Maroon 5
Blasterjaxx is a Dutch electronic duo consisting of DJ and producer Thom Jongkind (born 1990) and producer Idir Makhlaf (born 1991). The project took shape in the Netherlands in the early 2010s and gained international recognition during the rise of festival-oriented big room house and electro house.
Blasterjaxx became one of the most recognizable acts of the large-scale festival EDM era thanks to their massive synth lines, melodic introductions and powerful drops. Among the duo’s key recordings are Faith, Fifteen, Mystica, Rocket, Beautiful World, Bowser, Going Crazy, The Silmarillia, Narco, Bigroom Never Dies, Let the Music Take Control and Beat of the Drum. Since 2015, the project’s own musical infrastructure has developed around Maxximize Records and the radio show Maxximize On Air.
How Blasterjaxx Was Formed
The story of the project began in 2010. Thom Jongkind, who had previously worked under the alias Scalix, initially formed Blasterjaxx together with producer Leon Vielvoije. They played clubs and worked on their own tracks and unofficial remixes, but the original lineup did not last long.
After Vielvoije left, Jongkind retained the Blasterjaxx name. He soon began working with Idir Makhlaf, who had previously used the name Macosta. It was the partnership between Jongkind and Makhlaf that formed the Blasterjaxx lineup that would later achieve international recognition.
The project’s early productions still reflected the Dirty Dutch sound characteristic of the Dutch scene at the beginning of the decade, but as the duo developed, they moved toward a larger-scale electro house and big room style — music designed primarily for powerful club sound systems and festival stages.
Reborn and the Support of Laidback Luke
One of the first truly important releases from the new lineup was the Reborn EP, created together with D-Rashid and released in 2012 on Mixmash Records, the label of Laidback Luke. The release included two extended club tracks, Reborn and Where We Go.
For Blasterjaxx, this release marked an important transition from an emerging Dutch project to the international EDM scene. Their music soon began appearing on labels and in the sets of artists who were shaping the development of festival house at the time.
2013: Faith, Tiësto and Hardwell
The real breakthrough came in 2013. Together with Billy The Kit, the duo released Loud & Proud on Musical Freedom, the label founded by Tiësto. During the same period, Blasterjaxx created their own versions of his well-known tracks Adagio for Strings and Love Comes Again.
Another notable episode was their involvement with the official Ultra Music Festival 2013 anthem United. The original track was recorded by Tiësto, Quintino and Alvaro, after which the version United (Tiësto & Blasterjaxx Remix) was released. Blasterjaxx therefore were not the creators of the original anthem, but they were directly involved in its official reworking.
One of the most successful original Blasterjaxx recordings from this period was the melodic Faith. The track significantly expanded the duo’s audience beyond purely festival-oriented big room and reached No. 12 on the Swedish national singles chart.
Another important release was Fifteen. The track was written and produced by Jongkind and Makhlaf, while Hardwell created the official Fifteen (Hardwell Edit), released on his label Revealed Recordings. The release clearly illustrates Blasterjaxx’s close connection with the Dutch big room scene of that period.
From No. 71 to No. 13 in DJ Mag
Their growing popularity was especially visible in the annual DJ Mag Top 100 DJs poll. In 2013, Blasterjaxx entered the ranking for the first time at No. 71. Just one year later, they made one of the biggest climbs of that edition and reached No. 13 — the highest position in the duo’s history. In 2015, they placed at No. 19.
These rankings coincided with a period when Blasterjaxx were appearing regularly on major festival stages while big room house was at the peak of its international popularity.
Mystica, Rocket and the Festival Formula
In early 2014, Mystica was released on Revealed Recordings and became one of Blasterjaxx’s characteristic instrumental productions. It was followed by Rocket, a collaboration with Dutch duo W&W. The release also appeared on Revealed and brought together two acts that were closely associated with the dominant festival direction of EDM at the time.
Blasterjaxx’s musical style during this period was built around contrast. Before the climax, their tracks often featured triumphant or emotional melodic passages, followed by a much harder rhythmic drop. This combination of melody and impact became one of the duo’s most recognizable characteristics.
Why Idir Makhlaf Stopped Touring
In 2015, an important change took place within Blasterjaxx. Idir Makhlaf announced that he would stop touring regularly. The decision was caused by health problems related to the intense touring lifestyle and recurring panic attacks. Makhlaf did not leave Blasterjaxx, however, and continued working with Jongkind on music in the studio.
From that point onward, the project adopted an unusual live model for an electronic duo: Thom Jongkind represents Blasterjaxx alone at most performances, while Idir remains a full member of the production team and continues to participate in creating new material.
This division of roles allowed Blasterjaxx to remain a duo while continuing an active international touring career.
Maxximize Records
In the same year, 2015, Blasterjaxx launched their own label, Maxximize Records, in partnership with Spinnin' Records. The label became an extension of the duo’s musical concept and a platform for big room, electro house and other styles designed for large-scale stages.
Maxximize released both Blasterjaxx’s own music and productions by other electronic artists. Over the years, the label’s catalogue has included releases connected with Breathe Carolina, Marnik, Timmy Trumpet, Dannic, DBSTF, Bassjackers, Olly James and many others.
As a result, the name Maxximize gradually came to represent more than just the label and developed into a broader Blasterjaxx brand encompassing releases, events and radio programming.
