At only 19 years old, Dutch DJ and Deep-House producer Oliver Heldens has undeniably taken the dance music scene by storm over the past few months, with his signature sound having become a distinguishable, and highly prevalent fixture within the genre in a very short period of time. As was the case with a dramatically increasing number of new artists, Oliver was first discovered through SoundCloud, where Spinnin’ Records found him eager to release his music.
Earning the support of industry big-names Tiesto and Pete Tong (to name a few), Oliver has already accomplished a remarkable amount, having also dominated the Beatport charts with tunes such as “Gecko,” as well as his striking remix of Martin Garrix’ ubiquitous track, “Animals.” We were fortunate enough for Oliver to have answered a handful of questions for us regarding Deep House, the state of dance music, as well as have him offer some advice to up-and-coming producers.
Having started before he was even a teenager, Oliver began producing after investing himself in playing the keyboard for some time, and has been listening to electronic music since he was 10 years old, initially having been engrossed with the Hardstyle and Jumpstyle genres. Later in his teenage years, he developed an interest in the more classic House music sounds, and presently, he elucidates that both of these genres have had an influence on the style of dance music he creates today;
“When I was 10-12 I listened to a lot of Hardstyle and Jumpstyle, but when I was 13-15 I listened to a lot of housey stuff. When I was 16/17 I made a lot of EDM tracks inspired by Hardstyle and when I was 18 I was getting more and more inspired by the ‘old’ housey stuff in combination with the new UK/deep house stuff…I played the keyboard for some time. That took a lot of time and practice, so I decided to start creating music by myself.”
Oliver also mentioned the names of some noteworthy figures in the dance music scene that he looks up to for inspiration, and divulged that he would very much like to collaborate with Dutch-House duo, Chocolate Puma;
“I’m getting inspiration from a lot of things – people, travelling and of course music. I look up to producers like Chocolate Puma, Sander van Doorn, Dillon Francis, and Disclosure to name a few. I would like to make a track with Chocolate Puma. I just love their sound!”
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WRR: The deep house sound has become quite prominent in the dance music scene as of late, and many fans would agree that you’re definitely partly responsible for that occurrence…do you see yourself continuing within this sub genre? What do you like most about the sub genre?
O.H.: Yeah I feel honored to be a part of that occurrence. Very happy that “Gecko” can make the cross-over between deep house and EDM. Besides that, I’m really open-minded when it comes to different genres and sounds.
WRR: Electronic music has evidently grown from a small subculture to a massive industry over the past few years, and there have been several pros and cons to this paradigm shift. How do you feel about the way that this scene has taken off?
O.H.: I think it’s a good thing, it keeps on growing and growing worldwide. Because the scene is so big now, it also creates more possibilities for new sounds such as deep house, which is great for me as an artist that does something different from most mainstream DJ/Producers.
WRR: Take a track like “Animals” for example; a single Big-Room House tune seems to have taken over the entire dance music scene over a very short period of time. What do you think that says about the state of dance music right now? What lead you to want to remix it?
O.H.: The fact that a non-vocal track became that popular is quite rare, but it shows that people obviously do like this kind of music. The need for dance music is way bigger than most of us expected. Besides that, it’s a great achievement for a young artist like Martin and also for the entire dance scene. I got asked to remix it and felt honored.
WRR: In an age where almost everyone has the tools to become a producer, what do you think it takes for a producer to stand out from the rest? What do you feel delineates a great producer from an average one? What makes a real ‘artist?’
O.H.: You have to develop your own unique sound. You have to bring in new influences in your work and always keep developing yourself and your skills. A real artist stays true to himself and stands out from the rest by his own unique sound.
WRR: You’ve come very far over the past couple months, having played some major festivals (such as Ultra), and having scheduled performances at some reputable events such as VELDfest and Creamfields, what advice can you give to upcoming producers who are inspired by your success?
O.H.: Never stop developing and experimenting, work very hard to create your own sound and try to create stuff that you like the most, and don’t care too much about what others are doing.
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Be sure to also check out the official video for Oliver Helden’s remix of Robin Thicke’s “Feel Good”:
The track can be purchased on Beatport here.
Connect With Oliver Heldens:
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