This column was written by Stefan (History of Hardstyle) for Scantraxx’s January 2026 newsletter, published on February 3.
t’s the late summer of 2010. Hardstyle is moving fast, YouTube is becoming the scene’s meeting point, and on August 23rd a video appears on the Scantraxx channel: “A-Lusion & Scope DJ present Second Identity - Album announcement.”
In the clip: Onne Witjes and Dennis Koehoorn sit side by side in a studio, explaining their new project: Second Identity. They play short previews of the upcomming Album and point out the diversity of the Album: great melodies, phat reverse basslines, and hard-banging tracks. A little over a month later, the album is released, both on CD and on streaming.
But the roots of the project go back further: in April 2009, their first collaboration came out on Scantraxx Silver under the name A-Lusion Meets Scope DJ, featuring “Between Worlds” and “Reaching Out.” They later also added Second Identity remixes of “Scope DJ - Final Destination” and “A-Lusion - Talk Iz Tomorrow.” What made their work stand out was the clear mix of both producers signature sounds, those crispy Scope DJ reverse basslines & A-Lusion’s uplifting melodies. Their final live appearance as Second Identity was at Defqon.1 2018, on the Mighty Magenta stage.
The project may be over, but the music remains, and still speaks for itself, for the sound of the golden Era of
Hardstyle. Check out the Album here:
https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/album/3gpwOpre3KvIEJrwjVSokd