Mike Williams shares with us his approach to Tomorrowland’s set, the way he produces music, favourite cities in Asia and many more.
A musician genius, Mike Williams developed a love for music at the ages of 6 when he first started playing. Later he decided to quit all his lessons and started working on the laptop. By the age of 12 he learned to DJ and produced his first dance track and at 14 he performed in a club that’s regularly booked for gigs for over 500 people. Some of his releases include remixes and bootlegs of songs like ‘Blame’ by Calvin Harris and ‘I Really Like You’ by Carly Rae Jepsen which over 3 million plays on SoundCloud.
Dutch DJ, record producer from Kortenhoef, Mike Williams is regarded as the pioneers of future bounce genre is here with AsiaLive365 to share with us what we can expect from his set at Tomorrowland this year, his favourite cities in Asia, how his set in Asia differs from his set in Europe and many more. Read Below.
ASL365: What does your approach look like this year Tomorrowland set – from selecting the material and preparing for, opening and then building a set?
MW: Yeah there’s a huge difference this year with the Main Stage as well as it’s a little bit bigger. It’s good to prepare your set but also keeping it simple, you can change it when you’re on stage and I will be playing 7 new releases on stage.
ASL365: Besides Tomorrowland is there a particular gig that changed your life as a DJ?
MW: Ultra Main Stage was crazy, that definitely changed my life a lot.
ASL365: You mentioned earlier that you used to play volleyball. Why did you choose to be a DJ not a sportsman?
MW: Volleyball was just for fun and of course I was in high school and I was already making music so when I finished high school I wanted to focus on making music. Tried for 1 year and suddenly got signed to a huge label and it blew up. It wasn’t really the plan it just kind of happen.
ASL365: Do you bring a lot of old song and new song on the set?
MW: A combination actually – I always try to make some edits on my music and other people’s music.
ASL365: Is there a particular favorite throwback tracks that you play almost every time you perform?
MW: A couple of classic throwback tracks that do well like Kisses from Ingrosso and everyone knows the melody and Avicii’s tracks.
ASL365: “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler” do you agree with this statement in terms of producing music?
MW: I think simple is sometimes really good because for people its easy to listen to but I also like to make more difficult directions so it sounds really tight and sometime it sounds simple but on the production side it isn’t. But for a simple melody always does well.
ASL365: Do you tour around Asia a lot and is there any particular city that you’ve made great memories?
MW: Yeh we try to do a lot of Asia tour through out the year and I really like Tokyo – it’s one of my favorite cities. Shanghai, Bangkok. So we try to visit all the countries and have the show there.
ASL365: Is there a difference between your set in Europe and in Asia?
MW: I always try to change my set according to the crowd. You always have to look at the crowd to see if they like it whether there’s enough energy or no energy. So you should never have to play the same set and it’s always good to have a look at the crowd.
ASL365: You started your career really young, is there any advice that you can give it to the younger DJ out there?
MW: When I started I had no idea how this whole scene was, so I think for younger DJs they have to stay true to yourself and the music.
ASL365: Over the past 10 years, who are the 2 producer that have redefined the way DJ approach electronic music?
MW: Cashmere is a really good producer and he’s always on it with everything. He makes six productions so that’s really important. Also for example Tiësto isn’t that much involved in the production side but is really helping all the young DJs and looking for upcoming talents.
ASL365: Recently you saw a lot of DJs who wanna push their limit higher? Is it your dream to have your own label in the future?
MW: Yeh I always want to do bigger stages so it’s definitely a goal for me to grow. But I still want to produce music, it’s important for me that music is still number 1.
ASL365: How do you normally spend your whole day?
MW: I wished it was a fix routine. Everyday is different but of course you’re at the hotel and flying. But if I’m in Amsterdam I always try to have structure in my life so maybe do some sports, go to the gym, and see friends