Beautiful World, Bowser and Further Development
One of the notable collaborations of the mid-2010s was with DBSTF, also known as D-Block & S-te-Fan. Their track Beautiful World was released in 2015 on Revealed Recordings. That same year, Blasterjaxx worked with W&W again on Bowser.
Later releases included The Silmarillia, the Hardwell collaboration Going Crazy, Insanity with Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and other tracks. During this period, Blasterjaxx gradually expanded their classic big room formula by incorporating progressive house, harder rhythmic structures and elements of hard dance.
Bigroom Never Dies
By the end of the 2010s, the position of big room within the wider electronic scene had changed considerably: the genre was no longer at the commercial centre of EDM as it had been between 2013 and 2015. Blasterjaxx, however, did not abandon their musical identity.
A strong symbol of this period was the 2018 collaboration with Hardwell, Bigroom Never Dies. Its title functioned almost like a statement of intent: rather than completely changing direction, Blasterjaxx continued developing music built around large melodies and festival drops while adapting it to a changing scene.
Perspective — Blasterjaxx’s First Album
In 2019, almost a decade after the project was founded, Blasterjaxx released their debut studio album Perspective. The record came out on Maxximize Records under the Spinnin' Records umbrella and contained 23 tracks.
The album demonstrated a significantly broader range than a collection of individual big room singles. Hard festival tracks appeared alongside more melodic progressive house. Material from this period included Children of Today, Never Be Lonely, Super Friends, Wonderful Together, Hide Away and the W&W collaboration Let the Music Take Control.
Perspective remains Blasterjaxx’s main full-length studio album and an important reference point for understanding their music beyond a handful of their best-known festival singles.
Hard Dance, Techno and the Changing Festival Sound
In the following years, Blasterjaxx became noticeably more flexible with genre boundaries. Elements of hard dance, techno and faster festival styles were added to their traditional big room sound. In DJ Mag in 2023, the musicians themselves described their sound as a combination of big room, hard dance and techno.
This evolution allowed Blasterjaxx to preserve the large melodies and dramatic climaxes characteristic of the project while moving the rhythmic side of their music toward the harder sound of the newer festival scene.
THOMM
A separate part of this development was the THOMM project, launched by Thom Jongkind in 2024. Unlike the main Blasterjaxx discography, THOMM places its emphasis on techno. One of the first notable releases was The Unknown, issued on the label Filth on Acid.
THOMM did not replace Blasterjaxx and exists alongside the main project. Thom continues to perform under this name at selected events and uses the project as a space for more direct experimentation with techno. In 2026, he confirmed that work on THOMM was continuing and that new material was being prepared.
New Collaborations with Hardwell
The collaboration between Blasterjaxx and Hardwell continued more than a decade after Fifteen. In 2024, together with Maddix, they released 16, while in 2025 Blasterjaxx and Hardwell reunited for Beat of the Drum, released on Revealed Recordings.
These tracks clearly reflect the way the wider scene around Blasterjaxx has changed: the modern version of their festival sound has become faster and harder, while retaining a strong connection with the big room aesthetic that originally made the duo famous.
Blasterjaxx in the Mid-2020s
In the mid-2020s, Blasterjaxx continue to release music actively and perform at major festivals. Releases from this stage include Arriba, issued on Maxximize Records in 2026 and built around festival rhythms with Latin American and Brazilian influences.
At the same time, the project’s basic structure remains unchanged: Thom Jongkind handles the live representation of Blasterjaxx and continues working in the studio on new material together with Idir Makhlaf.
Maxximize On Air
An important part of the Blasterjaxx story is their own radio show, Maxximize On Air. The programme focuses on new electronic music, the duo’s own releases, and club and festival tracks by other producers. The show continues more than a decade after Blasterjaxx’s international breakthrough, with the number of episodes having surpassed 600.
Listen to Maxximize On Air every Wednesday at midnight on Minatrix.FM.
Selected Blasterjaxx Discography
Album
- Perspective — 2019
Key Releases
- Reborn — with D-Rashid, 2012
- Faith — 2013
- Fifteen (Hardwell Edit) — 2013
- Mystica — 2014
- Rocket — with W&W, 2014
- Beautiful World — with DBSTF, 2015
- Bowser — with W&W, 2015
- The Silmarillia — 2016
- Going Crazy — with Hardwell, 2016
- Narco — with Timmy Trumpet, 2017
- Bigroom Never Dies — with Hardwell, 2018
- Super Friends — featuring Jack Wilby, 2019
- Let the Music Take Control — with W&W, 2019
- Beat of the Drum — with Hardwell, 2025
- Arriba — 2026
Blasterjaxx’s Place in Electronic Music
Blasterjaxx became one of the defining acts of the generation that transformed Dutch big room and electro house into an international festival format in the early 2010s. Their career peak coincided with the global rise of EDM, but the project’s history did not end when classic big room declined in mainstream popularity.
The duo preserved its production structure after Idir Makhlaf stepped away from touring, created Maxximize Records, developed Maxximize On Air, released the full-length Perspective and gradually incorporated more contemporary hard dance and techno elements into their music.
This continuity is what distinguishes Blasterjaxx from many projects associated with the festival boom of the early 2010s: their music continues to revolve around large-scale melodies and energetic climaxes, while the sonic form itself evolves alongside the electronic scene.
