Making Waves: Water Spirit’s Surge in the Hard Dance Scene
Making Waves: Water Spirit's Surge in the Hard Dance Scene
GiGi, better known as Water Spirit comes reigning down from Florida, making dance beats and energetic sounds that liven up the stages across the states. Involved with the hard dance scene for almost ten years, she's been playing mainstages and producing hardstyle, hard techno, uptempo, and hardcore that ramp up parties like no other. Let’s nose-dive into her growth, acquired dreams, and how she crafts such immense, energetic experiences for the American hard dance scene!
“How did you get involved with music production?”
Water Spirit shares, “So, I used to [do] animation for YouTube stuff way back in the day, and some of my friends needed music for their animations.” They figured it would be a fun pastime. Water Spirit continues, “I kind of messed around with it way too much, and now we’re here.”
Water Spirit adds, “I was making the background music [for] scoring or like fight scenes. When I started, it was a little bit of them and me making music on the side for whatever reason, to express myself.” After a long journey of around ten years, that pastime turned into a passion! Passions usually come from a place of self-expression, and we are now forever blessed with the bass that GiGi provides.
“Did you use F.L. studio or any other platform for that?”
She discloses, “When I first started, I used Sony Acid for a minute, which I don’t recommend, haha. And then eventually, I found my way to F.L. studio. But it was a bit of a touch-and-go there for a minute. My first song is [with] Sony Acids.”
“Did you have any music background before you started to produce?”
“I didn’t even really know what BPM [beats per minute] was when I started. . . . No music training, no music theory, no music knowledge at all. So it took me a while to get where I am,” Water Spirit humbly chuckles. She ultimately decided to follow a passion with no background. Still, with consistency and heart, she is creating waves with her music so far!
“Was there any scale you used to keep you on track with the progress you were making?”
Water Spirit lists, “Yeah, so like, well [for] one, I was watching a lot of YouTube videos on producing, and that kind of kept me on track in terms of progressing, I guess.” They also add, “I used to watch K?D, like, his streams pretty fucking religiously back when he used to do those in like 2016. And that taught me a lot about music.” The entire experience of making tracks, crafting the visuals and backgrounds for their track covers, and the art that comes with that encapsulated Water Spirit’s passion. This love suitably honed the scale for their progress.
“What kind of song or toolkit do you build up to with your sets?”
“It fluctuates throughout building my discography. I always switch out songs and stuff like that. Like in the past, I would always play [my track] ARIES. . . . I know people love that song, but I also have so many other songs that I like playing. But I really, really love EQUAL2’s remix of mine and Dionysus’s track, HORZ. That’s what I end with right now because I’m like, ‘Dude, this is so fucked up. . . . you’re like evil, Dude; why would you ever make something like this? This is so cool.’ That remix is so fucked up!” Water Spirit happily conveys.
“Do you have an experimental perspective when you produce? Or do you stick to a template or formula?”
Water Spirit informs, “There’s like two sides to it. On [the] one hand, EDM is very demanding, and just music, in general, these days and content creation. . . . I always do have a Water Spirit sound that I’ve crafted that’s like 160 bpm, ‘acid sounds,’ [and] ‘rave stabs’. . . . Same with the 200 bpm sounds.” These sounds are Water Spirit’s general music signature, but she keeps an open mind for creativity in the studio. Water Spirit imposes, “I always kind of like [to] see where I can push things and try to do something different because I feel like that gives, not only your project, a lot of longevity if you can discover something really cool and new, but also it’s fun to do new things, and I enjoy it.
“When did you discover hardstyle?”
“Around late middle school/high school. My first electronic music that I really listened to was Pendulum’s kind of early stuff, and then as well as Prodigy,” Water Spirit describes. She also shared that they discovered Angerfist around high school and listened to breakcore. Water Spirit discovered hardstyle when ‘S.M.F. - hahaha’ shuffle videos went around! That track was a typical layover for many Melbourne shuffle videos from 2008-2011.
“What is your favorite part about making your music, and what about DJing?”
Water Spirit divulges, “My favorite part about making my music is just like… I’m a fucking dork, haha. I love grinding shit out and sitting there in front of my computer.” I resonated with a calm smile. This gentle, nostalgic obsession was the same way with their animations! She presumes to add, “I enjoy the worlds that music can build in peoples’ heads, and I think that’s really powerful and healing.” Water Spirit wants to instill that same experience of strength and healing. They owe it to the music producers who influenced them along their journey.
