Devin Wild about 'Exhale': an audiovisual journey deep into his mind

Devin Wild (Dion Mons) returns with yet another EP concept after the widely successful ACID EP of 2021. This year, Dion presents a brand new concept – the EXHALE EP. This EP features four unique tracks that take the listener on an audiovisual journey deep into the mind of the talented producer. We spoke to him about the EP, how he likes to combine different genres with Hardstyle, and much more.

The title track of the EP, Exhale, introduces the theme and energy of the project. The following tracks take the listener on a journey through different energies and types of breathing. The second track, Against Time, represents channelling your inner darker energies and turning them from dark to light. RUIN is the third track, featuring rhythmic influences, takes the listener deeper down the rabbit hole, increasing the tension and intensity of the listener’s breathing. The final track, Scorpio, is a higher BPM energetic and powerful track which brings the listener to a faster and more stressful pace of breathing, releasing ultimate energy from within.

Together, these four tracks create a deep and meaningful journey coupled with vibes that are rare is Hardstyle music – influences from techno and drum & bass complete this epic journey through sound that shows exactly what Hard Music in 2022 is all about – thinking out of the box with unique and meaningful ideas, while using the Harder Styles to tell a story and bring the audience together to create something special.

INTERVIEW

You’re extremely creative and experimental, we can also hear that back in the music on the EP: where do you get your inspiration from?

I get my inspiration from several things actually. I listen to a wide range of music and I’m pretty open minded if it comes to that. I like to combine pieces from all sorts of music that has nothing to do with Hardstyle and would probably never fit when you hear it at first, but thats the moment you need to use your creativity which is challenging and fun. This is one of the most fun parts of making music for me at least.

Exhale is the official follow-up to last year’s ACID EP, why did you choose to release a follow-up? What is the difference between them, or the similarities?

I really like to work in projects and since these EP’s give me the chance to go all out if it comes to creativity I decided to do another one. There are some similarities if it comes to the structure. There are again 4 tracks which are very different to each other with some interludes in between to guide you through the story.

Devin Wild – Exhale EP | Full Movie

You’ve chosen to take a completely different path in terms of your sound for a while now, how have you experienced that? How did the fans react to that?

I think choosing to take a different path in music is one of the best choices I’ve made in my life. This gives me so much energy and motivation because I feel that this way of making music keeps challenging me. I don’t feel any boundaries. The possibilities are endless. As far as I can see most of the people took it pretty good. Ofcourse, I probably lost some fans but I also gained a lot of new ones who maybe never heard of me before or didn’t like my older music. I really appreciate the people who grew with me and stay at my side while I’m exploring my music journey <3 Big love to you guys!

Speaking about experimenting with music/genres in your music, have you ever considered releasing tracks of a completely different genre, other than Hardstyle?

Yes of course. As long as it is something I feel like doing I’m in for everything. I actually do release some other kinds of music for example with The Chill Movement which is more like chill music (like the name already tells). For those who haven’t yet, make sure to check it out ^^

It was really nice to learn more about the EXHALE journey of this whizzkiddo. Personally, I think experimenting with Hardstyle is a good thing and takes the genre to another level these days. Thanks Dion, keep it up! And for all the fans, stream EXHALE out loud and take care watching the video🤪.