRADIATE

Dominating the scene like a true warrior, the story of Irradiate is one to inspire and motivate.
From a party visitor to signed Masters of Hardcore artist, Rick Haartmans (aka Irradiate) has a deep-seeded passion for music and the hardcore scene. After visiting his first party at the age of 15, he immediately knew that being on stage was his dream. Working hard behind the scenes for many years, in 2019 Irradiate decided it was time to finally present his act.
His first singles gained huge traction already as Irradiate moved on to make huge waves with his 2021 release Warriors with DRS & Tha Watcher, which was awarded #4 in the MOH Top 100.
Making a good impression on the entire scene, in 2022 Irradiate joined the Masters of Hardcore label and released his debut Endless Sacrifice with MC Livid. At the end of this year he released his album Legacy Of Blood.
In 2023 he started to experiment more with the harder side of hardcore introducing experimental kicks and a new kind of vibe you can hear in tracks like Ecstasy, HIT IT and Go Insane. Planning to experiment more in every style of hardcore let's see what 2024 has in store for him. Let's leave a Legacy!

Who are you as a DJ

Irradiate is part of the next generation in Hardcore music. Bringing you next level melodies, Rough kicks, Intense drops and my sets are always full of surprises.

What do you want to achieve

Like every other in the scene I dream of the big stages. Think of a Dominator mainstage and a Defqon Black or a Qlimax. But for me it would be special to play on one of the first parties I’ve visited as a guest, Dreamfields Festival. I grew up pretty close to where the festival takes part every year, and people from where I live call I “our backyard festival” For me it would be a huge achievement to close down the Dreamfields mainstage one day.

How did you become a DJ

Actually this started with me as a young guy visiting festivals. As a kid I already found out I had a passion for the harder styles in music, listening from Hardcore to the first Hardstyle sounds. When I hit the age of 16 and was allowed to go to my first real Hardstyle event (Beat the Bridge, Arnhem 2012) That was the point I actually fell in love with the music. I still remember the Prophet closing down the mainstage with “Wake me up”. I did not even know I could have that many goosebumps over my body. After that I have visited a lot of festivals, and more and more times I thought: I want to be the guy on that stage. I had some friends who were producing, and I learned how to mix tracks. ( Wesley, “Rejecta” thanks for let met borrow your DJ controller 😊) From here connections with the right people are the most important, I got asked to play on small parties (Raw Hardstyle in the beginning) with the name Artrixx. Until I’ve had the right people around me, then the Irradiate idea was born. The rest is history.