When it comes to EDM, the Dutch rule.
Following in the footsteps of his world-conquering kinsmen Tiësto and Armin van Buuren, last year Hardwell (otherwise known as Robbert van de Corput) placed first in DJ Mag’s celebrated top 100 DJs poll. At just 25 years old, Hardwell is the youngest DJ to hit number one in the poll’s 18-year history. “A lot of times it feels surreal,” he says. “It’s weird to achieve the dream that was always so impossible, even like three years ago. Sometimes I have to pinch myself.”
"That’s what DJs did back in the day – they played for the whole night."
He might still be relatively young, but by no means is van de Corput new to the art of DJing. He started performing in clubs around the Netherlands at the age of 14, before coming to international regard with the breakthrough production ‘Show Me Love vs. Be’ in 2009. “It was always my dream to be a DJ on a high level and tour around the world and show my music to the world. So at this point I’m living the dream and I couldn’t be more excited than I am right now.”
Backing up his hedonistic headline appearances at this year’s Future Music Festival, Hardwell returns to Australia this October with his very own outdoor dance spectacular, I Am Hardwell. “At a festival we only get booked for an hour,” he says. “With the I Am Hardwell show I’m performing three hours so I actually have the time to play more progressive and take people on a musical journey. That’s what DJs did back in the day – they played for the whole night. I am totally free to play whatever I want and make it the best night possible. It’s the biggest Hardwell experience you can get.”
In the meantime van de Corput is working hard on the debut Hardwell album. Over the last five years he’s proven himself a capable artist with a string of club-ready single releases. Combine this collection of hits with several years of touring and remixing and it’s safe to say Hardwell’s first LP is hotly anticipated. “I’m really enjoying making the album but it’s so hard. When I look back over the years I only did four or five songs a year and now I have to do a whole album.”
Although he stresses the greater productivity demanded by a full-length record, it’s not a lack of material holding things up. “There are more 20 tracks. I have to decide which tracks I really want to finish off and which tracks will never make it. The album needs to be perfect. I want to be 200 percent satisfied. Even when I listen to the album in ten years I still want myself to be proud of what I did.”
Contemplating a debut record raises all sorts of questions, such as whether it will follow a specified stylistic arc or be a representation of one’s diverse impulses. “People ask me ‘What kind of music do you play – is it big room? Is it progressive? Is it electro?’ I always like to call it Hardwell music. That’s exactly what the album’s going to be. It is a full dance album, but I want to make beautiful music instead of only the big club bangers. When I look back at my single ‘Apollo’ – the one I did with Amba Sheperd two years ago – I still play it every single set because it’s a good song. I think a good song will always last.
“Avicii is the perfect example. When he played ‘Wake Me Up’ for the first time last year at the Ultra Music Festival everybody was laughing at him, like ‘Wow he’s playing country music’ and ‘It’s the biggest shit I’ve ever heard’. Six months later it was a worldwide number one hit in over 70 countries.”
So is Hardwell hoping to spread a massive global fever akin to Avicii? “I don’t know if I’m going to set the trend, I just want people to appreciate my album.”
Written by Augustus Welby
I Am Hardwell Dates
Fri Oct 3 - Sidney Myer Music Bowl (Melbourne)Sat Oct 4 - The Domain (Sydney)
Sun Oct 5 - The Riverstage (Brisbane)
