looking to surprise the Indian audience, ace DJ-producer Afrojack gets candid about his performance at Sunburn, his life and inspirations. By Jigyasu Joshi
World-travelling, Grammy-award winning producer, DJ and car enthusiast Nick van de Wall, popularly known as Afrojack, is on top of the world right now. Performing at a litany of festival all across the world has the towering Dutchman jetting between nearly daily gigs in different countries. Super kicked to play at the 10th year celebration of Sunburn happening in Kesnand District, Pune from 28th-31st of December, Afrojack has a lot for the crowd to dance on.
When did DJing come to you and how did the journey beginIJ
Dance music was huge where I grew up, it was our upbringing. Holland is a really small country with a very strong club scene. Growing up in Holland, it’s normal to go to clubs and I think experiencing it and getting to watch some of the best DJs in the world made us want to do it too. So there were a lot of opportunities for producers to release records and play live. It’s in the culture so it makes it normal for people to think, ‘I want to DJ’.
In one of the interviews you said that you are not an EDM guy. How else do you describe yourselfIJ
I’m not EDM. If I wanted to be a successful EDM artist, I wouldn’t put 80 per cent of everything back into the show. I would be chilling, demanding 20 hotel rooms, playing for one-and-a-half hours and being miserable. But I don’t want to be an EDM artist. I want to make something that people can be proud of. I want to make an album my grandma and my fans are going to like. I want to make my grandma understand a drop and make club fans understand a song.
Six or seven years ago, you were a young DJ, in what was then one of those new genres, Dutch house. How did you transition from there to where you are nowIJ
For me, it’s still exactly the same. I’m still trying to find new sounds. I’m still trying to constantly reinvent what I’m doing. And it’s difficult. After making “Take Over Control” a couple of years ago, everyone started to use the bleepy pitch sounds. I was like, “Ahh, you knowIJ “Should I try to do something else, now that everybody is doing the same, or should I try to keep doing thisIJ” Eventually, it was neither of the two. It was just sit in the studio and do whatever feels right. I used to constantly be bothered by people copying my sounds or just other genres going totally different ways. I used to be completely engulfed by that and constantly focused on that. Now I’m just focused on doing whatever I want.
How would you say being a huge success has affected your life and the time you spend with family and friendsIJ
I don’t feel like I’ve accomplished anything yet. I feel like I’m on the road to accomplishing something. I live life for my family, fans and myself, and those are the people who sum up who I really am.
You have recently collaborated with Ty for Gone. Who else is on your hip-hop collaborators wish listIJ
I like the more out-of-the-ordinary artists. I’d love to do something for Kanye West sometime. Same thing with Rihanna. I love when artists are so out of the box that every song they make is like, what is itIJ It’s not describable in words. Just a weird piece of music that is a mix of all kinds of genres.
What genres and sounds are you inspired by currentlyIJ
The Skrillex sound, but more the hip-hop side of it. I started noticing more and more how the trap culture and all the hip-hop-trap-dubstep DJs- it’s starting to get louder and crazier but also better mixed and way better arranged. It has way more breathing room in it. I’m really getting excited about those sounds. I’ve always produced pop, hip-hop … all kinds of stuff. Most people don't know that Give Me Everything was my breakthrough song even though my name was all the way at the end. But then I produced look At Me Now for Chris Brown and later contributed to Beyoncé’s Run the World with Major lazer. I have a lot of hip-hop lying around that we don’t know how to place yet, but we’re working at it. With the growth of this trap sound and everything that Skrillex has been doing with the whole Jack U thing … it’s been really inspiring to me.
You’re making albums; you’re DJing around the world. What comes firstIJ What’s your favouriteIJ DJing or producingIJ
I want to diversify more as the artist Afrojack instead of just the producer Afrojack. I feel more confident as my sets have diversified as well. I play more hip-hop and trap now. Because I became famous as a dance producer, my shows automatically became dance-oriented. At one point, my entire set was 128 bpm. But I didn’t grow up as a 128 bpm person. I love EDM but I do more than that. A lot of people don't appreciate that and have tried to put me back in a box. I don’t like boxes.
What one key quality must a DJ possessIJ
The ability to mix the hits with new music. If you just play the hits then people will say, “I’ve heard all the hits, thank you” and they’re out. They’re never going to come back. let people experience the necessary amount of hits to get them excited and then let them hear something new they never expected and would be open to liking. That’s the job of a DJ. Playing the right song at the right time but also sometimes creating the right time for the right song, especially if it’s new.