Turn the lights out. The Dutch dynamo is back in town
Welcome back to DMCWORLD Mr D, you have just completed what looked like a stupendous Asian tour in Bangkok, China, Macau and Kuala Lumpur – everywhere looked off the hook. What were your highlights?
“Thanks, happy to be back! They were all very different shows, and I honestly enjoyed all of them. It was my first time in Malaysia and the crowd there was insane. I drove my own Tuk Tuk in Bangkok and experienced Macau, the Las Vegas of Asia, for the first time as well. The club I played there had an insane visual show.”
What was the strangest sight you saw out there?
“Macau and all of its luxury. Huge sculptures, enormous casinos, big entertainment shows, they’ve even rebuilt a small version of Venice (incl. the canals) on the second floor of one of the shopping malls.”
You have just entered the Buzz Chart with your new track ‘The Golden Years’ which is on your up coming new EP. Talk us through this belter of a track.
“‘The Golden Years’ was mostly conceived on the road and is a song about the place I grew up in, a place you can always come back to no matter what. I got to experience all of these amazing adventures from an early age and nothing ever seems to be good enough, you always want things to be harder, faster, better, stronger. One day I just woke up and realized how blessed I am and that I should be really thankful for everything I have experienced so far, and no matter how difficult things get, there will always be a place I can go back to whenever these Golden Years come to an end.”
The video was a year in the making and in your own words took…”blood, sweat and tears”. Where were some of the locations featured in this hilarious five minutes of acid house lunacy?
“We filmed at locations varying from arthouses in Berlin, my studios in London and Amsterdam, dozens of parties and festivals across Europe, my parents place, backstage at shows, during trips with my best friends, film sets and the list goes on. Oh and it includes a few cameos from people I have worked with in the past like Diplo, Martin Solveig, Dragonette, Noisia, Luciana and a couple of others.”
Did you buy your mum her slightly strange washing up gloves?
“I can give you a short answer to that question: Yes! My mother is generally as crazy as I am.”
Do your parents ever come to any of your gigs?
“Not a lot, but when they do I am extra nervous, because you just want everything to go perfect!”
When I told the people in the office I was interviewing you, one of the crew described you as “original party animal and definitely not a fake party DJ” – thoughts on that?
“I hope that reflects on the fact that I just really love playing music and am always in a good mood when I DJ, no matter how passive the crowd is at times, I always give everything I have to entertain the crowd as much as I can. The joy always comes from within myself, without having to use any form of substance, I mostly run on milk during my sets.”
So tell us about the EP, what are the other tracks and when can we expect it?
“The “Lights Out EP” will be my debut EP on Columbia Records and will be released at the end of this month. Besides “The Golden Years” the EP will include another lead track called “Lights Out Hit”, a bass driven track I did with Angela Hunte whom you might know from her previous collaboration with Magnetic Man (“I need air”). I just finished off a quirky music video for this track and U.K. bassmeister Hostage did a great remix of the track which is also on the EP. Besides these three tracks the EP will also include a track I recorded with Takura (Chase & Status / Sub Focus) called “Memories (Come back)” and as a bonus I added a remix of a track I did with Noisia called “Silent Shadows”, featuring the massively talented UK MC Smiler.”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
1. Boys Noize – What You Want
2. TNGHT – Gooo
3. Sleigh Bells – Demons (Diplo Remix)
4. Karin Park – Thousand Loaded Guns (Don Diablo Remix)
5. The Hacker – Shockwave (Gesaffelstein remix) (Don’s Edit)
6. SHAX vs. Doc Trashz – Snap Back
7. Raf Riley – Dog Unit (Part 1)
8. Dream – This Isn’t House
9. Flosstradamus – Rollup (Baauer Remix)
10. Stevie Wonder – Superstition (Monolith Remix)
You have some cracking icons you cite as influences. David Bowie, The Muppets and Aphex Twin to name but a few. Also Prince – what is your favourite Prince tune?
“Sexy MF, Controversy, Cream, Erotic City and When Doves Cry are definitely in my Top 10…”
Who are producers around the world you are giving high fives to at the moment?
“Baauer, Hudson Mohawke and Gesaffelstein.”
Record that changed your life?
“Queen – ‘Another One Bites The Dust’. When I was a kid I only listened to Rock, this Queen track was the first time I came across loops, fx and repetitive elements and sparked my interest to listen to more electronic orientated music and eventually create it myself.”
Who are your big party DJ mates you love bumping into on your global travels?
“The guys from Noisia, Tommie Sunshine, Martin Solveig and Diplo are definitely in there.”
What is the strangest request you have ever had whilst DJing?
“This one guy offered me 1500 euros for the jacket I was wearing during my set, he already had the cash in his hands so I sold it to him on the spot as it was a vintage jacket that I had pimped myself which basically cost me less than 100 euros at the time and I had already worn a lot anyway. Another weird request was when I played at this sex-party in a dirty hotel somewhere in the middle of nowhere, many years ago, these two girls asked me if it was okay to have sex in the booth during my set. I did not stop them.”
What is your next studio project?
“This EP is only the start, I have been working on loads of new material the last two years and am planning to release something every two months from now on, so the stream of music is a bit more constant compared to the last few years. I am working on a new track with Dragonette and have a few other surprises up my sleeve which will be revealed bit by bit the following months!”
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