Water Spirit indicates, “And then DJing was just kind of a way . . . [to do] my own visuals because I wanted to introduce the aesthetic of Water Spirit. And kind of the way to put all of that together and have people experience both the visuals and the music was, like, through DJing.” She importantly acknowledges, “It teaches me more how to be myself and be in front of people because I am very introverted. So it’s taught me a lot about being more of a people person, getting in front of people, and having a good time.”
“How do you feel about producing uptempo compared to hardcore, hard techno and hardstyle?”
“I think I’m the most comfortable and the fastest when I produce 200 bpm uptempo stuff, really noisy shit. I do think that I feel that is what I’m best at when I’m producing, and it’s also what I’m known for,” Water Spirit implies.
“I love producing anything four on the floor [faster beats], even stuff that’s not four on the floor sometimes, like even half-time stuff or anything [slower beats],” Water Spirit mentions. “I just love heavy sounds, expressing that emotion on stage, and having that through my music. It’s always like I’ll produce one of these genres, like uptempo, for a while. I’ll do two or three uptempo songs, and then I’m like, ‘just to give myself a break from uptempo.’ I’m going to do two or three 160 [bpm] songs, and then I go back to 200 or like 150 or 155 [bpm],” she insinuates.
“Can you share a pivotal moment in your career where you had to adapt or change your style?”
Water Spirit grinned with an exciting smirk, “Yeah! So, Texas recently. I went to Texas to play a DEF show that was with Habstrakt and Mija, and I was b2bing with luca Lush. [So] I’m so used to being the most structured mother fucker. I have about 5 USBs that I bring. I practice my sets over and over and over and over again. And it [is] a b2b and Lucah being a fucking legend who has been djing for so long and been producing like crack shit on Soundcloud for so long. He’s just like, “Yeah, dude, let’s just go up and have fun,” and I’m like, “Uh uh ok cool, yea.” (flustered with excitement) Water Spirit continues, “But, he plays 150 [bpm] kind of techno/ hard techno, and then I do 160 stuff, and it was right after Habstrakt. So we were like, “Fuck, how do we structure this? “I just . . . [had] to tone myself down from jumping to the higher bpm, but it was really fun. I had a good time. I was fucking panicking on stage, but I had a great time!” She nods with approval.
We discussed treasuring where the current scene resides and touched on its positive opportunities:
It is common knowledge that the hard dance scene in America is smaller than in Europe. Still, there is a silver lining that Water Spirit points to. Water Spirit states, “I also think that it’s cool because it’s like, when it’s small, [for] the individuals, it’s so easy to get involved with the community right now. Like you know, I see the same people at shows. I notice that fans come to multiple shows. And [the] same with industry people that are supporting us. It’s so easy to be involved right now, and I think that becomes a lot harder when scenes get bigger.”
“Did you want to touch on the announcement of you playing at The Homie Collective Campout?”
“Haha. Yeah, that was today [April 20th]; that happened a few hours ago. I’m excited for that. The lineup is stupid-sick. I’m like, holy shit, they got so many friends playing. I’m like, damn, this is awesome!” Water Spirit exclaims. They also state that they haven’t played at a festival in Massachusetts before but have been out for another event, so they are excited to be back! The Homie Collective Campout is a multi-genre music and arts festival in Massachusetts, with camping available. It features plenty of US talent, live music, workshops, flow performers, stand-up comedy, and its first-ever hard dance stage this year (2024)!
If you want to know Water Spirit’s proudest achievement, tips for producers that Water Spirit has, advice for introverted artists, thoughts on the American vs. European hard dance scene, and much more, check out the full interview on YouTube here: Water Spirit's Interview on our YouTube
Water Spirit mentions that she has yet to play in San Diego. It would be great to have them play there one day!
If you are in the Chicago area and are looking for hard dance music shows, make sure to check out the event Euphoria they will be playing at on June 8th, along with Noize Suppressor and Kreation.
If you want to listen to or know more about Water Spirit, check them out at:
Instagram: Water Spirit
Soundcloud: Water Spirit
Spotify: Water Spirit
TikTok: Water Spirit
Facebook: Water Spirit
Apple Music: Water Spirit
YouTube: Water Spirit
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Marcus is one of the leaders of San Diego Hardstylerz. As a kid, he listened to house, trance, Eurodance, and freestyle. After a friend showed him hardstyle in 2010, Marcus became passionate about the scene and music. He hopes to help the hardstyle scene throughout the states to the best of his ability.
Writer: Marcus
Co-writer: Ivan
Editor: Linda
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LinkTree: SDHZ
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