Headhunterz

Updated Aug 20, 2026

Headhunterz is the stage name of Willem Rebergen, a Dutch hardstyle producer and DJ from Veenendaal who’s been shaping the genre since he was a teenager. He got hooked on the sound after attending Qlimax in 2003, co-founded the duo Nasty D-Tuners, and won the Defqon.1 DJ contest in 2004 — the kind of grassroots hardstyle credentials that don’t come easy. Signing to Scantraxx in 2005 gave him the platform to release early hits like “The Sacrifice,” and Headhunterz quickly became one of the genre’s defining voices.

His sound leans on soaring, trance-influenced melodies layered over pitched kicks, a style that helped pull hardstyle toward bigger, more euphoric territory and toward crowds well outside the genre’s traditional Dutch and Belgian strongholds. As one half of Project One alongside Wildstylez, he helped define a whole era of the genre starting with their self-titled 2008 album, and the pair went on to co-found the label Art of Creation together in 2018. Before that, Rebergen spent years running his own imprint, HARDwithSTYLE Records, releasing his own material as well as tracks from up-and-coming hardstyle producers. On his own, Headhunterz has released records like Studio Sessions (2010), Sacrifice (2012), and The Return of Headhunterz (2018), along with collaborations with Noisecontrollers, Sound Rush, and Vertile that have kept him a fixture on hardstyle bills for close to two decades.

In August 2023, after fifteen years of nonstop touring, Rebergen announced an indefinite break from performing to focus on his mental and physical health — a rare, candid move for an artist at that level, and one that drew a wave of support from fans and peers alike. He never stopped making music, though, quietly releasing singles like “How Far Can You Go,” “Moonlight,” and “Live Forever” through 2024. Then, in December 2025, he made a surprise comeback, popping up for live Project One sets in Australia and the Netherlands, giving hardstyle fans hope that Headhunterz proper isn’t far behind.