An Interview With Afrojack Celebrating his 10 Years in the Industry
Kicking off his One More Day Tour last month with Montreal as his second stop, world-renown Dutch DJ Afrojack has been a major player on the scene for a long time. Named after his newest single on the charts, the tour extends onto festival dates where Afrojack will most likely deliver solid creative sets that don’t resemble his recorded material – something he actually loves to do. I got the wonderful opportunity to sit down with him for a very quick chat before his set, and it was clear from the get-go that he’s someone who has a lot to say but also who really wants to take the time to say it.
2018 marks his 10th year in the music industry, which is an impressive milestone to hit for an artist, especially in the EDM genre. From underground releases to hit songs playing on the radio every day, Afrojack is a force to be reckoned with. As one of the mainstream EDM pioneers, he helped pave the way for countless artists and his international success is a testament of true determination, raw talent as well as focus, proving to the industry he isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
Photo credits : Frits van den Brink
Welcome back to Montreal once again Nick! Thank you for taking the time to chat with me before your set, I know everyone is very pumped to have you back in town and to see what you have in store for us later.
Thank you! It’s no problem, I’m super happy to be back again it’s always a pleasure to be in Montreal.
You’ve been in the DJ Mag Top 10 for a couple of years now, is there something you feel like you have to do to maintain this status and to hold yourself to people’s expectations because of that ranking?
At that moment it doesn’t really say anything. When I get up there on stage, people don’t look at me like “Oh you won a Grammy” they’re more like “Okay, what do you got?”. You have to prove yourself. It’s nice to have a Grammy for the more commercial aspect of things but when you get in the DJ booth and you’re playing for your friends or dance music lovers, Grammys don’t count.
So you don’t feel the pressure that stems from people thinking “Oh he’s always Top 10” and people seeing a sort of aura around you?
Not at all but I do definitely feel the pressure just like any DJ, like, you better perform. You can’t show up with an okay set. If you show up with an okay set than it’s even worse because you have a Grammy and you’re DJ Mag Top 10. If you weren’t in that Top 10 and you did bad it’s like “Well it’s okay”. I can’t do bad. But that’s a good motivation.
I think it’s you wanting to make sure you deliver only the best to your fans, as well as being a perfectionist when it comes to your craft.
I think that’s how I got here in the first place, by always wanting to live up to the expectations. I really wanted to become a DJ when I was a kid like before the DJs were big and stuff. I just wanted to be a DJ so bad. Then, everyone that always supported me, I felt like every time I saw them again at a show and then again and again, I would tell myself “they better think it’s epic… AGAIN” so I really feel responsible for that.
About that responsibility; you’ve been doing it for so long, a total of 10 years so far in the industry and performing, do you feel some kind of need to adapt or it just happened? Because the EDM wave did change a lot, you see the crowds changing, what they want, what they’re looking for, so did you adapt because of that wave or did you as an artist simply evolve?
I adapted to my own thing. I always loved hip-hop. When I got to Vegas I was so happy I got to play some hip-hop. And when I started DJ’ing, I also played a lot of hip-hop. So now, especially in America, hip-hop has a lot of hype. It’s so much fun for me to get to switch BPMs every now and then. But it’s like, if everyone would go trance, I would have a problem because even though I appreciate Above & Beyond, I appreciate Armin Van Buuren, I’m not a trance guy. I could never be a trance DJ just because I love the ghetto sounds so much, the weird vibes, the hip-hop crossovers, you know?
Totally. I think from the beginning until now there isn’t a drastic change in your music in terms of style.
That’s what I’m saying, like for me I didn’t have to adapt that much but if everyone started doing jazz… (laughs) I’d probably have a problem!
Seriously can you imagine a wave of crossover between EDM and jazz!
Well jazzy/house would be dope. That was a thing like 15 years ago with Bob Sinclair and others. Like a mix of African/jazz fusion/house.
Do you listen to that kind of EDM but don’t gravitate towards it when it’s time to produce a track?
No I used to play it all the time. Now I don’t play it but I still have it. I have playlists in my record box called “stuff I like” and every time I go through my collection, I see one of those records from 2005 or 2009 and I’m like “Ooh yeah I’m going to save that”, I don’t know where I’m going to play it yet but there will be a moment where it’s like a random set and I get to play all the old stuff.
Maybe on one of the more chilled/laidback festivals you have going on? You’ve been performing here in Montreal obviously pretty often, you came to New City Gas several times, and you did one of our big festivals called Ile Soniq last year!
Yeah it was really really cool!
You enjoyed it?
Yeah I’m sad I’m not doing it this year! I didn’t realize until now like “Oh yeah I played that festival last year, that was mental”.
What did you think of it all? What’s the vibe that you got from that festival? Because you experienced Montreal in an indoor venue on multiple occasions, and now you also experienced our festival outdoors. Which one do you prefer?
I prefer the outdoors. Even though the sound wasn’t that loud because I remember there were sound restrictions, the crowd was SO hyped! I don’t know for the rest of Canada but here in Montreal, everyone is very… I say relaxed. It really reminded me of Australia. Like over there in Australia it’s the same as America only everyone is a little bit happier, a little more free.
I love that. I think we are very welcoming and we just get so happy when we get the chance to see amazing artists at our festivals. They are obviously smaller than Tomorrowland and Electric Daisy Carnival, etc, so when we welcome big names that bring us amazing music, we get very excited.
No but it doesn’t matter the size of the festival. Eventually if you have a stage outdoors with 10 000+ people, it’s so much fun, especially if everyone is having a great time. That’s the most important thing. That’s why festivals like Tomorrowland and Ultra are so good. It’s not just because they’re so big, it’s also because the infrastructure is very well taken care of, so when you’re there in the middle of the crowd, you don’t feel lost, you don’t feel claustrophobic. It’s safe – that’s the most important thing when doing a festival, and last year at Ile Soniq that was very good.
Photo credits : Frits van den Brink
Do you feel the same way when you’re in front of 200 000 people versus 10 000 people? I know the energy is there and the crowd is louder but I feel like you would be able to really look at them and connect more with a smaller crowd. Weren’t you closer to festivalgoers at Ile Soniq than the ones at Tomorrowland, for example?
Actually, at Tomorrowland and EDC, they put the stage ridiculously close to the crowd, it’s unimaginable. The stage is way higher but I think you’re like 4 meters away, like 10 feet away from the crowd.
Wow! So you really see them, you make eye-contact with your fans. That must feel very special.
And when I stand on the booth I can spray the water hose very far like I can get the front row easy! (laughs)
How do you feel about coming back to the same venue which feels familiar to you of course but which will evidently be a different experience for your fans?
There are a lot of things, the new single One More Day is out but that’s a single for the radio. I’ll play it if I have time, but it’s not my preference to play…! The label doesn’t like that but it is what it is. So like you said, every time I do a show, especially in Montreal since I come at least once a year, every time I come here, it’s a new Afrojack. Especially because the scene has been changing so much over the last years, and my music has been changing as well. I also don’t want to be here playing the same music I played 5 or 8 years ago. I’m excited about different stuff every year you know, so for tonight, I think 95% of the stuff I’m playing I didn’t play last year. So it may be different for fans, but at the same time I hope it’s exciting for them to hear my new approach on everything that’s been going on.
I’m sure it’s exciting for them, you keep coming back and filling up New City Gas with happiness, and people are always ecstatic to see you when you come back every year.
It’s scary because every time I do this new stuff, I never know if they will be like “Eh I’m not coming back next time” and I really try to make the set impressive and original and make them go “Oh my god what is happening!?”. I want the people who told their friends to come out tonight, to go “I told you so” when they come back out. Even if they are dubstep or trap fans. If I didn’t make them do that, then it wasn’t good enough for me. I set the standards way too high, but it keeps it fun.
Maybe they will even buy some merch because they’re that impressed! Can you talk about your new line?
Yeah I’m wearing it right now! (laughs) For the first time in 10 years I have merch!
Did you have any saying in the design and creative process? Giving them your input and ideas?
A little bit. My manager and I are very much on the same page, we spent 10 years on the road together so he knows me very well and he knows what I like so that went well. He’s been with me for 10 years… time flies. He made a crazy choice when he decided to work with me back then but it was the right choice and I’m very thankful. We literally spoke about that today in the car, that’s crazy.
Yeah for sure, it shows his loyalty and that he truly believes in you. I think that’s also a great source of motivation.
I think that’s also very important, like people always want change in their life and they want to better themselves, but they also are too afraid to face their fears. The change is always in what you fear. So the people that I always gather around myself are the honest people because even if it’s a little bit more scary to carry honest people around you, they will help you improve yourself at all times. That’s why I’m very happy with my team and I feel so grateful to have them around.
They help you stay grounded.
That’s the thing though; not just every DJ but every person needs its team. And if you choose comfort over personality, that will get you nowhere. It has nothing to do with this job; it’s just relevant in general. You already know what’s good for you, it’s just difficult to keep it close to you. Same thing with healthy food, you know it’s better for you but pizza is easy.
Check out Afrojack’s new single One More Day here and his newly released merchandise here. Follow Afrojack on his website, Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram
Cover photo credits : Sander Nagel
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